devos from the hill


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Thoughts on Election Day

Mars Hill Staff Devotional

Who is really in charge? On this national election day we read and discussed Ephesians Chapter 1 . . . What an incredible picture of our eternal position and purpose in Christ, who is above all rule and authority and power and dominion!

…according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:19-20 ESV

Read Ephesians 1 here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+1&version=ESV#.UJmjNdSsuOA.facebook


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Your God is Too Small

Mars Hill Staff Devotional
Your God is Too Small
by Ray Stedman

In the wake of hurricane Sandy, we discussed “storms” . . . how they affect us, God’s role in them, finding God in them, etc. What do you think? How should we view storms from a Biblical perspective? We concluded by reading Ray Stedman’s devotional on this subject.

Read the Scripture: Job 36-37

God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? (Job 36:22)

Elihu’s final word to Job is a great and beautiful passage in which he sets forth in marvelous language the glory of God. It runs from chapter 35:22 through chapter 37. First, God is beyond human instruction. Notice how he begins: God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? Then, he reveals another important fact in chapter 36:26: God is beyond human understanding: How great is God beyond our understanding! Finally, Elihu reveals in 36:30-31 that God acts beyond the rigid categories and reasons of humans: See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance. God uses His natural powers for both blessing and judgment alike.

And then, beginning with chapter 37, we have such a marvelous description of a great electric storm that many of the commentators feel that this was an actual occurrence, that a storm began to break out at this moment, and Elihu used it as a vivid example of what he had been saying about God. If any of you have ever been out on the prairies and seen an electric storm break out, you will know what a terrifying and awe-inspiring experience it is–with the lightning crackling and splitting the sky and the roaring of the thunder. It is a magnificent experience, and this is what Elihu begins to describe in verses 2-4: Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back.

Then he speaks of how God sends the snow and the rain; he sends tornadoes, the whirlwinds, and the frost; he controls the cycles of the weather. Next time you are watching a weather report on television, and the broadcast shows a satellite picture, notice how it appears in spirals. This is what Elihu refers to in verse 12: At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.

Then he tells us why: He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love(Job 37:13). God has many reasons for doing things; we are not always certain what they are. God’s wisdom is inscrutable. He goes on, Can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze? (Job 37:18) Job can do none of these things.

All the way through the Bible, from beginning to end, the only man or woman who ever receives anything from God is the one who comes with a humble and contrite heart. If you think you have something to offer Him or that you have achievements that nobody else can equal, you cut yourself off from the wisdom and knowledge of God. But those who come humbly, contrite, waiting upon God, asking Him to teach them, will find that God will pick them up in grace and power and glory and restore them.

Lord, thank You that in Your majesty and power You are also a God of grace and mercy.

Life Application: Do we try to reduce God to manageable size, and compete with him for control? Or do we humbly receive him as our Father-provider and our Savior and Lord in Jesus?

Copyright © 2007 by Elaine Stedman — This daily devotion is from the book The Power of His Presence: a year of devotions from the writings of Ray Stedman; compiled by Mark Mitchell. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice and a hyperlink to http://www.RayStedman.org if the copy is posted on the Internet. Please direct any questions you may have to webmaster@RayStedman.org.

http://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/job/your-god-is-too-small


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The Second Coming

Mars Hill Staff Devotional
Loving the Second Coming and the Assurance of Salvation
by John Piper

Eagerly awaiting His return is an indication of authentic faith (Hebrews 9:28)

So the issue for us is: Do we eagerly long for the coming of Christ? Do we want to see his kingdom established and do we want to be reunited to him in closer personal fellowship? Or do we want him to wait while our love affair with the world runs its course? That is the question that tests the authenticity of faith.

Today’s staff devotional was from a vintage John Piper message (1997): By John Piper. ©2013 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/loving-the-second-coming-and-the-assurance-of-salvation


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The Greater Work

Mars Hill Staff Devotional
The Key of The Greater Work
by Oswald Chambers

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:12-13 (NASB)

Have you ever had the thought, “I am of no use where I am?” This devotional takes us to task on the truth of where our real responsibility and power comes from.

Prayer does not equip us for greater works – prayer is the greater work.

For more, read this from Oswald Chambers: http://utmost.org/the-key-of-the-greater-work/


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Building on the Atonement

Mars Hill Staff Devotional
by Oswald Chambers

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:12-14 (NASB)

We discussed Romans 6:12-14 and decided that really believing we are “not under law, but under grace” is radical … and so very liberating!

Key take-away from Chambers:
“The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things.”

Read the Oswald Chambers devotional here: http://utmost.org/building-on-the-atonement/


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Heavenly Minded

Mars Hill Staff Devotional
Why is it Important to be Heavenly Minded?
by Randy Alcorn

Do you often think about heaven? Does it make a difference? These are the questions we discussed in today’s staff devotional. What do you think?

We began by watching a short video from Randy Alcorn http://www.epm.org/resources/2012/Aug/2/why-it-important-be-heavenly-minded-video/ ;and then we considered the following scripture:

1 Corinthians 2:9 (ESV) – “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”

Ephesians 2:6 (ESV) – “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”

Colossians 3:2 (ESV) – “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

2 Peter 3:12-13 (ESV) – “waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”


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Our Secret Weapons

Mars Hill Staff Devotional
from Authentic Christianity
Ray Stedman

Key Take-away:
– We will all be engaged in a battle today. How foolish would it be for a soldier to go into battle without his weapons?! God has provided the weapons we need to be victorious. Do we know what they are? Are we using them?

Read the Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:1-6

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

Paul says we do not employ the weapons of the flesh. What are those weapons? What does the world use to try to solve the problems it recognizes in society? You know what it uses: coercion, manipulation, pressure groups, compromises, or demonstrations that ultimately result in raised voices, clenched fists, and outbreaks of conflict. These are the weapons of the world. So it is understandable why those who are governed by the flesh would seek to employ fleshly weapons to get things done. But the universal testimony of history is these do not work.

We have other weapons. They are mighty, they are powerful, and they accomplish something. They will demolish strongholds of evil, Paul says. But there are no answers in this passage to the question, What are these weapons? The apostle has referred to them in various places in his letters.

The first weapon available to us is truth. The Christian is given an insight into life and reality that others do not have. We know what is behind the forces at work in our society today, and we ought to know how to go about overcoming them. That is what truth is all about. Truth is realism. The wonderful thing about the Word of God is that when you understand the world as the Bible sees it, you are looking at life the way it really is. That is why it is so important that we understand the Scriptures, that we refresh our minds with them all the time, for we are constantly bombarded with illusion and error every day, and it is easy to drift back into thinking the way everybody around us thinks.

Love is also a powerful weapon, and in Scripture, the Word of God links truth with love. When you begin to treat people with courtesy instead of anger, when you accept them as people with feelings like yours and understand that they too are struggling with difficulties and see things out of focus as you often do, when you begin to treat them as people in trouble who need help–that is what love is–then you change the whole picture.

Along with truth and love in Scripture is faith. Faith is the recognition that God is present in history. He has not left us alone to stumble on our own way. The Lord Jesus sits in control of all the nations of earth. Faith believes that and expects Him to do something. In Hebrews 11 we have the great record of the plain, ordinary men and women like you and me who found, by faith, that they could stop the mouths of lions, open the doors of prisons, and change the course of history.

Another powerful weapon for the Christian, proceeding from faith, is prayer. The power of prayer is held before us throughout Scripture. We are constantly exhorted to expose the situations in which we find ourselves to the prayers of believing people, both individually and corporately, praying that God would move in and change things. Again and again the record testifies that Christians who pray have drastically altered events.

Lord, help me from here on to begin to use the weapons of truth, love, faith, and prayer.

Life Application: For every Christian, spiritual warfare is a given, whether engaged actively or passively. Are we alert to identify and engage our spiritual weaponry?

Copyright © 2007 by Elaine Stedman — This daily devotion is from the book The Power of His Presence: a year of devotions from the writings of Ray Stedman; compiled by Mark Mitchell. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice and a hyperlink to http://www.RayStedman.org if the copy is posted on the Internet. Please direct any questions you may have to webmaster@RayStedman.org.

http://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/2-corinthians/our-secret-weapons


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Missionary Weapons

Mars Hill Staff Devotional
from My Utmost for His Highest
by Oswald Chambers

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”  Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” John 1:47-48 NASB

Key Take-aways:

– Worshiping in everyday occasions readies us for whatever comes our way.

– A crisis does not build something within us – it simply reveals what we are made of already. A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness.

– John 1:51 Nathanael needed to see that, while his private time with God under the fig tree made him spiritually fit, the time had come to worship openly. In the words of John Piper, “there are no holy geographic places any more designated by God as his meeting place with man. Jesus is now that meeting place.”

– John 1:51 calls to mind Gen 28:12-16. Jacob found himself in a holy place. Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder. In this passage, Jesus communicates that He is the ladder. Also from Piper, “When we move heavenward, we move on the Son of Man. When God moves earthward, he moves on the Son of Man.”

Click here for the full devotional: http://utmost.org/missionary-weapons-1/


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The Unsurpassed Intimacy of Tested Faith

Mars Hill Staff Devotional

The Unsurpassed Intimacy of Tested Faith from
My Utmost for His Highest
by Oswald Chambers

Jesus said to her, ’Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’ —John 11:40

Key Take-Aways:

– Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. In fact, they are as different as the natural life and the spiritual.

– Faith will only be your intimate possession when it is tested.
Read full devotional here: http://utmost.org/the-unsurpassed-intimacy-of-tested-faith/


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2 Peter 1:3

Mars Hill Staff Devotional

Read 2 Peter 1:3

We unpacked 2 Peter 1:3 word by word, “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” WOW! Every single word had meaning for us.

Key take-aways:

– If you’re waiting for God to grant you something in order for you to experience an abundant life,
then stop waiting. He has already granted us everything we need.

– The way to recognize and lay hold of all He has granted is by truly knowing Him. We do that through
diligent study of His Word, constant communion and intimate obedience.