2020 Daily Devotion - Day 111

-
There are many people who are afraid to be assertive. Sometimes, they are willing to allow others to take advantage of them, or even abuse them. They might even think it’s the “loving” thing to do. But this is not always true. You were created in the “Image of God”, which means you should not be demeaned or abused. You have been stamped with the very character of God Himself, and this alone gives you immense value. In addition, as a believer in Jesus, you are a child of God. Because of Jesus, the Bible says your name is “written in the Lamb’s book of life”. This means you have eternal life.  You can’t earn eternal life; it is a gift given to you through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This means that you have tremendous value, and therefore, can be assertive. I am not talking about being aggressive, but rather assertive. Aggression is often about someone getting their way without much or no concern for others. Aggression is often about winning with no or little concern about the other person. Being assertive is about having boundaries and respect for yourself; allowing the “Image of God”, with which we are stamped, to live itself out.

2 Corinthians 3:12 ESV
Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,

Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, You have created us and marked us with Your very image. Through Jesus Christ, You have redeemed us and made us Your own children. All of this means we have great value. Allow these truths to help us be assertive; even bold. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
 
Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
Tags:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2021 Daily Devotion - Day 369

-
Palm Sunday Matthew 21:1-11NRSV When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, “Tell the daughter of Zion, look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes i...
More »

2020 Daily Devotion - Day 81

-
John 15:15 NRS I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. From an article on some of the great hymns of the church, we learn about the hymn, “What a Friend we have in Jesus”:   In 1844 a young Irishman, Joseph Scriven, had completed his college education and returned home to marry his sweetheart. As he was traveling to meet her on the day before the planned wedding, he came upon a horrible scene—his beautiful fiancée tragically lying under the water in a creek bed after falling off her horse. Later, Scriven moved to Canada and eventually fell in love again, only to experience devastation once more when she became ill and died just weeks before their marriage. For the second time, this humble Christian felt the loss of the woman he loved. The following year, he wrote a poem to his mother in Ireland that desc...
More »

2021 Daily Devotion - Day 463

-
We have come to the end of our daily devotionals at this time. Our prayer is that they have helped you during the challenges we have faced in dealing with COVID-19. With life starting to return to some of the old normal, I thought it might be good, in this last devotional, to spend a little time examining what this period can mean for our lives. What are some of the lessons learned? We have learned many lessons. We have learned that too often in the past, we have taken many things for granted. We have seen the value of Christian Community. We have found ways to be together which was vital. We were able to spend more time with our families, especially our children, which was a blessing. And as we did, we were able to teach them more about the need to be patient and what “delayed gratification” looks like. We were reminded, if we needed to be reminded, that life can be very difficult sometimes. But we also found greater strength through more prayer and Bible reading. We learned the treme...
More »