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DEVOTIONS
FOR February 22-27, 2010
Topic:
“Rivalry- Choosing to Love our enemies”
Don’t forget to start your devotion time with a prayer!
Ask God to speak to you through His word and that His Spirit would give you
understanding as you APPLY His truth to your life.
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Spend time with the devotions this week. Read the Scriptures and then
think how you can apply them to your life.
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MONDAY
February 22
Look
up and read
Leviticus 19:18
and
Galatians
5:13
An Old Testament
Command In
Leviticus, God instructs the Israelites not to seek revenge, or bear a
grudge against another person. Instead, He instructs them to “_______ your
neighbor as __________.”(vs. 18) We hear this in the New Testament too from
Jesus and again from Paul. In Galatians, Paul reminds us that we are called
to be free. Instead of using that freedom for ourselves, we are called to
_______ one another in ________. What does that look like? When we are
not motivated by love, we become critical of others- and that’s how
rivalries start. We stop seeing the good in people and look only at their
faults. This breaks up unity. Have you talked behind someone’s back?
Have you focused on someone’s shortcomings instead of their strengths? Does
your attitude need to change in regards to a relationship in your life? Ask
God to remind you today of Jesus’ command to love your neighbor (even your
rivals)- as you would love yourself. (see
Matthew
22:39)
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TUESDAY
February 23
Look
up and read
Luke
6:27-29
Don’t Have
Rivals…Love
Jesus tells us:
“________ your enemies, do ________ to those who hate you, bless those who
curse you, __________ for those who mistreat you.”(vs. 27-28) Wow- that’s
tough! Verses 32-34 go on to say that everyone can love people who love them
in return. Think about it: would you be more likely to love your grandma
who makes you feel like the most special person in the world, or is it
easier to love that person at school who never seems to pay much attention
to you? Most of us would agree that it’s easier to love grandma. But Jesus
calls us to love even when it’s hard- even when that person might not ever
love us back. How can we do this? When we pray for people (vs. 28), it’s
hard to keep holding angry feelings in our hearts. We know that our reward
comes in the form of God’s love, so we have no need to have rivals. Think
about how you treat people in your life. Do you treat everyone the same? Or
do you tend to be friendlier towards the people who are nice to you in
return? Spend some time thinking about how you can make an effort to show
love to the people who may be more difficult to love. Pray for those people
who come to mind and see how God changes your heart towards them.
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WEDNESDAY
February 24
Look
up and read
Ephesians 4:22-27
Don’t Stay Angry-
Be New!
Verses 22-24 say “You were taught with your former way of life to ______
_______ your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to
be made _______ in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the ______
self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” When we
choose to accept Christ, we are called to CHANGE. God doesn’t want us to
live the same way anymore. Instead we are to be made NEW. And what does
that look like? Verses 25-27 gives us an idea of how this relates to our
relationships. We are called not to let the sun go down on our anger. This
doesn’t mean that we can’t ever have disagreements, but we should treat them
the right way because anger can destroy relationships. When we bottle up
our feelings, it can destroy us from within. Are you angry with anyone
right now? What can you do to resolve your differences? Like verse 25
says, we are _______ body- so we need to do everything we can to stay
united. Pray for God’s help today to mend any broken relationships in your
life. Look for ways to speak truthfully and in an encouraging way to ALL
the people you’ll deal with today.
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THURSDAY
February 25
Look
up and read
1
John 2:9-11
and
Romans 5:8
Live in the
Light As
Christians, we are called to live in the light (which is Christ) and also to
be the light to the world. This scripture points out that anyone who hates
his brother is still in the _____________. (vs. 9) As Christians, we might
not always feel like loving everyone in our life- but love is not a feeling,
it is a choice. There will always be people who disagree with us and who
may be irritating and even our enemies, but as Christians, we can still
treat them with respect. Romans 5:8 tells us “…while we were still
__________ Christ died for us.” If Jesus could love us enough to die for us
while we were still choosing to sin against Him, can we not love the people
in our lives? God will help us express this love. Spend some time today
asking God to remind you of His love for you so that with that love you can
share it with others- even the people who are hard to love. |
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FRIDAY
February 26
Look
up and read
Matthew
5:23-24
and
1 John 4:20
Make Things Right with
Your Brother
Jesus says that if you are coming to offer something to God and remember
that you are in a disagreement with your brother FIRST go and make things
right, then come back and offer your gift to God. The use of the word
“first” is very important. Why do you think Jesus tells us that our
relationships with each other should be settled before we come before God?
He knows that broken relationships can get in the way of our relationship
with God. 1 John 4:20 reminds us that we can’t say we love God if we don’t
love our brother. Think about it. How do you think God feels when we talk
about someone behind there back, but then tell God in our prayers that we
love Him? Do those actions really reflect loving Him with our whole heart?
Spend some time in prayer today reflecting on what you can do to make sure
that your actions match what you say. Make a choice to love God today by
loving the people at school, in your family, and whoever else you come in
contact with.
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SATURDAY
February 27
Look
up and read
Matthew 5:9
Be a Peacemaker
“Blesses
are the _____________ for they will be called ________ of God.” What is a
peacemaker? What comes to mind when you think of the word peace? How does
that relate to relationships? Is there peace in your relationship if you’re
in an argument with a friend? Is there peace when you choose to be jealous
of someone? Being a peacemaker is part of being surrendered to God. God is
the One who gives us peace. When we let go of trying to be better than our
rivals and trying to always be right, we get to take part in sharing God’s
peace with our enemies, and we experience the peace for ourselves. God
wants us to live as His sons and daughters. That means we need to rely on
Him and seek to love like He wants us to love. Take a few minutes and think
about someone in your life who you would consider to be a peacemaker. What
makes them stand out to you? How can you make some changes to be more of a
peacemaker? Pray for God to make His peace real to you and focus today on
sharing that peace with others. |
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See you at Sunday
School, Worship and Youth Fellowship this Sunday!
Bible references provided by
www.biblegateway.com
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