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April 23 Devotional

Happy Thursday! Today we’ll be looking at Matthew 28:18-20:
 
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
 
This is the ending of the entire Gospel, and Jesus’ last commands recorded by Matthew. This is the mission statement of every church that has ever existed! Jesus begins with a reminder of who He is. As Paul reminds us in Colossians 1, Jesus is God. And because Jesus is God, He has authority. But not just some authority, or a piece of authority, He has ALL authority in both heaven and earth. That includes every sphere of existence! Jesus begins here because everything else is dependent upon Him being in authority. We can carry out His command because He is in charge!
In Jesus’ command to us there are 4 verbs. In Greek, the verbs are generally the main thrust of the passage. When you’re learning Greek, the verbs are what you spend the most time on, not only because they’re so confusing, but also because they’re very important! The 4 verbs listed here, in order, are: Go, make disciples, baptizing, and teaching. And the reason you spend so much time on the verbs is it helps you know where to place the emphasis, and the emphasis in this verse is: make disciples. Every other verb is subservient to that command. The church is to go, we do not exist for ourselves. This doesn’t mean going from one room to another, this is going out into the world to help others become disciples (to fish for men and women!). Then when people are disciples, the next step of obedience is baptism. This is the easiest step for any Christian to take! Loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is going to take a lifetime to work on, baptism can be done today! But baptism is just the first step, because the next command is the lifetime pursuit: obeying everything Jesus commanded. We’ll never reach that state in our own power, but only though the work of the Holy Spirit in us. And over all this, ensuring that we will endure until we’re called home is the fact that Jesus is with us forever! We can’t flee from Him, we can’t run away from Him, He will continue leading and guiding us in all righteousness. 
 
SONG:
Today’s song is by a group that no longer exists, All Sons and Daughters. They’ve taken the Prayer of St. Patrick and turned it into a song called ‘Christ Be All Around Me’ you can listen again on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
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by mikethestrand on April 23, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 23, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/23/april-23-devotional/

April 22 Devotional

Today we’ll be taking a look at Psalm 2:
 
Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
    and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
    on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
    and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
    lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
 
This is a continuation of the previous Psalm, and continues expounding upon the excellencies of God. It begins with our rebellion, which all of us have participated in because we were born in sin. Before God graciously saved us we were all at enmity with God, actively opposed to Him and His sovereign rule. But we were not only opposed to the Father, we were opposed His Anointed. That word Anointed is where we get our word for Christ, or Messiah (Don’t forget, Christ is not Jesus’ last name!). When we’re opposed to God we’re opposed to His Son! And how does God respond? He laughs! Anyone who thinks God doesn’t have a sense of humor needs to read more of their Bible! It seems that God thinks it’s cute when we as his creation try to oppose Him, as if we could sway Him! But He doesn’t only laugh, He also responds in His wrath. How often do you think of God being wrathful? Most of the time when I talk to people they overemphasize God’s love. And while God is love, He is also wrathful, such that the author of Hebrews reminds us that it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
 
But what does God’s response tell us? He responds by saying His Son is forever on His throne, and nothing can change that! No group, army, king, person can other throw God’s perfect and sovereign rule and reign over His creation. All God has to do is speak and all His enemies will crumble and cease to exist (almost like the SNAP in Avengers: Infinity War). So because God is wrathful, we must instead submit ourselves to Him, and serve Him with fear and trembling remembering that He is God and we are not! So if we completely rely on Him, then we will be called Blessed, as the last verse AND Psalm 1 remind us! So let’s ensure we are not opposed to Him!
 
SONG:
A group called “Poor Bishop Hooper” is taking the next 3 years to work through setting every Psalm to a song. So today’s song is simply called ‘Psalm 2’ you can listen on their WEBSITE or on SPOTIFY.
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by mikethestrand on April 22, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 22, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/22/april-22-devotional/

April 21 Devotional

Today we’ll be looking at Jude 24-25:
 
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
 
Before we dig into some application points, a quick story about this passage. My dad performed Cara’s and my wedding ceremony, and used this as the benediction. We did things a little differently at our wedding and had my dad facing us with his back to the crowd. As he was reading this benediction he was backing up to get out of the way for the recessional and didn’t notice my niece running behind him, so as he said “to keep you from stumbling” he stumbled over my niece! It was a great moment, and then got passed around at his office! 
 
Jude began this letter wishing to write about the “common salvation” given to all believers (vs. 3), but instead he had to remind them to not give up their faith. He then reminds the believers where they have come from and encourages them to not give up. Yet in the midst of our daily struggles and difficulties, we begin with a promise in this doxology: that God alone is able to keep us from stumbling. I’m guessing most, if not all of you, have stubbed your toes before. You can be mindlessly walking along, minding your own business, when a chair jumps and trips you and it hurts like the dickens! Because God knows everything, He alone is able to prevent us from tripping and stumbling over the trials and temptations that are guaranteed to come our way. But He not only keeps us from stumbling, He also is able to “present you blameless.” We’ve read a number of passages together over the past month plus that talk about how God’s righteousness is given to us. Isn’t it incredible to read that we are blameless? No blame can be found in us. I know I never feel that way! I sin every day, yet God’s grace is enough for all of that. That’s what we get, but then Jude reminds us who God is.
 
This blamelessness and ability to keep us from stumbling is only true because Jesus has: glory, majesty, dominion, and authority forever. Jesus is given glory and we must glorify Him with everything we do. (John Piper has written a wonderful devotion on this very topic HERE.) He is also given majesty (which makes me think of THIS SONG). The dictionary says this is royal power. This is a reminder that Jesus is on His throne and nothing can thwart His plans! This also ties in to his dominion. This is Jesus’ sovereignty. He is in charge of everything! And lastly authority. He not only has the power to enact His perfect plan, He also has the authority to bring it about. He is seated on His throne and He is in complete control! And the best part? This has been true from eternity past and will be true into eternity! So not even a virus can work outside of His perfect plans!
 
SONG:
There’s a group called ’Ghost Ship’ that has done a song to this passage called ‘Jude Doxology’ You can listen to it on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
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by mikethestrand on April 21, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 21, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/21/april-21-devotional/

April 20 Devotional

Today we’ll be looking at Romans 1:16-17:
 
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
 
One commentator has called these verses the venter point of the entire book of Romans! That means it’s incredibly important to understand it to comprehend the rest of the book. Paul begins be stating he’s not ashamed of the gospel. Why would one be ashamed of it? I sometimes worry that we’ve been over saturated with the message that we need to be gospel people. There’s more book, conferences, blog posts, articles and discussions on this than we could ever have time to digest, so when we use a word so often we have a tendency to become immune to it, which is what I worry has happened with the gospel! Literally, it’s “good news,” the good news that Jesus has descended to earth, died our penalty on the cross, then rose again on the third day, has ascended into heaven where He sits next to His Father to prepare a place for us until He returns to right everything that’s wrong. That gospel message has power to change the entire cosmos (as Paul will get to in Romans 8). That same power that was at work in Jesus to raise Him from the dead is now available to anyone who will believe in Him! So we now have the privilege of following Him with our lives!
 
Then we see God’s righteousness. In the gospel message, God’s righteousness is revealed. God in himself is completely perfect and holy, lacking in nothing. The gospel is a visible demonstration of that perfection and holiness. His righteousness has been ultimately revealed in Him sending His one and only Son to bear the penalty for our sins. And that righteousness can be our righteousness, if we put our faith in Him. We then go back to the beginning of this! If we are living by faith and have put our complete trust in Him, then we have no reason to be ashamed! We will one day see Jesus face to face and will spend eternity with Him. So let’s do whatever we can to bring others along and share the gospel that we’re not ashamed of!
 
SONG:
Today’s song is one of my favorite songs from Lecrae’s group 116 Clique. This one features Trip Lee, Andy Mineo, and KB. Trip currently serves as a Pastor in Dallas while touring on the side. This song is called ‘One Sixteen’ and they got the name from Romans 1:16! You can listen to it on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
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by mikethestrand on April 20, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Life, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 20, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/20/april-20-devotional/

April 17 Devotional

Today is Cara’s birthday! It’s a weird birthday with us being stuck at home instead of going out and doing something, but we’re trying to celebrate nonetheless! So today we’ll be looking at Romans 12:1-2:
 
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
 
This passage is one of the foundations I use for the entire music team! The first 11 chapters of Romans are Paul expounding upon a rich treatise of theology that has served as great fodder for many debates in the church throughout the centuries! But then all that reach theology turns into robust theology at the end of chapter 11 where he says “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” After the doxology he turns into practicality. Now that we have this foundation of theology, what are we supposed to do with it? It begins with the exhortation and command to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. That bodies isn’t just referring to our flesh and bones, instead it’s talking about our whole being. Everything we are is meant to be submitted to the Lordship of Christ. But that’s not the only characteristic used here! We’re also called to be “holy and acceptable to God.” That means we’re not only a sacrifice, but we’re commanded to be holy, or perfect, just like our Father in heaven is perfect. And if we’re holy then we’re also going to be acceptable to God.
 
Then we turn to more ways we’re supposed to submit ourselves to God. We’re commanded to not be conformed to this world. That is: don’t just go along with the worldly sinful ways that we used to live in. We’re commanded to be different. As Paul has just said, we’re to by holy, which cannot be evil. So what is the alternative? We’re instead commanded to be transformed. So don’t CONform, be TRANSformed. What we’re being transformed into is the image of Jesus. As we saw yesterday, Jesus is the icon of God, and we’re to be icons (image bearers) of Jesus into the world. (The iconoclastic controversy really is applicable and fascinating!) This transformation begins in our minds. We must change the way we think in order to pursue holiness. This is where the spiritual disciplines come in to play. What is it you’re spending your time thinking about, meditating on, devoting time and energy to? This changed thinking will allow us to more faithfully and accurately determine what the will of God is. Unfortunately, we so often treat God’s will a bit like a magic 8 ball, where we HAVE to get the right answer to determine where we’ll go, and if we miss something we’re outside God’s will. Instead, following God’s will is pursuing holiness! If we’re pursuing God and being like Him, then we should live our lives! And by being obedient to Him, we will see that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. 
 
SONG:
Today’s song is ‘No One But You’ by Hillsong. I fun one to sing along to! You can listen to it on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
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by mikethestrand on April 17, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 17, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/17/april-17-devotional/

April 16 Devotional

Happy snow day everyone! Now we have double reasons to stay home!
 
Today we’ll be taking a look at Colossians 1:15-20:
 
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
 
This section is an exposition on who Jesus is. It begins by describing Him as the exact image of God. The word used is ‘icon’ which eventually lead to the iconoclastic controversy of the 8th century (if you want to talk about that sometime, let me know! That period fascinates me! I don’t have time to discuss it here!). The intent here is saying Jesus is God. If you’ve ever seen a wax seal, it bears an imprint of the seal on it, which is the same every time. Jesus is exactly the same as God, this is another way of saying He is God! So we see Jesus is God, but then we also see how the Son was involved in creation. He created everything together. As Abraham Kuyper is popular for saying, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” Jesus is the beginning and end of everything. He not only created everything seen and unseen, He holds it all together! But the most important thing He holds together is the church.
 
The point Paul is driving to in this passage is the need of the church to submit to Christ’s headship. Because of that, we need to recognize that Jesus is preeminent in everything. In our life, in our house, in our marriage, in our parenting, in our chilling, in our buying, in our living. In everything we do, Christ should be seen as Lord and Savior. He is the Lord of the Church, and because of that we need to do our best to submit ourselves to his leadership. And because He is the head, Lord, and Savior, He is able to reconcile everything to Himself. I have a distinct memory of one class in college where the professor asked if we could tweet the gospel message (at the time, Twitter was limited to 120 characters). After spending almost 2 hours on it, the class came to the conclusion that we couldn’t! Yet as I’ve thought about it since, I think I would define the gospel as: reconciliation. We were enemies with God, but Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross has brought about reconciliation. At some point I’ll look at the next step of this idea where we are thus commanded to be ambassadors of reconciliation! But that’s our task as God’s people. We must seek to bring reconciliation in every area of life. I think this is timely for all of us right now, as I’m guessing many of us are maybe starting to reach the point where you might need some reconciliation at home 🙂 I know my family has reached that point a couple times! Being stuck inside is bringing out the best and the worst in all of us! So I hope you’re able to be a minister of reconciliation in your home today!
 
SONG:
Today’s song is originally by Andrew Peterson, but if you’ve heard of Shane & Shane you may have heard that they’ve started a new ministry of how to lead worship more effectively, so they’ve got a ton of great covers you should check out! The song’s name is ‘His Heart Beats’ and you can listen to it on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
 
FREE STUFF:
There’s a guy who’s started a TV series looking at the life of Jesus that Cara and I just started watching last night and really enjoyed it! For a little while you can watch it for free, it’s called ‘The Chosen’ and you can watch it HERE. They also have an app where you can watch it all for free that you can access HERE.
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by mikethestrand on April 16, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 16, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/16/april-16-devotional/

April 15 Devotional

Happy hump day! That means today is Wednesday, for those of you who haven’t seen all the same movies as me! It’s called hump day because if you can get over the hump of Wednesday, the rest of the week is downhill, but right now it kind of feels like every day is hump day!
 
Today we’ll be looking at the first 5 verses of Romans 5:
 
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
 
We first notice that everything following the first verse comes because of the fact that we’ve been saved. This is a continuation of Paul’s argument in Romans 4, where he’s reminding his readers that everything is dependent on faith. That faith means we have been justified (been put in right standing) before God. And what comes with that is peace. Where we were once at enmity with God, and even His enemies, we now have peace and reconciliation. All of this happens through Christ. Apart from Him and His atoning death on the cross, we had no chance of ever making restitution to God. We had no reason to hope for anything! But because of Christ, we now hope with an unending hope no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in. But what is it we hope in? Paul says “the glory of God.” See our hope isn’t in ourselves, isn’t in our circumstances, isn’t even in our faith. No, our hope is in the glory of God. As long as God is glorious (and He has been forever and and always will be), we have a every reason to hope. 
 
Paul continues with a great chain beginning with rejoicing in our sufferings. One of the pastors I used to listen to said “for Christians, this is as close to hell as they’ll ever get.” See this world is a life of suffering. D.A. Carson says that suffering is guaranteed, all you have to do is live long enough! So we are commanded to rejoice in the midst of our sufferings, because they’re temporary. But that’s just the first link in this chain. Suffering – endurance – character, hope. The end of suffering is the reminder that we can hope in God and His promises. When we stand on the last day, marked by the Holy Spirit, sealed as His children, we will have no shame! We have been forgiven, the blood of the Lamb has paid for our sins! What a great thing to hope for in the midst of suffering!
 
SONG:
Today’s song is by one of my favorite bands I’ve listened to since high school and seen live more times than I can keep track of! It’s called ‘Joy Invincible’ and you can listen to it on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
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by mikethestrand on April 15, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 15, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/15/april-15-devotional/

April 14 Devotional

Today we’ll be taking a look at Hebrews 6:13-20:
 
For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
 
The author to the Hebrews begins with a story his hearers would remember: father Abraham (who at this time did NOT have many sons). This promise takes place before God’s promise that they would have a son the following year was given to Abram and Sarai. Yet even then God promises to bless and multiply them, which meant they had to trust God with everything. And the reason they could trust God is because He is the ultimate being where there is nothing or no one greater. He is the end to everything! Which means when He makes an oath, the only thing He has to swear by is Himself! But because He has sworn by Himself, we can trust that He is working all things our for our good. Because He is good we can hold fast to the hope we have coming, a hope that never needs to fade. Now I don’t know about you, but I often lose heart and hope and forget God’s promises! I’m so fickle I can be amazed by God’s provision one hour and start to worry about it the next. This is where I love the imagery given in the last 2 verses.
 
Our hope is not based on circumstances or fleeting feelings, but on the fact of the resurrection. As we just celebrated Sunday, the tomb is empty! And that fact serves as the anchor of our souls. An anchor is one of the most vital pieces of a ship (at least it was during this era of human history). If the ship has a good anchor that can grab a hold of the ground beneath the sea, then the ship can withstand anything nature wants to throw at it! No matter how big the waves or dark the sea, as long as the anchor remains secure, the boat’s not going anywhere! But our anchor, instead of borrowing into the ground, has ascended into heaven! The author mentioned the curtain. In the temple there was a 4” curtain separating the holy of holies from the rest of the temple. It was so thick no one could see behind it! But when Jesus died, that curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom reminding people that God was now out among his people. He could not be contained by anything, much less a curtain. Yet that’s where Jesus has now gone: to the Holy of Holies on our behalf! He now sits at God’s right hand until He returns to judge the living and the dead. And as long as He’s sitting on His throne, we can hope, we can trust, and we can weather any storm that is thrown against us!
 
SONG:
This song is one of my favorites on this theme of Christ being the anchor for our souls by Josh Carrels called ‘Anchor for My Soul’ you can listen on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
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by mikethestrand on April 14, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 14, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/14/april-14-devotional/

April 13 Devotional

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter yesterday, even though we weren’t able to meet together! I will confess it was really weird to sit down and eat an Easter meal with my family without having just spent the morning celebrating with our church family! Today we’re going to take a look at the end of John 17:
 
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
 
These are the last words Jesus said to his disciples while they were in the upper room celebrating Passover together. This is one of the most beautiful things Jesus could have ever prayed, because he takes time to pray for us! He intentionally prays for every person who will ever put their faith in Him. So it’s not a stretch at all to say that as Jesus was preparing to go to the cross and bear the punishment for the sins of the world from the Fall until He comes back again, He was thinking about us. He was praying for us. He was intentionally about reminding his disciples then, and his disciples today, that nothing will be able to stand against His kingdom. But notice specifically what He prays for: “That they may all be one.” That’s impossible, right? I have trouble enough being “one” with the people I really like, much less with the people I struggle to like! And the church is often FULL of people we wouldn’t naturally associate with! That means this unity takes work, it takes effort, it takes intentionality. We don’t drift toward unity, we drift toward division. I was listening to a podcast this past week with a musician and producer in Nashville who was sharing why he needed to quit touring. He shared that after being on the road for 2+ weeks and not being with his church family he started questioning his faith, his commitment, and even the truth of what he believed. After he got back from the road he drove up to his small group and the moment he walked in a peace permeated everything. He was reminded of the truths of the gospel made manifest through his brothers and sister in the church. That’s the reason the author of Hebrews reminds us to not neglect meeting together! We need to continue encouraging and edifying each other so that we can be united!
 
Now, that unity does not mean uniformity! Jesus goes on and grounds the reasoning for this unity in a theological point “just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.” This is referring to the Trinity. God is completely unified, yet there are distinctions in the Godhead, with different roles within the Trinity. In the same way, for those in Christ, we are all given gifts of the Spirit that we are to use to the best of our abilities. If we all had the same gifts we would never be able to function in full health! We’d be very strong in one area and weak in the other. It would be like one of those body builders who focuses exclusively on the top half of his body and neglects the bottom half, so his toothpick legs look like they can’t support the monstrosity on top! No, all of us are commanded to use our gifts to the best of our ability, and to continue growing in our gifts for the sake of the body. And the application of this is the unity we show in the midst of diversity is the best evangelistic witness we can show to the world. Jesus even says the world can judge whether or not we are Christians by how unified we are! So I’d encourage you to be thinking and praying about how you can better utilize your unique gifts and talents for the sake of the body when we can finally come back together. 
 
SONG:
Today’s song is by Citizens, a fun band that came out of Mars Hill in Seattle. Their most recent project was recorded using just a phone in an empty church, with a piano and guitar, and they’re sending out chord charts for people to arrange them however they want! The first song off the album is all about Jesus, and it’s called ‘Only Jesus Christ’ you can listen on YOUTUBE or SPOTIFY.
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by mikethestrand on April 13, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 13, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/13/april-13-devotional/

April 10 Devotional

Today is generally referred to as Good Friday in the church calendar, and the reason it’s good is because our sins were paid for! We no long need to bear the penalty for them. I’ll be working on editing a Good Friday video that Pastor Jeff and I recorded yesterday, so that will be going live on our website at 6 PM tonight, you’ll be able to watch it on the front page of our WEBSITE.
 
Today we’re going to be reading from Romans 5:6-11:
 
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
 
This is a beautiful picture of what Christ has accomplished for us in His death on the cross. Paul begins by calling all of us weak. So weak that in other places of the Bible we’re referred to as dead! (See Ezekiel 37 for the most graphic depiction of this) Yet even when we were at our weakest point, God considered that the be the right time. Have you ever had a conversation with someone where they said the right thing but at completely the wrong time? Or maybe you’ve been in that situation: you ask someone how they are, they say they’re good and how are you, and you reply I’m good how are you again? You’re saying the socially acceptable thing, but you said it at the wrong time! What this text is telling us is God sent Jesus to die for us in the right way at exactly the right time! And not only were we weak and helpless, God did this while we were still at enmity with Him. Opposed to everything He stands for. Disobeying Him in thought, word, and in deed. So because of our disobedience and sin, Jesus had to die for us. Can you imagine the weight that Jesus felt as He was carrying His cross? Yes, the physical weight of the cross itself, but the spiritual and emotional weight of dying for those who were in the process of killing them. And then in the midst of his suffering and grief, He shouts to His Father: “Forgive them! For they know not what they do!” Even in His death He was looking for the interests of others.
 
But that’s not all! Paul goes on to remind us that not only did Jesus die in our place, but now because of that we have an even better reason to hope and rejoice: we have now been saved from God’s wrath. Instead of His wrath being poured out on us, He poured it out on His Son on the cross. And what that means is God has reconciled His enemies to himself. He has brought everyone He’s saved into eternal life with Him! So because of that, as Paul says, we now can rejoice! We can celebrate! We can dance! John Stott, a pastor and theologian who lived last century said, “We should be the most positive people in the world. We cannot mooch round the place with a dropping, hang-dog expression. We cannot drag our way through life, moaning and groaning. We cannot always be looking on the dark side of everything, as negative prophets of doom. No, “we exult in God.” Then every part of our life becomes suffused with glory. Christian worship becomes a joyful celebration of God and Christian living a joyful service of God. So come, let us exult in God together!”
SONG:
Today’s song is titled ‘Magnificent, Marvelous, Matchless Love’ by the Gettys. You can listen to it on YOUTUBEor SPOTIFY. And don’t forget! I’ve still been updating the playlist including all the songs I’ve sent out! You can listen to it HERE.
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by mikethestrand on April 10, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, History, Relationships, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on April 10, 2020

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2020/04/10/april-10-devotional/

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