Friday 1 Feb 2019

February 1: Philippians 1:8-11

Key Verse: Philippians 1:8
God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Devotion:
As you read through your bible, take note of the people Jesus took pity on, take note of the people Jesus approached to give them the truth, take note of the people He loved. We need to take note of what Jesus did because He is our ultimate example by which we should aim to live and if He was willing and able to love those who seemed to be rejected by society, then we should be willing to do so too. However, we should not exclude those around us just to make a point of going after those whom society shows need it most because we may well have people around us that need our love and attention too.

Through our brotherly love towards others, we need to show all they do have someone who cares; through us caring, they will get to know why we care and hence get to know that Christ is the one who has given us the grace in the beginning. What better gift can we ever give to anyone other than Christ? The more that we are able to read our bibles, the more understanding we gain. The more we go out and show brotherly love, the more we are able to understand it too. Sadly, that seems to be one more thing society has forgotten about over time and all because they first took Christ out of their own lives.

God has given us His Word so we will understand more about the grace and mercy He has shown us so we can extend it to those around us. Yes, when people are facing rough times they do look out for places where they can gain comfort. Yes, we do need to step forward and show them how much Christ cares by showing them that we can care. Living a life which is different will set us apart and will allow us to be the example that Christ wants us to be to others. So long as we strive to be that example, Christ will strive to support us in our endeavours. We need to show people that we are different and that we are sincere. Christ showed us exactly that a few thousand years ago!

Points to Ponder:
Are you a Christian?

Do you live a different life?