Author Archives: lrbartel

Jan 24 2018
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Devos

Saw a sign the other day… “Will work for salvation” … It’ll never be adequate to gain it!

working to gain salvation

Just a little reminder from the Bible on the subject of how we can be righteous, have salvation, and please God, from Apostle Paul… (Just read it this morning)…

Speaking about his very religious fellow countrymen… “I bear witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they do not submit to God’s righteousness. FOR CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES!” (from Romans 10:1-4)

And to follow up on that passage Jesus declared, “I have not come to abolish [the Law or the Prophets], but to fulfill them!” (Matthew 5:17)

The comment I wrote in the margin of my Bible this morning? “It’s one thing to seek to honor and please God because you trust Him and love Him… It’s quite another to try to earn your way into heaven and gain salvation and be righteous by your own works!”

“For by grace you have been saved through faith! And this is not your own doing: It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Trusting Christ to save you from sin and a love motivated lifestyle are what please God! Just say’n!

Jan 22 2018
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Devos

Spiritual prosperity trumps material prosperity! Who says so? Jesus Himself!

“Materialism” – including a fixation and preoccupation with the status material things bring, the desire for “stuff,” the competitive atmosphere of “keeping up with the Jones,” the pursuit of material “security” and the “love of money” – is the “spiritual virus” that has sadly captured the hearts of many Christians in America. In fact, for many American Christians it would be a healthy tonic to visit passionate followers of Jesus in a 3rd world country – no, better than that, to live with them for awhile – and see, feel, and taste their single-hearted devotion for Christ and His cause in the absence of material prosperity. Here’s a biblical fact regarding Kingdom values… “Spiritual prosperity trumps material prosperity!” You can have both, but it’s difficult to keep the proper balance and perspective… Who said so, Jesus Himself! (Matthew 19:23-30)

I read the Kingdom warning of Jesus in Matthew 6 on this issue during “coffee with the Lord” this morning and I prayed that God would always help me keep its important truth clearly in focus…

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money!” (from Matthew 6:19–24 ESV)

I want my investment policy to prioritize “the Kingdom of Heaven” and I want generosity to flow easily through my life… Don’t you?

Jan 22 2018
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Devos

It doesn’t matter what happens… I want to live with godly resolve!

Living with Resolve.jpgI’m so impressed with the level of commitment and resolve of Job in the Bible… after the tragic loss of his children, the destruction of all his possessions, physical pain and suffering… even the unjust accusations of his “friends” who believed there must be some sin or failure that brought about what Job was experiencing… here is what Job declared…

“Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger!” (Job 17:9)

Let me paraphrase that for you… “It doesn’t matter what happens to me, or what you say! I’m going to go on serving and trusting God and I believe He’ll strengthen me to withstand whatever may come my way!”

I want to have faith and commitment like that! I want to exhibit that kind of resolve! I believe… no, I KNOW that God honors it! I’ve read the rest of the book of Job and I’ve seen it work in the lives of godly people I highly respect!

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