James 3:14 "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth." Just as rotten water can have a devastating impact on a city, bitter words can have a disastrous effect in our lives. We need to recognize the challenge of bitter speech. Our words … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: Overcoming Bitterness, pt6
Tag: Devotion
Colossians 2:13-14, "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." The starting point to overcoming … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: Overcoming Bitterness, pt5
Hebrews 12:6, "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." We don’t become bitter when life is going great. We become sinfully bitter when we respond to the hurts of life with anger, rooted in unbelief, that is not processed through the lens of God’s purposes. The antidote … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: Bitterness, pt4
Psalm 77:1-3, "I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints." When we … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: Bitterness, pt3
Bitterness is a feeling that involves a mixture of anger and resentment generated by the experience of unjust suffering. Bitterness is frequently associated with sin and slavery to sin in the Bible. Bitterness is not simply something you do—it is something you experience. Consider the bitter herbs in Israel's history. In preparation for the final … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: Bitterness, pt2
Ephesians 4:31, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." Bitterness is a powerful, dangerous thing. Left unchecked, it can completely consume a person’s life. The Bible describes it this way:• Bitter conditions in our lives, the terrible circumstances and mistreatment that we … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: Bitterness, pt1
Luke 12:51-53, "Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: Jesus Divides!
Hebrews 12:2, “For the joy set before him Jesus endured the cross.” The idea of crucifixion as the means to a joyful life is counterintuitive. Ask yourself: • How can a life shaped by the cross, an instrument of suffering and shame, be the way to joy?• Is the purpose of the cross not one … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: About the Cross, pt6
1 Peter 5:10, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." No one goes through life without suffering. To be human in a fallen world is to suffer. Suffering, however, … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: About the Cross, pt5
Galatians 5:1, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Jesus’ death on the cross is the path for true freedom. In order for a person to live a truly free life, they must do so in communion with God. This is a … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: About the Cross, pt5
1 Peter 5:6-7, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." Jesus reveals to us that humility is the heart of taking up the cross. If our lives are to be modeled after … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: About the Cross, pt4
Colossians 3:23-24, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." Ambition is a part of life. Everyone has it. The question is not whether you are ambitious but the content of your ambitions. For our … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: About the Cross, pt3
Matthew 16:24-26, "Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: About the Cross, pt2
Matthew 16:24-26, "Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: About The Cross, pt1
2 Timothy 3:14-17, "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by … Continue reading A Brief Devotion: Christ Commissioned, pt6
Christ Baptist Church Mokopane 