Everyone Needs A Savior

Posted by Melissa

WE ARE ALL SINNERS SAVED BY GRACE. Each one of us was created for a relationship with the Savior. At the very core of our sinfulness God gives us grace. He sees our need for cleansing and offers us the opportunity for forgiveness through the acceptance of His Son, Jesus Christ. Before judging the person in our cabin, our tribe/village, or even next to us, we need to reflect on our lives before Christ. We were all searching for the missing piece that would make us whole. Through God’s mercy and grace, we found the missing piece—Jesus. We need to look at others through the eyes of Christ, realizing they are searching, too.

Read 1 Timothy 1:12-17 and look closely at verse 15.

 Who is the writer of this passage?

 For what is he thankful?
 
According to the writer, why did Jesus come? (v. 15)
 
For what purpose does he believe Jesus saved him? 

 To whom does he give the glory?

Paul considered himself the worst of sinners, a man who sought out and persecuted Christians. Paul even describes himself as a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an “arrogant man.” He then thanked Jesus for loving him enough to save him from his life of sin. He acknowledged that it was because of the mercy and grace of Christ that his life was totally changed.

Paul knew the power Christ can have in a person’s life; he had experienced it. The reason Jesus came was to save sinners such as Paul (and me and you). Through the love of Jesus, Paul became a lover of lost souls. He saw people through the eyes of Christ and his heart of hatred was replaced with a heart of compassion. With God’s help, Paul made a huge impact on the world for Christ.


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The Root

Posted by admin

Read This Passage: 1 Timothy 6:6-10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. —1 Timothy 6:10

Tree roots. Dark roots. Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The root of the problem. The point is, we have a lot of uses for the word root. Roots supply nutrients to trees and plants; some women color the roots of their hair to hide its natural shade. Alex Haley made the idea of genealogical roots famous with his 1976 best-seller. But today’s devotion and key verse use the word root in reference to the source of the problem.
In this case, 1 Timothy 6:10 points out that the source of “all kinds of evil” is the love of money. Notice it’s not money, as this verse is often misquoted, but the love of money that Scripture says causes problems. Loving money involves craving it, focusing on it, pursuing more of it at all costs. Money is powerful and necessary in this world, but it’s all too easy to become obsessed by an all-consuming desire for more. What else can you become obsessed with and neglect God? What about popularity or our looks? Anything, even good things we consume ourselves with can pull us away from God.

God knew that money’s power and necessity would make it vital and important in our lives. He also knew that our desires and our love could become more focused on it than on Him. When money reaches that place of importance in our lives, it puts a strain on our relationship with God. Instead of pursuing Him with passion, we’re pursuing more money, and God, our relationship with Him, and His will are somewhere in our rearview mirrors.

So what is in your heart? What do you treasure? Seek to make God your all-consuming focus!

Real Choices
Take a good, hard look at your life. What is your passion? Is it God? Fame? Money? Awards? What’s separating you from His will and point of view? As long as there is air in your lungs, it is never too late to fix your relationship with Him if you feel disconnected from Him.

Digging Deeper
Read over Matthew 6:24. This is another verse that emphasizes that loving or serving money (or anything other than God) separates us from Him. What’s separating you from a closer relationship with God?

Pray
Lord, I want You to be my all-consuming focus. Help me to focus on the things that matter to You and keep money in the right perspective.


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