Called to be a Saint

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

May 1

CALLED TO BE A SAINT

To those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours (1 Corinthians 1:2).

Have you noticed that one of the most frequently used words of identity for Christians in the New Testament is saint? A saint is literally a holy person. Yet Paul and the other writers of the Epistles used the word generously to describe common, ordinary, everyday Christians like you and me. For example, Paul's salutation in 1 Corinthians 1:2 reads: "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."

Notice that Paul didn't say that we are saints by hard work. He clearly states that we are saints by calling. Some of us have bought into the mentality that saints are people who have earned their lofty title by living a magnificent life or achieving a certain level of maturity. No way. The Bible says you are a saint because God called you to be a saint. You were "sanctified in Christ" — made a saint by participating in the life of the only true holy one, Jesus Christ.

Many Christians refer to themselves as sinners saved by grace. But are you really a sinner? Is that your scriptural identity? Not at all. God doesn't call you a sinner; He calls you a saint — a holy one. If you think of yourself as a sinner, guess what you will do: You'll live like a sinner; you'll sin. Why not identify yourself for who you really are: a saint who sins. Remember: What you do doesn't determine who you are; who you are determines what you do.

Since you are a saint in Christ by God's calling, you share in Christ's inheritance. That which is true of Christ is now true of you, because you are in Christ. It's part of your identity. You are not the great "I Am," but with Paul you can say, "By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Your grace and Your calling in my life are totally undeserved, but it is my privilege to claim my inheritance. Thank You, Father. Thank You, Jesus.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

No Afternoon Athletic Contest

A reminder from class yesterday:

And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

Ephesians 6 (The Message)

Sermon: Greed

Yesterday Aaron spoke on the commandment "Do not steal". He applied this to us by talking about a heart focused on "it's all mine" versus a generous heart.

A generous heart isn't a quick fix, but a strategy from Matthew 6:19-23 might be:
1. Stop the stuff -- everything ends up in a garage sale (or an estate sale); store up treasures in heaven.

2. Invest our hearts -- when we re-allocate our money we re-locate our heart.
a. Percentage -- tithe plus
b. Priority -- first fruits
c. Progression -- a progressive percentage

"spending money like we give and giving money like we spend"

Forgiveness

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

April 30

THE COST OF FORGIVENESS

Forgive your brother from your heart (Matthew 18:35 NIV).

Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another person's sin. Forgiveness is costly; we pay the price of the evil we forgive. Yet you're going to live with those consequences whether you want to or not; your only choice is whether you will do so in the bondage of bitterness or the freedom of forgiveness. That's how Jesus forgave you — He took the consequences of your sin upon Himself. All true forgiveness is substitutional, because no one really forgives without bearing the penalty of the other person's sin.

Why then do we forgive? Because Christ forgave us. God the Father "made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Where is the justice? The cross makes forgiveness legally and morally right: "For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all" (Romans 6:10).

How do you forgive from the heart? First, you acknowledge the hurt and the hate. If your forgiveness doesn't visit the emotional core of your past, it will be incomplete. This is the great evangelical cover-up. Christians feel the pain of interpersonal offenses, but we won't acknowledge it. Let God bring the pain to the surface so He can deal with it. This is where the healing takes place.

Ask God to bring to your mind those you need to forgive. Make a list of all those who have offended you. Since God has forgiven them by His grace, you can forgive them too. For each person on your list, say: "Lord, I forgive (name) for (offenses)." Keep praying about each individual until you are sure that all the remembered pain has been dealt with. Don't try to rationalize or explain the offender's behavior. Forgiveness deals with your pain, not another's behavior. Remember: Positive feelings will follow in time; freeing yourself from the past is the critical issue.

Lord, I desire to be free from the hurt and the hate of offenses in my past. Today I move beyond desiring to forgive and asking Your help to forgive. Lord, I forgive _________ for ___________.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse is from James 1:19-21

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
(NIV)

Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.
(The Message)

Missional

Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

1 Corinthians 9: 19-23

In the military there was a principle that "the mission comes first". I think Paul exhibits this principle for Christ when he says " ... I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." Notice the use of "all" (all things, all men, all possible means) in this sentence. For Paul there was not anything that would take priority over what he could do that might save some. It is very easy for us to put other things at a higher priority that "all possible means" .. sometimes we put our comfort, our preferences, our likes and dislikes, our prejudices or our denominational heritage over doing something that "might" save others. Unfortunately for us, as for Paul, there is no guarantee that if we do something outside our comfort zone it will work. In fact, it probably will not work every time and will not work for everyone, but Paul's goal was to win "some" for Christ. We must ask ourselves if we are putting anything at a higher priority than winning "as many as possible".

Pride of Life

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

April 27

THE PRIDE OF LIFE

The boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world (1 John 2:16).

The third channel of temptation is at the heart of the New Age Movement: the temptation to direct our own destiny, to rule our own world, to be our own god. Satan tantalized Eve concerning the forbidden fruit: "The day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). Satan's offer was an exaggerated appeal to our God-instilled propensity to rule. "Don't be satisfied ruling under God," he seemed to say, "when you have the potential to be like God." When Eve was convinced that "the tree was desirable to make one wise" (verse 6), she and Adam ate.

Satan's promise that the couple would become like God was nothing more than a lie. When Adam and Eve yielded to his temptation, they didn't become the gods of this world as he claimed they would. Instead, they fell from their position of rulership with God, and Satan became the god of this world by default — exactly as he had planned.

Satan tried the same ploy with Jesus: "All [the kingdoms of the world and their glory] will I give You, if You fall down and worship me" (Matthew 4:9). When you think about it, Satan's offer was pretty ridiculous. Why would Jesus be tempted to worship Satan in exchange for the world when He already owned the universe? So He replied, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and serve Him only'" (verse 10).

The temptation of the pride of life is intended to steer us away from the worship of God and destroy our obedience to God by urging us to become our own god. Whenever you feel that you don't need God's help or direction, that you can handle your life without consulting Him, that you don't need to bow the knee to anyone, beware: That's the pride of life. Whenever you stop worshipping and serving God, you are in reality worshipping and serving Satan — which is what he wants more than anything else. Instead, your life should be characterized by worshipful humility and obedience to God (1 Peter 5:5-11; John 15:8-10).

Father, help me resist the temptation to be more than You have called me to be when I wrongfully assume Your role as captain of my soul.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

Speak the Name

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." Romans 1: 16-17


I'm not ashamed to let you know
I want this light in me to show
I'm not ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ.

"I'm Not Ashamed" by Newsboys

Lust of the Eyes

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

April 26

THE LUST OF THE EYES

The lust of the eyes . . . is not from the Father, but is from the world (1 John 2:16).

The second channel of temptation through which Satan came to Adam and Eve related to his lie concerning the consequences of disobeying God. God had said that death would accompany disobedience, but Satan said, "You surely shall not die!" (Genesis 3:4). He was appealing to Eve's sense of self-preservation by falsely assuring her that God was wrong on the issue of sin's consequences. "Don't listen to Him; do what's right in your own eyes," he urged. The forbidden fruit was a delight to her eyes (verse 6), so she and Adam ignored God's command in order to do what appeared to serve their own best interests.

The lust of the eyes subtly draws us away from the Word of God and eats away at our confidence in God. We see what the world has to offer and desire it above our relationship with God. We begin to place more credence in our own perspective of life than in God's commands and promises. Fueled by the lust for what we see, we grab for all we can get, believing that we need it and deceived that God wants us to have it. Wrongly assuming that God will withhold nothing good from us, we lustfully claim prosperity.

Instead of trusting God wholeheartedly, we adopt a "prove it to me" attitude. That was the essence of Satan's second temptation of Jesus: "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down [from the pinnacle of the temple]" (Matthew 4:6). But Jesus wasn't about to play Satan's "show me" game. He replied, "It is written, 'You shall not put the LORD your God to the test'" (verse 7).

God is under no obligation to us; He is under obligation only to Himself. There is no way you can cleverly word a prayer so that God must respond to it. That not only distorts the meaning of prayer but puts us in the position of God. The righteous shall live by faith in the written Word of God and not demand that God prove Himself in response to our whims or wishes, no matter how noble they may be. We are the ones being tested, not God.

Forgive me, Father, for the times I have listened to the enemy's lies and tried to meet my needs the way I saw fit. You are God, not me. I look to You to supply all my needs in Your own way.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

Know the Few Great Things that Matter

"You don't have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by a few great things. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on for centuries and into eternity, you don't have to have a high IQ or EQ; you don't have to have to have good looks or riches; you don't have to come from a fine family or a fine school. You have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things, and be set on fire by them."

John Piper, Boasting Only in the Cross

Hope for Transformation

The story of Jacob is an amazing chronicle of the grace of God, reminding readers of the labyrinth of selfishness from which he has brought us. Jacob symbolizes all human persons living in sin. Jacob's name is illustrative. He was a twin, and when he was born he grasped the heel of his twin brother; therefore, the name Jacob means "the one who takes by the heel" or "the one who supplants." His character is one of "graspiness"

and is the essential biblical picture of sin: pushing to achieve one's own way.

Incredibly enough, God loved Jacob, and it was through Jacob that God intended to raise up the nation out of which would come the Savior of the world. It seems unbelievable that God could use such a deceitful person to continue the process of redemption. However, God indicated the way his plans would be fulfilled in the new and transforming name he gave to Jacob, the supplanter. It was Israel, meaning "let God rule." The sovereign God who cares enough about a single, self-seeking person to turn him or her into a world changer is that person's only hope.

In God alone there is hope for the transformation of the grasping human heart.

From This Day with the Master

by Dennis F. Kinlaw

Faith

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.

Romans 1:8

This is my prayer for our body .. that our faith will be reported all over the world.

Lust of the Flesh

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

April 25

THE LUST OF THE FLESH

The lust of the flesh . . . is not from the Father, but is from the world (1 John 2:16).

Satan first approached Eve through the channel of the lust of the flesh. He planted a doubt in her mind about the fruit of the tree when he said: "Has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" (Genesis 3:1). Eve answered, "God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it'" (verse 3). But Satan had piqued her appetite for the forbidden fruit, and she "saw that the tree was good for food" (verse 6). Yielding to the lust of the flesh contributed to Adam and Eve's downfall.

Satan also challenged Jesus through the channel of the lust of the flesh. Our lord had been fasting for 40 days when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness at the point of His apparent vulnerability: "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread" (Matthew 4:3). Satan is not omniscient, but he's not blind either. He learned about Jesus' apparent vulnerability to physical temptation by watching Him go without food for 40 days. He's watching you too, looking for soft spots of vulnerability in your appetites for food, rest, comfort and sex. Temptation is greatest when hunger, fatigue and loneliness are acute.

The temptation of the lust of the flesh is designed to draw us away from the will of God to serve the flesh (Galatians 5:16, 17). When Satan tempts you through the channel of the lust of the flesh, he will invite you to fulfill your needs in ways that are outside the boundary of God's will. Whenever you feel enticed to meet a legitimate need by acting independently of God, you are being tempted through the lust of the flesh.

When you resist the temptations of the lust of the flesh, you are declaring your dependence on God for your needs. As such you are remaining "in the vine," tapping into the resources Jesus referred to in John 15:5. But when you yield to temptation in this area, your fruitfulness as a Christian will suffer because apart from Christ you can do nothing.

You are a strong, fruit vine, Lord, and I will not wither as long as I remain in You. Strengthen me today to resist the temptation to meet my needs apart from You.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

When You Know It But Don't Feel It

John Piper discusses practical steps when we have a divided heart as illustrated in a Psalm 43 lesson:

"O how many people come to me for prayer pointing to their head and say, “I know that God is true. I know that he loves me. I know that promises never to leave me or forsake me.” And then they point to their heart, and say, “But I don’t feel it.” That’s what this man is experiencing. God is his refuge objectively. But subjectively he feels rejected and forsaken.

He knows the cause of this is darkness. He is spiritually blind to something. So the first stage of his prayer is for light and truth. This is the way Paul prayed for us, in Ephesians 1:18, “[May] the eyes of your hearts [be] enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.” The eyes of the heart—remember where the people were pointing when they could not feel the wonders they knew—the eyes of the heart need light. Spiritual light. Light from God.

He is praying for spiritual light. It’s not physical light. Physical light helps physical eyes see physical reality. Spiritual light lets spiritual eyes—the eyes of the heart—see spiritual reality. And see it for what it is, namely, beautiful. So he is praying that God would rescue him not from his enemies but from a far more dangerous enemy: a darkness that causes the world to look much more attractive than it is and causes the greatness and beauty of God to fade out of sight.

O God, he prays, send me light. And I think he adds “truth” because this is what you see when light comes. Truth is what’s real, what’s substantial. Send light to my soul. Let me see the true substance and reality of things. O God, banish illusions from my heart. Not just intellectual illusions from my head, but emotional illusions from my heart. "

Temptation

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

April 24

SATAN'S THREEFOLD TEMPTATION

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world (1 John 2:16).

You will be better prepared to resist temptation in your life when you realize that, according to the Scriptures, there are only three channels through which Satan will entice you to act independently of God. They are summarized in John's instructions to believers concerning our relationship to this world: "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:15-17).

The three channels of temptation are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. The lust of the flesh preys on our physical appetites and their gratifications in this world. The lust of the eyes appeals to self-interest and tests the Word of God. The pride of life stresses self-promotion and self-exaltation. Satan confronted both the first Adam and the last Adam through each of these three channels of temptation.

Notice how Satan used precisely those three channels to deceive Eve: "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh], and that it was a delight to the eyes [lust of the eyes], and that the tree was desirable to make one wise [pride of life], she took from its fruit and ate" (Genesis 3:6).

The first Adam failed miserably and we still suffer the results of his failure. But the last Adam — Jesus Christ — met Satan's threefold temptation head-on and succeeded triumphantly. In Him we have the resources and the power to conquer every temptation Satan throws at us.

Dear God, please tear down any pride or self-deception I may have concerning Satan's strategies of temptation. I know I can never become complacent about spiritual warfare.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson

Victory

Often God will give us victory—if we step out in faith to do our part. We have to obey his directions. Could it be that we sometimes fail to receive God's best because we remain passive when he is summoning us to act in cooperation with his purposes?

Have we oversimplified our theology to the point where we never listen for directions from the Lord?

From Breakthrough Prayer: The Secret of Receiving What You Need from God
by Jim Cymbala

Prayer Verse

Our prayer verse this week is 1 John 2:1-2

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Sermon: Making Your Marriage Affair Proof

Aaron continued the Ten Commandment series yesterday with "do not commit adultery". He exhorted us to be a picture to the world of "what it looks like when God matters in our lives."

He offered five ways to dis-member an affair:
1. Take a stand before hand -- Psalm 119:11
2. Never grin at sin -- recognize "this is a rattlesnake"
3. Don't inspire the fire -- Eph 5: 3-5 not even a "hint"
4. Better retreat than defeat -- Matt 5:27-30
5. Please your main squeeze -- learning to give your spouse your absolute best

"What God intended to bond satan uses to break."

Understanding and Feeling in Worship

Excerpt from "The Place of Preaching in Worship" by John Piper

"But there are two reasons for the prominent place of preaching in worship that go deeper than this. They have to do with the twofold essence of worship: understanding God and delighting in God. Jonathan Edwards explains God's goal in worship like this:

God glorifies Himself toward the creatures also in two ways: 1. By appearing to . . . their understanding. 2. In communicating Himself to their hearts, and in their rejoicing and delighting in and enjoying the manifestations which He makes of Himself . . . God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart.¹

So there are always two parts to true worship. We can say it in two pairs: there is seeing God and there is savoring God. You can't separate these. You must see him to savor him. And if you don't savor him when you see him, you insult him. Or another pair would be this: in worship there is always understanding with the mind and there is always feeling in the heart. Understanding must always be the foundation of feeling, or all we have is baseless emotionalism. But understanding of God that doesn't give rise to feeling for God becomes mere intellectualism and deadness. This is why the Bible continually calls us to think and consider and meditate and remember on the one hand, and to rejoice and fear and mourn and delight and hope and be glad on the other hand. Both are essential for worship. "

Down Days: Compasssion

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Thursday, April 19, 2007 - Dealing with Down Days


I saw that one reason I needed that down period was to teach me compassion. Just a couple of weeks earlier, after hearing a very convicting sermon in church, I had asked God to give me a heart that broke over what breaks His heart. And we read in Matthew 9:36 that Jesus' heart was broken when He saw people who were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

How do we learn compassion? By walking in someone else's shoes. We're told that Jesus is touched with the feelings of our weaknesses because He was in all points tempted like we are. That continually comforts me, as I go to Jesus with my problems, knowing that He's walked this path before me and He knows how I feel. That's how we become compassionate people–by putting ourselves in other people's shoes and feeling what they feel.

As I struggled through those lifeless days, I thought to myself, "There are so many people who have these kind of days all the time. Remember how it feels, Mary. Remember how difficult it is to pull yourself out of it. Remember how bleak everything looks. Remember, so when others are harassed and helpless, you will be compassionate."

Have you had any down days lately? Maybe you're having some now. If so, let me say first of all that I understand. Yours may take a different form from mine, but the resulting pain is similar. And I can tell you that I feel for you–I care–I understand–because I've been there.

And then let me encourage you that God doesn't condemn you if you are His child. He hurts when you hurt, and He knows how you feel. He also can heal you. Just tell Him quite honestly how you feel, and then ask Him to show you exactly why you're going through the down period.

What do you need to learn? Is He trying to get your attention about a certain issue? Your lessons may be different from mine, but they're there. Don't give up until you find them. Then, like the Apostle Paul, you too will rejoice in your weakness as you see how His power is made perfect in you.