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Day 1: John 1/Psalm 1
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Wednesday February 25, 2004
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Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his
name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of
natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born
of God.
John 1:12-13 (New International Version)
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The Art of
Becoming
In the opening chapter of John’s account of Jesus, John drops a
bombshell—an opportunity for revolutionary change. It’s unique to
Christianity: the ability to become something that never
existed before and cannot happen outside of God’s generosity—a
redeemed sinner.
The Bible has a
name for people who have their issues, their histories, their
pathologies, their sins, wiped clean. It’s not former-messed-up-person,
or ex-sinner, but rather children of God. That’s
radical. It might seem simplistic that all we have to do is “believe in
his name”, but it means that we trust Jesus is telling the truth about
who he said he was and is capable of doing what he said he could.
Suppose you’re
hanging from a twenty-story window ledge and someone leans out to offer
you their hand. Do you let go and trust they have the power to pull you
to safety? Real faith abandons our own strength to be embraced by the
One asking us to trust—God Himself. Do we take His hand or just
mentally note that He is capable of rescuing us? That’s what “believe”
means in this context—trusting that Jesus can really connect us with
God, change us from the inside out, making us a new creation. Not
rehabbed, not reformed, but a new species altogether.
Those who may call
themselves children of God are those who have trusted Jesus to
make them that. To them he gives the right to become.
Today’s
prayer:
Jesus, help me to reach for you in new ways, to believe in your
ability to protect me, to provide for me, to promote me as you see fit.
And let me not just think it, but act on it.
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Memory Verse of the Week:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (New International Version)
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To read the chapter
or psalm of the day online, click on one of the following links:
o
John
1
o
Psalm
1
Dave Workman, workman@cincyvineyard.com,
Senior Pastor of Vineyad Community Church
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