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the man project devotions god’s plan to become a godly manmonday, september 10, 2012 - saturday, september 15, 2012
sermon series by pastor jay dennis
devotions by pastor terryl delaney
You can find object lessons for children on each of these topics at http://ministry-to-children.com/category/object-lessons/
© 2012 First Baptist Church at the Mall
The Man Project Devotions
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monday, september 10
“how much does god love me?”
“We love because He first loved us” 1 John 4.19
The Bible tells us God’s love is so great that it reaches higher than heaven (Ps. 108.4). The Bible also tells us that God’s love for His people is so amazing that He saves our tears in a bottle (Ps. 56.8), and that He will love us forever (Ps. 103.17). However, most people don’t realize how much God loves them.
But before we talk about how much God loves us we should stop a mo-ment to ask—what is love? Some people believe that love is only an emotion, a feeling that we have for someone else. But love, real love, goes far beyond our feelings.
Real love, the kind of love God has for His people, involves kindness, loy-alty and steadfastness. Real love puts the welfare and happiness of the one who is loved ahead of oneself.
We get a clear picture of how love works in God’s relationship with us. The Bible tells us that, “God so loved the world (that’s us), that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” ( Jn. 3.16).
God didn’t send Jesus to die for us because we deserved His love. The Bible tells us, “God shows and clearly proves His love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5.8 AMP).
Jesus told his disciples that there is no greater love than a man laying down his life for his friends ( Jn. 15.13). Then, Jesus died on the cross to show us how much He and our Heavenly Father love us.
Discussion Questions: How much do you love God? How can He tell that you love
Him? Do you love Him with all your heart?
God’s Plan to Become a Godly Man
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tuesday, september 11
winning with faith“This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” I John 1.4
Genuine faith is all about believing what God says and trusting Him to do what He says. It’s one thing to believe God will do what He tells us He will do, but another to trust Him while we are waiting.
The Bible tells us, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb. 11.6).
Faith is taking God at His Word. The Bible tells us, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Heb. 11.1). Faith tells us we can rely on God and we can trust His promises.
Even though Noah had never seen rain, he believed God, built an ark, and saved his family (Gen. 6-9). Through faith, Abraham obeyed God left his home in the Ur of Chaldees and became a nomad in the Promise Land (Gen. 12; Heb. 11.8-10). Moses chose to be “mistreated along with the people of God” rather than remain a prince of Egypt because “He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt. Thus, God used Moses to set His people free from the bondage of slavery (Heb. 11.24-29).
We find the story of faith throughout God’s Word. Faith brought down the walls of Jericho (Heb. 11.30). David’s courage to face and slay Goliath was anchored in faith. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego trusted God and walked unharmed in the fiery furnace. Their friend, Daniel, slept soundly in a den of hungry lions with his head resting comfortably on a pillow of faith.
The Bible tells us our faith is tested by affliction (1 Pet. 1.6-7) and that the trial of our faith produces patience ( James 1.3). We overcome sin by faith (1 Jn. 5.4-5) and faith helps us resist the devil (1 Pet. 5.9). Faith is trusting in God and relying on Him. Faith leads us to Jesus, thus opening the way to eternal life.
Discussion Questions: How much are you trusting in God and relying on Him? How do you respond when God
doesn’t do what you want Him to do? What is your favorite story of faith in the Bible?
The Man Project Devotions
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wednesday, september 12
the courage to do what is right
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy. 31.6
What does it take to leave one’s family, home, and country, never to see it again? What does it take to face an angry king and tell him, “Let my people go?” What does it take to meet a giant in hand-to-hand combat on a battle-field all alone? What does it take to spend a night in a den full of hungry lions?
The answer to all of the above questions is—courage.
Courage is defined as, “The ability to stand up for what is right in difficult situations.” It helps us face danger, pain and most of all, our fears. That’s what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did. They had a choice. If they were willing to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden idol, they would be set free. If they refused to worship the idol, they would be cast into fiery furnace.
The three young men told Nebuchadnezzar, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O King. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Dan. 3.16-18). That’s courage. These three young men were going to do what was right, even if it cost them their lives.
The Hebrew word for courage, hazaq, literally means, “To show oneself strong.” Courage enables us to “withstand our fear” and “resolve to meet dan-ger with strength, and confidence.”
David gives us the secret to handling our fears in Psalms 56.3. He writes “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.”
Discussion Questions: When have you had to be courageous? Who do you know who has
been courageous? What helped you (or, them) be courageous?
God’s Plan to Become a Godly Man
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thursday, september 13
“why should i obey god?”“Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.” Jeremiah 7.23
The ancient Israelites constantly got into trouble because they didn’t obey God. Like many people today, they wanted to do what they wanted to do in-stead of what God told them.
But the Bible tells us if we truly want to be God’s people we must obey Him. Sadly, many Christians today, like many of the ancient Israelites, don’t understand why obeying God is so important.
Obeying God, like obeying our parents, recognizes His authority over us. God doesn’t want us to obey Him because He is “the boss.” He wants us to obey Him because we know that He loves us and wants the best for us.
When we sin by doing things our way instead of God’s way, He will not bless us. If God blessed us when we sin, it would encourage us to continue sinning bringing more and more trouble into our lives.
When we obey God, we open the door of His blessing to us. He will give us wisdom (Ps. 119.24), encouragement (Ps. 119.143), hope (Ps. 119.92), comfort (Ps.119.52), peace (Ps. 119.165), and protection (Ps. 119.88). We also gain a sense of freedom, the kind of freedom that can only come from God (Ps. 119.45).
The Bible tells us that obedience comes from faith (Rom. 1.5). When we have faith in the reality that God loves us and wants the best for us and that He is our Creator, it is easy to obey Him. Our obedience opens the way for us to have a special, personal relationship with God.
God invites us to willingly obey Him, without reservation, from our hearts, because we love and trust Him Ps. 119.11, 12).
Discussion Questions: Do you like obeying God? When do you find it most difficult to Obey God? Share a time when God blessed you because you obeyed Him.
The Man Project Devotions
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friday, september 14
“it’s the right thing to do”“The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be
found out” Proverbs 10.9
Some words are difficult to define, but easy to understand. Integrity is one of those words.
When we read the gospels we find that Jesus never used the word “integ-rity.” Instead, he spoke about the purity of our hearts and motives (Mt. 5.8; 6.1-6). When something is pure, it is unmixed. It has integrity.
A man or woman of integrity maintains an unbending commitment to his or her beliefs, values, convictions, and principles. They do not have mixed mo-tives. They do not seek to stretch or bend the rules. They do not say one thing and do another.
We see a good example of integrity in Ezra. He writes, “I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” (Ezra 8.22). Ezra didn’t say one thing and do another. He was willing to live by the testimony he had given the king by trusting God.
On the other hand, we see that Judas Iscariot lacked integrity. Outwardly, he appeared to love and follow Jesus. People who knew Judas thought he was living according to the teachings of Jesus. But we read in John 12.6 that Judas was a thief and helped himself to the money that belonged to Jesus and the other disciples!
We are often faced with a choice between doing what is right or doing what is easy or convenient. Without integrity, we try to see how close we can come to disobeying without actually disobeying. Or, we seek to disobey with-out getting caught.
If we are a follower of Jesus and truly love God, we’ll always seek to honor and please God by always choosing to do the right thing.
Discussion Questions: How do you decide what to do when you are faced with a choice to do right or wrong?
What do you do when someone pressures you to do the wrong thing? How does know-ing that Jesus is always with you help you decide between doing right and wrong?
God’s Plan to Become a Godly Man
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saturday, september 15
the secret to a successful life
“Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control”Proverbs 25.28
People get into all kinds of trouble when they lack self-control. The Bi-ble tells us people without self-control are like an ancient city whose walls have been broken down. Troubles invade their lives like enemy soldiers racing through a city’s broken walls.
We see many examples of this in the Bible. Cain lacked self-control so he killed his brother. Esau lacked self-control so he sold his spiritual birth right to Jacob. Samson’s lack of self-control moved him to foolishly tell Delilah the secret to his awesome strength. As a result, he was blinded and lost his life. Saul’s lack of self-control cost him his kingdom. Solomon forfeited ten of the twelve tribes of Israel as a result of his lack of self-control.
Why is self-control so important? It helps us hold our tempers, as well as master our desires and passions. People who lack self-control tend to act rashly, say things they don’t mean, and make bad decisions.
Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. When we become a follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit helps us control our desires, tongues, and tempers.
We find our responsibility in regard to self-control described in 1 Corin-thians 9.24-27. Paul tells us that we should be like disciplined athletes so we can win the race. Self-control will keep us on track. God has called us to win the crown He has waiting for us. We can, if we run the race God has set before us, with self-control.
Discussion Questions: What do you do when you get angry? What do you do when you re-ally want something or want to do something and you know it isn’t
right? What do you need to do to have more self-control?
The Man Project Devotions
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notes
God’s Plan to Become a Godly Man
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