By our nature, we tend to live for the approval of others, but we also know we should be seeking God's approval. For Matt's devotional tonight, he talked about Paul's encouragement of Timothy as the model by which we should seek out approval in our lives. Our worship and commitment to following Jesus on a daily basis should help us to desire to be called God's good and faithful servants.
In this crazy world that we all live in, it can be hard to know what's even happening and what we should do. For Colton's devotional tonight, he talked about Paul's journey which must have seemed crazy and not at all to his own plan but his actions of following God and being obedient to him lead him to some of the most impactful work. God doesn't expect us to understand or know everything in the world, but he does ask that we trust him and follow him and let his plan guild us through this life and into the next.
Are you outsourcing your faith to someone else? Do you blindly trust what you hear in sermons, podcasts or (gasp) even our Monday night devotionals? For Kevins message tonight, he used the Bereans as an example of people who eagerly received the word of God but then diligently examined of the Scriptures daily to verify those teachings. He encouraged us to not just hear the messages of others but also to immerse ourselves in God's word, verify what others have said and pray for truth and instruction from God.
Bearing our cross is a mostly spoken of in the metaphorical sense today, but in Jesus' day it was an image of a very real and very awful fate. For Drew's devotional tonight, he talked about the real cost of being a follower of Christ and how it's totally worth the price.
The disciples spent much of the gospel driving home the importance of Jesus's mission to humble himself and to become THE sacrifice for us. For Colton's message tonight he talked about how Jesus set aside his Godly nature to join us, teach us and suffer for us in order for us to be able to call him our personal Lord and Savior.