Tag Archives: Christianity

Passage of the Day:

It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. ⁵ And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. ⁶ And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love, 2 John 1:4-6.

Reflection:

As a child, you begin crawling on your knees. Once cognitive skills develop, you may opt to hold a parent’s hand as you slowly take your first steps. When balance is obtained, you can walk on your own, walking faster and faster as confidence grows within. As John writes to first century Christians scattered throughout the Mediterranean Sea region, he compares faith to a child learning to walk. However, Christians must learn to walk in the truth of the Bible, following in the footsteps of the Berean Church.

Prayerful Action:

As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true, Acts 17:10-11.

Fueling Your Faith This Spiritual Season:

Walking in faith begins with checking and scanning the Bible to discover if what a teacher said is consistent with and supports God’s Word. The apostle Paul adopted this spiritual discipline in a letter to the Church at Thessalonica, with more specifics. Paul urged first century Christians to test everything, cling to what is good and reject every kind of evil, 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22. This is the mindset you need to walk in faith in an everchanging world. When you add this to loving one another and obeying God’s commands, walking in faith becomes attainable.

Song of the Day:

Final Thoughts:

Today’s song is from the Facing the Giants soundtrack. As you rely on the Bible for your source of truth, you too can walk in faith as you face the spiritual giants of this age.

by Jay Mankus

Passage of the Day:

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. ² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good, 1 Peter 2:1-3.

Reflection:

My mother made my lunch for me during the school year until I graduated high school. As a swimmer and runner, I couldn’t have soda, and my coaches encouraged me to eat peanut butter along with fruits and veggies. This bag lunch that I kept in my locker never excited me, unless left over Halloween candy was added in as a surprise. As Peter writes to first century Christians scattered throughout the Middle east due to spiritual persecution, he addressed the spiritual appetite young believers should crave. Peter compares the words of the Bible to babies craving their mother’s breastmilk. The more Christians listen to, meditate upon, and study the Bible, your faith will increase, and your soul will be satisfied.

Prayerful Action:

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ, Romans 10:17.

Fueling your Faith this Spiritual Season:

Everything once in a while, I’ll starve myself for an extending period of time as I’m fixated on completing an important project. When I’m finally finished, I binge eat by devouring an entire pizza or lose myself in munchies as I watch television. Apparently, Peter had heard of or witnessed young Christians who hadn’t changed their habits after entering into a personal relationship with Jesus. This concerned inspired the words of today’s featured passage. Since the illiteracy rate was high in the first century, letters addressed to churches were read out loud so that the entire congregation could hear and understand this spiritual advice. May the words of Peter inspire a faith that craves spiritual milk.

Song of the Day:

Final Thoughts:

One of the signs of growth is being able to eat meat. May today’s song inspire you to move beyond spiritual milk to honey and spiritual meat found in God’s Word.

by Jay Mankus

Passage of the Day:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them, James 4:13-16.

Reflection:

Today’s passage addresses the concept of being amoral. The book definition of amoral is lacking a moral sense; unconcerned with whether something is right or wrong. From a spiritually sense, amoral is simply not knowing the Bible’s stance on a particular action, behavior or deed. As the earthly brother of Jesus addresses Christians in the first century about how fragile life can be, James urges his listeners not to overlook sins of omission. While James’ Jewish parents taught him what not to do, Christians are called to stand up for what is right in the absence of others. This is a call to be proactive in your faith, not just on what not to do, but how you should live in the absence of goodness.

Prayerful Action:

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, Ephesians 5:1-2.

Fueling Your Faith This Spiritual Season:

When I was attending Elementary School in New Jersey, my teacher claimed that there was a camera in our classroom. If this teacher didn’t personally observe a behavior that was missed, she said that she would go back and watch the film to catch the guilty individual. After tripping a girl walking back to her seat, this threat worked as I was overwhelmed by guilt, publicly confessing my transgression. Rather than walking around each day like a religious zealot focusing on what not to do, Christians should set their hearts and minds on emulating God’s example so that sins of inaction cease.

Song of the Day:

Final Thoughts:

God will give you at least one opportunity to share your faith with someone in church, at school or work daily. Rather than let this chance to shine slip by, seize this moment so that your faith matures to a point where sins of omission aren’t overlooked. When your faith becomes the core of your addiction for Jesus, acts of faith will prevail.

by Jay Mankus

Passage of the Day:

You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. ² Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. ³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. ⁶ Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. ⁷ In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness ⁸ and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us, Titus 2:1-8.

Reflection:

Sound faith is found in individuals who cling to biblical Christian doctrine based upon the apostles teaching. This is demonstrated when faith is expressed through the love of Jesus. As the apostle Paul writes a letter to a leader of the Church in Crete, he understands the cultural obstacles that Titus is up against. From a modern perspective, this would be like being the pastor of the church located on the Las Vegas strip. There are people losing control daily, falling prey to the acts of the flesh, Galatians 5:19-21. Subsequently, when a person in Crete put their faith in Jesus, there were plenty of sinful desires that a new convert needed to purge from their lives. This spiritual transformation was likely a slow process due to the wild lives of a typical Cretan. Developing a sound faith takes time, the process of arriving where God wants you.

Prayerful Action:

For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it, Romans 7:18-20.

Fueling your Faith this Spiritual Season:

Romans 7 is the apostle Paul’s confession of his own struggle with the sinful nature after converting to Christianity on the Road to Damascus, Acts 9:1-19. In a letter to the Church at Corinth, Paul speaks about a thorn in his flesh, either a physical ailment or spiritual war raging inside of Paul’s soul, 2 Corinthians 12:6-7. Therefore, if today’s devotion finds you far from living a sound faith, God will make everything beautiful in His time, Ecclesiastes 3:11. As you follow the advice in Colossians 3:1-8 to take off your past desires by putting on Jesus, a time will come when you’ll start to live out a sound faith.

Song of the Day:

Final Thoughts:

From time to time, I let certain parts of my life slide. The longer I let bad habits reign in my life, the harder it becomes to break free from my past. May today’s song inspire you to start purging the things in your life pulling you away from God so that you can get back on track to develop a sound faith.

by Jay Mankus

Passage of the Day:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ² Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ³ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ⁵ But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.⁶ For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, 2 Timothy 4:1-7.

Reflection:

As a former high school coach, I tried to prepare my students for situations that they would likely encounter at some point in the heat of battle. If an athlete is honest about their performance, there is likely at least one area or thing that they could practice, elevating their God given talents. As a teenage pastor, Timothy likely dealt with older believers and Christians that looked down upon him due to his age. Despite the various spiritual barriers and obstacles Timothy endured, fighting the good fight of faith. This requires keeping your head in the game of life, whether you’re getting blown out or don’t have your A game. This is Paul’s call to all people of faith.

Prayerful Action:

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses, 1 Timothy 6:11-12.

Fueling your Faith this Spiritual Season:

My church small group is currently participating in a Navigators Bible Study. The expectations and goal of this course is reaching a point where you’re reading the Bible every day. Just as an athlete needs to practice in the offseason to improve, the Christian faith shouldn’t take a day off. Faith and sports each require self-discipline, making time daily to work out physically and spiritual, 1 Timothy 4:8. As you learn to keep your head in all situations and endure hardship, listen to and keep in step with the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:16, so that in time you’ll fight the good fight of faith.

Song of the Day:

Final Thoughts:

I learned more about coaching baseball during the season when my team only won a handful of games. After each loss, I pointed out the barriers that stood in the way of experiencing victory. As a Christian, may you learn from yesterday’s failure so that you’ll press on in faith to fight another day.

by Jay Mankus

Passage of the Day:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. ¹³ Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴ The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life, 1 Timothy 1:12-16.

Reflection:

Since I’ve been blessed by the numerous Christian communities that I have been a part of over the past 40 years, sometimes I respond, “been there done that.” Whether this comes across as arrogance or over confidence, most Christians prefer a more honest and genuine faith. As I read the words of today’s featured passage of the apostle Paul, writing to a teenager pastor named Timothy, this humble tone makes me regret past comments. While Paul could have puffed up his resume with the number of churches he planted, and souls led to Christ, he considers himself the greatest sinner of all. This kind of opening statement emulates the honest faith that Christians should strive to obtain.

Prayerful Action:

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, James 5:16.

Fueling your Faith this Spiritual Season:

As a former stutterer, I received plenty of sympathy from Christians in college. Yet, if you want to make an instant connection with someone, be willing to admit your shortcomings in life. When you become vulnerable, this opens the door for permanent meaningful lasting relationships to form. The apostle Paul could have easily spoke down to lesser Christians in the first century, but the Holy Spirit impressed upon him to follow God’s example, Ephesians 5:1-2. As a current Learning Ambassador with Amazon, the more I tell new hires previous mistakes that I made, the more approachable I become to them in the future. You shouldn’t have to tell people about your faith, this should be clearly demonstrated through your daily actions.

Song of the Day:

Final Thoughts:

The apostle Paul reached a spiritual state that most Christians never experience in life. Perhaps, Paul came to a point in his life where all he wanted to fulfill God’s will for his daily life. May today’s devotion and song inspire you to live an honest faith, real about our failures and shortcomings, Romans 3:9-12.

by Jay Mankus

Passage of the Day:

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits^[b] to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings^[c] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word., 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17.

Reflection:

One of the first games I was introduced to as child was Steal the Bacon. Students would sit facing another team on the other side of the gym floor. Each player had a mirror on the other team, sitting Indian style with their back touching the wall. Since most class sizes were limited to 24 students, players would be given a number between 1 and 12. Students would count beginning on the left side, one through twelve. The moment your number was called, you would pop up, run toward the ball, flag or scarf in the middle of the gym, grabbing it before your mirror, then running back to your teammates before getting tagged. While your teacher randomly called numbers, there is a purpose and reason for each person called by God. During his second letter to the Church at Thessalonica, the apostle Paul refers to a Christian’s obligation to God. As new believers enter into a personal relationship with Jesus, you begin to learn God’s expectations and standards for your life. This is where I discovered my obligation to faith.

Prayerful Action:

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,^[g] Father,” Romans 8:14-15.

Fueling your Faith this Spiritual Season:

Finding a new life in Christ begins by rejecting natural inclinations that you’ve followed your entire life. As you learn to discern, listen to and keep in step with the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:25, you’ll be introduced to a Christian’s obligation to faith. Like a parent raising a child, God left behind the Holy Spirit for His children to follow, John 16:23. The apostle Paul refers to faith as hearing the message about Jesus, Romans 10:17. The more you read, study and meditate upon God’s Word, your faith increases. As your faith grows, so will your obligation to live according to God’s Spirit.

Song of the Day:

Final Thoughts:

Today’s song serves as a reminder that all Christians lose their way in live, forgetting their obligation to live for God. May the lyrics of Two Pennies inspire and revive your soul to take your obligation to faith seriously.

by Jay Mankus

Passage of the Day:

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you should learn to control your own body^[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵ not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; ⁶ and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.^[b] The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. ⁷ For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. ⁸ Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8.

Reflection:

Everyone has a weakness, a modern-day kryptonite which saps your spiritual momentum like humidity on a hot summer day. As the apostle Paul writes members of the Church at Thessalonica, it appears that many of them had fallen back into their former way of life prior to entering a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Rather than produce spiritual fruit, the acts of the flesh suffocated the faith of these first century Christians. Subsequently, Paul writes this letter to urge Christians to start weeding out bad sinful habits.

Prayerful Action:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved, Ephesians 2:4-5.

Preparing Your Fields to Bear Spiritual Fruit:

As someone who lives at a property with about an acre, weeding is necessary 6-9 months out of the year. As the summer heat and tropical rains fall upon South Carolina, some weeds grow more than a foot each week. If this is what happens externally, imagine what happens inside of you when you allow your flesh to go untamed. This is why it’s essential to immediately start weeding out bad sinful habits. This isn’t easy, but you need to have the will to press on as the Spirit is willing, but our body is weak, Matthew 26:41.

Song of the Day:

The lyrics to the Casting Crown song Slow Fade reminds me of what happens when you neglect areas of your life. Rather than give up by sliding further and further away from God, start weeding out bad and sinful habits from your life today.

by Jay Mankus