Hi SWAGG fam!
I just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate all your support! It's such a blessing to me.
I love how The Ruth Project went, and I really hope that you were blessed from it. I took from it so much and was amazed at how much God showed me throughout the series.
Now, we're moving on to a series called Powerful Opposites.
I've taken four events from the Bible where God does transformational work. Four times, where He takes someone or something and then transforms them/it to beautiful.
For our first week, this Friday, we're going to be delving into how because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, rose three days later and defeated death, that if we give our lives to God, He will transform our death sentence into a seal for eternal life by giving us His Holy Spirit to live in us and having Jesus' blood pay our sin debt. Then, we're able to have internal transformation. We'll be focusing on that for our last two weeks.
Before that though, we're going to be looking at how God takes an external situation and does external transformation. He transforms a toxic environment for a person to a purposeful, healthy one.
Then, we'll see how God internally changes two people at the core of who they are.
I hope you'll join me in this series, and that, you too, will experience transformation.
Devotional Schedule:
Death to Life - 4/7
Mistreatment to Promotion - 4/14
Coward to Courageous - 4/21
Blind to Seeing - 4/28
Photo by Shot by Cerqueira on Unsplash
We’ve all sinned – done, thought, or said something that displeases God. Because of our sin, we have a spiritual death sentence. A spiritual death is being separated from the one true God forever. This isn’t because God wants it that way, He has never wanted nor will ever want the people He created to be separated from Him. Yet, our sin blocks us from God. Him and sin can’t combine. Light can’t have darkness in it, because it’s the total opposite of it. However, since God loves us, He made a rescue plan.
God sent His son, Jesus, to live in the world as a human. He lived a sinless, perfect life. He told people about God, how they were broken people who needed saving, how He had come to free them from being enslaved in sin and give them the opportunity to have spiritual transformation. Then He gave his life up to be killed in a cruel and humiliating way, being beaten and nailed to a cross. On the cross, he took on all sin that would ever be done. During that time, He had to be separated from God, that would’ve been the hardest part.
Three days later though, Jesus rose from the dead, showing that He defeated death. After He revealed Himself to crowds of people, He ascended to Heaven. Because of this, God can remove our death sentence and replace it with the seal for eternal life – the Holy Spirit living in us.
What this means for us: One, anyone can experience God’s power. He sees all sin as equal, there’s not anyone too far gone for Jesus’ power. He came to save anyone who would believe in Him. Two, we can’t earn or lose eternal life with God. It’s a gift from God out of His love and grace, and if we never earn it, if we were always underserving of it, how could we ever lose it? We can’t. Three, death is all around us. I’m not asking us to dwell on this constantly, but we can’t go through life ignoring that people around us have a spiritual death sentence. Let’s tell others about God.
How to experience a death to life transformation: Understand, believe, and share. Understand that you’re sinful. Believe that Jesus is who He says He is. Share that Jesus is Lord. God’s grace and Spirit will be there to help you in this.
God’s Guidance:
Romans 3:22-24 (NCV) – “God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same: Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ.”
Romans 6:23 (NIV) – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Galatians 5:19-21 (NIRV) – “The result of sin’s control in our lives is clear. It includes sexual sins, impure acts and wild living. It includes worshiping statues of gods and worshiping evil powers. It also includes hatred and fighting, jealousy and fits of anger. Sinful desire is interested only in getting ahead. It stirs up trouble. It separates people into their own little groups. It wants what others have. It gets drunk and takes part in wild parties. It does many things of that kind. I warn you now as I did before. People who live like this will not receive God’s kingdom.”
1 John 3:5-6 (NIRV) – “But you know that Christ came to take our sins away. And there is no sin in him. No one who remains joined to him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has seen him or known him.”
1 John 3:9 (NIRV) – “Those who are God’s children will not keep on sinning. God’s very nature remains in them. They can’t go on sinning. That’s because they are God’s children.”
John 3:14-16 (NIRV) – “Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. In the same way, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. Then everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.”
Matthew 27:26 (NIV) – “Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”
1 Peter 2:24 (NIV) – ““He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
Matthew 27:46 (NIV) – “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).”
Mattew 28:5-6 (NIV) – “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”
Acts 1:10-11 (NIV) – “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.””
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Romans 8:38-39 (NIV) – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
1 John 1:8-9 (NIV) – “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Romans 10:9 (NIV) – “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Application:
1. Go through the steps of understanding, believing, and sharing
2. Ask God to free you from the need to earn your spot with Him in heaven and/or the fear of possibly losing it (Bonus - Memorize Romans 10:9 and quote it routinely.)
3. Make a step, whatever it might be, to share Jesus’ transformational power with people who don’t know Him
Strength Point:
No power is stronger than what Jesus holds, only He can save us.
Song of the Week:
Reflection Questions:
Have you let Jesus triumphantly enter your life?
What tables does Jesus need to overturn in your heart, mind, and life?
Have you served someone recently or has an attitude of entitlement clouded your desire?
Prayer Prompt:
Hi Jesus! Thank You for dying on the cross, in my place, so that I could have a relationship with You and not experience the spiritual death of being separated from You. Your death saved my life, You are my sacrificial lamb! I’m sorry for sinning against You, Lord! I’m sorry for doing things that hurt Your heart, things that make You sad. Today, I lay down, at Your feet, my sin struggle of __. Transform my heart from wanting and desiring the things of this world to hungering for You and the things You value. I don’t want to be attracted to evil anymore. Help me to live as the new creation You have made me to be. I know I have power over sin now, because You live in me and fuel me with Your power. Thank You for rising to life again and showing that You have defeated death. You, Jesus, are the only reason my spiritual death sentence was replaced with the seal for eternal life. I love You, God! In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.
A Prayer to Pray over Others:
Hi Jesus! Thank You for dying on the cross, in our place, so that we can choose to have a relationship with You and not experience the spiritual death of being separated from You. Your death is the finishing of a rescue mission, my friend just has to accept Your reaching hand! Help my friend to stop doing things that hurt Your heart, things that make You sad. Today, I pray that they’d lay down, at Your feet, their sin struggles that weighing on them so heavily. Transform their heart from wanting and desiring the things of this world to hungering for You and the things You value. Create in them an avoidance to evil. Help my friend to either desire to be a new creation or live as the new creation You have made them to be. I know that, if they have a relationship with You, they have power over sin, because You live in them and fuel them with Your power. Thank You for rising to life again and showing that You have defeated death. You, Jesus, are the only reason our spiritual death sentence can be replaced with the seal for eternal life. I love You, God! In Your Name, Jesus, I pray, amen.
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