Not Afraid Devotional

Every time I come running, I find grace on repeat. You welcome me with open arms, no matter where I have been. SCRIPTURES: Luke 15:11-32 NIV DEVOTIONAL: The story of the prodigal son is one of the most famous passages of Scripture and so it can be easy to take it for granted. However, within its popularity and frequent retelling, there is timeless truth present in this parable. Often we can see ourselves as the prodigal or lost son. We think of our Father in Heaven as somewhat merciful, but maybe we struggle to see to what extent His mercy goes. As the story depicts, the son comes to his senses after a season of wild living. As the son makes the journey back home, an incredible event takes place: the father runs to meet the son on his way back. This may seem unspectacular in our modern context, but for Jesus' Jewish audience, this would be unthinkable—it would have been simply outrageous. In the first century, Jewish men did not run. In order to run, the father would either need to hitch up his tunic or take it off altogether to avoid tripping. This would have revealed his bare legs. In this ancient context, a Jewish man showing his bare legs would have been incredibly shameful. This is what makes this particular part of the parable so powerful. The father was unconcerned with any shame associated with this action, his heart was simply for restoring his son. This story reveals many things to us, but in particular, it teaches us about the heart of God for his children. The Book of Hebrews echoes this parable when it says, “... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT). The parallels here are helpful. Jesus, like the father in the parable, disregards the shame associated with restoring God's children—his heart longs to show us mercy. Like the prodigal son on his journey home, we are also on a journey, and we too have been met along the road with open arms. This is why we can pray and sing the powerful confession, “Every time I come running, I find grace on repeat. You welcome me with open arms, no matter where I have been.” May we never forget the powerful promise of God's mercy. Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) says “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Original post by Hillsong UNITED available on YouVersion and used with permission from Capitol CMG Label Group. Download lyrics or sheet music from the album Are We There Yet? by Hillsong UNITED.

I know the Sower never wastes a tear' SCRIPTURES: Psalm 30:11-12 NLT Psalm 126:5-6 NIV John 10:10 NIV DEVOTIONAL: Life is full of different seasons. We may experience times of blessing, joy, and new opportunities. We should be thankful for these times. However, unfortunately, many of the seasons we come across in life are also ones of sorrow, tears, difficult circumstances, and unwanted challenges. Thankfully, Scripture is not without encouragement and promise regarding our times of trouble. Psalm 126:5-6 (NIV) says, “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” One of the beautiful truths of the way that God works in our lives is that He doesn't allow the things we face in life to go wasted. Even more than this, Scripture promises that God uses everything that takes place in our lives and works it together for our good. Romans 8:28 (NLT) says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Regardless of whether the season is full of triumph or of trial, we can take great encouragement in the fact that God doesn't leave us to face the seasons of life alone. He is with us and He is working. Nothing in our lives is wasted when it comes to God. In fact, just the opposite. Many times God turns our sorrow into rejoicing. When speaking of His future crucifixion, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” (John 16:20 ESV). The disciples were unaware of the depths of sorrow they would experience in the days ahead, yet, they were also unaware of the miracle of the empty grave that waited on the other side of their sorrow. This season did not end in sorrow but in rejoicing. We serve a God who not only stands with us in the seasons of sorrow but who turns these seasons around—working everything together for our good. Psalm 30:11-12 (NLT) reminds us, “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!”. As we go through the seasons of life, and they inevitably ebb and flow with sorrow or joy, we can hold steadfast to the promises of God. They are not empty words of false encouragement, but deep sources of truth that will sustain us through every season of life. This is why we can confidently say, “I know the Sower never wastes a tear.” Original post by Hillsong UNITED available on YouVersion and used with permission from Capitol CMG Label Group. Download lyrics or sheet music from the album Are We There Yet? by Hillsong UNITED.

What You went through to love me I'll never understand. What blows my mind away is You love me as I am.' SCRIPTURES: Ephesians 3:18-19 NLT John 3:16-17 NIV DEVOTIONAL: One of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith is to know and understand the love of God and yet still be unable to fully grasp it. Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT) says, “And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” The apostle Paul's prayer for the Church is that they would have the power to understand God's love, but still he concedes that, “it is too great to understand fully”. This is a common experience for Christians. We boldly hold to the truth that, “God so loved the world” (John 3:16 NIV), and at the same time, when we consider ourselves, our position to God, and how magnificent He is in comparison, we can ultimately find ourselves echoing the same words or sentiment as Job: “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” (Job 42:3 NIV). The crucifixion of Jesus is the chief example of God's love for humanity. Though we are called to continually remember this event (and therefore remember God's love), on another level it is impossible for us to comprehend the mighty love of God that was poured out at the cross of Jesus Christ. This is why the words “What You went through to love me I'll never understand. What blows my mind away is You love me as I am” are such powerful ones to reflect on. Despite our inability to fully grasp this incredible mystery of the love of God, Paul encourages us that as we “experience” this love, we will be made complete. And herein lies the key to this paradox. The love of God is not something for us to fully grasp, but truth to live in and experience. The love of God may be understood to an extent and be impossible to grasp to another extent, but between these two extremes is the opportunity to live in His love. We have the opportunity to open up our hearts to his goodness, to continually thank Him for His kindness toward us, and to worship Him for this love that we have come to know yet do not fully understand. Original post by Hillsong UNITED available on YouVersion and used with permission from Capitol CMG Label Group. Download lyrics or sheet music from the album Are We There Yet? by Hillsong UNITED.

My God is the wonder working God, from ancient skies down to that cross, the empty grave to Kingdom come. SCRIPTURES: Deuteronomy 10:21 NIV Psalm 8:3-4 NIV 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 NIV DEVOTIONAL: Throughout Israel's exodus from Egypt and their journey to the “promised land”, God's people saw His miraculous power time and time again. Yet, despite what their eyes had seen, the deliverance that had come their way, the provision God graciously poured out, Israel (also time and time again) forgot the Lord's faithfulness and miraculous works. Psalm 78:11 (NIV) says, “They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.” Unfortunately, this problem of forgetting is not only common to Israel. We, too, can easily forget what our eyes have seen. Yet, all throughout the Old Testament, Israel is told to “remember” what God had done: their deliverance from Egypt, the miracles He had performed, to remember His laws and statutes, and to walk in His ways (Deuteronomy 8:17-19). In the New Testament, Jesus told His Disciples that the Holy Spirit would remind them of all that He has said (John 14:26) and to take communion “in remembrance of Him” (Luke 22:19). Much of the New Testament letters were written to “remind” believers of the Gospel, truth, and how to live. So why is remembering so important for us? Because it reminds us who God is and informs us how to live. This is why it is good for us to pray or sing things like, “My God is the wonder-working God, from ancient skies down to that cross, the empty grave to Kingdom come.” Words like these can be powerful confessions of God's goodness, faithfulness over time, and they can also stir us to faith-filled expectation for the future. Remembering God's powerful work reminds us, not simply of what we believe, but who God is: ever faithful, wonder-working, unchanging, steadfast in love, completely loyal, and fully able, to name a few. The entire Christian faith is staked on a miraculous event: Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). We do not simply believe in the miracle of the cross and empty grave once or a few times in our faith, but constantly and in all times. We view life through the lens of Jesus risen, and this teaches us to remember God in how we live, in how we view the world, and in the life to come. Christians, after all, are resurrection people, and our God is a wonder-working God. Original post by Hillsong UNITED available on YouVersion and used with permission from Capitol CMG Label Group. Download lyrics or sheet music from the album Are We There Yet? by Hillsong UNITED.

Lead my heart into deeper waters, lead my faith beyond the shallows of my creature comfort, dare my trust into all Your greatness, someplace wilder than the safety of these old familiar shores. SCRIPTURES: Luke 9:23-24 NIV Jeremiah 17:7-8 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV DEVOTIONAL: When we think about the things that challenge our faith and trust in God, maybe we think of difficult circumstances, sin, the Devil, or maybe even the ways of the world that are opposed to God. We find ourselves wrestling with many different enemies to our faith, so to speak. But maybe one of the lesser confronted wrestles of our faith is simply comfort. Not the comfort of God—the kind the Holy Spirit gives us, or the comfort of God's peace—but the comfort (or the comforts) of this life. If we are honest with ourselves, sometimes we can easily be swayed by the desire or promise of comfort. The desire for comfort can cause us to avoid sharing the gospel or helping a person in need. Looking for comfort can lead us to make decisions based solely on our own wants, instead of being led by the Holy Spirit. We can be driven to make poor decisions for the sake and pursuit of earthly comforts. Yet, Christ never promised following Him would be comfortable. This is why it is bold, yet important, to pray or sing words like, “Lead my heart into deeper waters, lead my faith beyond the shallows of my creature comfort, dare my trust into all Your greatness, someplace wilder than the safety of these old familiar shores.” Being a Christian does not mean we will never get to experience certain comforts in this life. In fact, we are often unaware of how often God gives them. But, being a Christian means we do not live for these things. Our life's pursuit is in a different direction—toward a different end. Our will, our desires, our “creature comfort” has been surrendered and put in submission to Christ. The comforts of this life may come and go, but our faith and trust in God, our pursuit of Him and His purposes must remain, regardless of these ebbs and flows. Beyond this, in many ways, Christ calls us to un-comfortability. In Luke 9:23 (NIV) Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Even though this is a serious challenge, Christ's call to deny oneself shouldn't discourage us. In the very next verse, Jesus says, “whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:24 NIV) The comforts of this life are no comparison to the life we have in Christ. This is the great exchange of our faith: to lose our lives but to gain Him and His life. Yet, while we may be called to lay down earthly comforts here or there, God gives us a heavenly and holy comfort in all the circumstances we find ourselves in: “For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” -1 Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV Original post by Hillsong UNITED available on YouVersion and used with permission from Capitol CMG Label Group. Download lyrics or sheet music from the album Are We There Yet? by Hillsong UNITED.

See the end of the night, see the light before our eyes, no more sorrow no more pain, all our tears will fade away. SCRIPTURES: Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV Revelation 21:4-6 NIV Romans 15:13 NIV DEVOTIONAL: The story of Esther is one of a time riddled with trouble for God's people. They faced a number of threats while in exile—the most pressing was a threat of destruction and genocide at the hands of wicked people in power. However, Esther, a Jew, was appointed Queen during this complicated time in Israel's history. This is where we see a popular passage of Scripture in the book of Esther. Mordecai, a faithful Israelite aware of the dangerous position the people of God were in, says to the queen: “...who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b NIV). As the end of the story shows, it truly was, “for such a time as this” that Esther was made Queen. She used the position God had given her to ultimately protect His people from certain death. So often in life, we can find ourselves unsure about what to do in “days like these”—the days we find ourselves in. We look at the world around us and see clearly the pain and devastation of people desperately in need of hope. But it is, in fact, “days like these” that God has created us to live in. In other words, "for such a time as this." In the midst of everything that takes place in this world, we are never without the hope of God. The cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ have made this so. Romans 15:13 (NIV) says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” As we put our faith and trust in Christ, we not only have hope for this life but also in the promise of eternity. Revelation 21:4 (NIV) says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Like Esther, we can serve God (and others) from the positions we find ourselves in. We have the opportunity to bring the hope we have to others: to tell of the faithfulness of God, the good news of the Gospel, and the future of eternity. We live in an in-between time, having hope in this life, and looking to all that God has promised us ahead. It is in this place and in this time that God has called us to live. As we await the future hope of Heaven, we can hold to the hope we have now, knowing we are positioned by God “for such a time as this”. Original post by Hillsong UNITED available on YouVersion and used with permission from Capitol CMG Label Group. Download lyrics or sheet music from the album Are We There Yet? by Hillsong UNITED.