Deeper Devotional

Psalm 26:2-3 (NIV) Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.

Take a moment and pray that the Lord will speak to you in this time of study.

Read: John 4:1-30

When it comes to sharing our faith with others we can all anticipate “awkward moments.” There is usually that point when the conversation turns from the day to day pleasantries to a spiritual topic or question. There is a pause or moment of silence in the conversation when the person you are talking to realizes that this conversation is going in a direction that they had not anticipated and they are wondering what to say – or how to respond.

When Jesus spoke with the Samaritan women at the well there were several awkward moments. But in each case, Jesus used those moments to redirect the conversation toward the Gospel (the Messiah has come).

When Jesus asks the women for a drink of water (John 4:7) the woman challenges Him: “men do not talk to women who are strangers and Jews do not talk to Samaritans! Why are you?” (John 4:9) …Awkward! Jesus replies, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you ‘Give Me a drink,’ (I, the Messiah), “you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:10) Then the woman responds, “So, how are you going to do this? You are not greater than our father Jacob “(who dug the well). (John 4:11-12) …Awkward! Jesus says, “…whoever drinks of the water that I (the Messiah) will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14) Still not ‘getting’ what Jesus is saying, the woman says, “Give me the water so I don’t have to come to the well.” Jesus responds, “Go call your husband and come here.“ …Awkward! Woman… “I have no husband.” Jesus, “…you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”  …Very…Awkward! (John 4:15-18)

Acknowledging that Jesus may at least be a prophet, the woman tries to deal with her feelings of awkwardness by challenging Him with a theological question, which Jesus answers. (John 4:19-24) The woman then makes a statement that finally begs the question, “Are you the Messiah?” Jesus answers, “I who speak to you am He.” (John 4:25-26)

You and I probably will not have to engage in the kind of religious exchange that we see here. But the point is that Jesus ignored the awkward moments and focused on what was really important, the message that He, the Messiah, had come.

One of the things we have encouraged you to do this past week was to ask someone the question, “How could I pray that God would bless you today?” This past week I had the opportunity to ask this question.  I was at the hospital having a minor medical procedure done and had been talking to the nurse. In our conversation I mentioned that I was a pastor and at the end of our time, I asked her, “I wonder if I might pray God’s blessing for you?” There was this moment of …awkward silence. I waited patiently and then she said “Yea, sure! Why not?” So I prayed, “Lord, I pray that you would bless _______ and provide for her and her family. I pray that you would care for her family and that they would prosper.  I pray that you would keep them well and safe and may they know Your love for them.”

When I finished a big smile came over her face and she said, “That was really nice. Thank you for doing that.” She thanked me again before I left.

When we pray for people in this manner, we point them toward the Father. We point them toward the Savior. We sow a seed of awareness that the Holy Spirit begins to water. There will always be those moments of awkwardness. Learn to ignore them and go beyond them. The Messiah has come. He is here now. Take the initiative to introduce others to Him.

Pastor Neil

______________________________________________________________________

Devotional studies this week are based on the sermon “Really Unlikely People” by Pastor Nate Atwood.  If you would like to hear the sermon in its entirety, go to KPC.ORG/WATCH & LISTEN.

Psalm 26:2-3 (NIV) Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.

Take a moment and pray that the Lord will speak to you in this time of study.

Read Hebrews 10:23-25 (NIV)

It is always an encouragement to see God work in the lives of other people. It is also a great encouragement to hear what God does as we obey Him and he blesses us. As we have talked this week about taking that step of faith to reach out to other people; to offer to pray for them for a need or to pray for them for God’s blessing it is an encouragement to hear some of the stories of what God is doing. Here is a great story from Lily Bateman about what happened when her family decided to “just do it.”

Just this morning my family and I were getting ready to enjoy our breakfast at a local restaurant.  I personally hadn’t shared my faith in awhile and frankly I wanted to get back “in the game” so to speak so….We asked our server, “As we bless our food, how might we pray for you?”  She made a simple request and we prayed.

After our meal, I went off to the bathroom and who do you think came in to speak to me?  Yep, our server.  She shared that she was a Christian, a minister in fact, and she had a word of encouragement for me.  After receiving my blessing,, I asked her if I might pray for her.  The Holy Spirit encouraged us both.  Your just never know how the Lord will use our simple acts of obedience and faithfulness. Yey, God…Let’s encourage each other to “just do it”.

Lily B.

Consider what a great lesson we give to our children when they see us willing to pray for someone in a public setting. It teaches them that our faith is not just a bunch of ideas, but a vibrant faith that can be lived out each day. It speaks to who we are and how we live. It communicates to them the importance and seriousness of the Gospel. It encourages them to have a heart for the lost as well.

Pastor Neil

______________________________________________________________________

Devotional studies this week are based on the sermon “Really Unlikely People” by Pastor Nate Atwood.  If you would like to hear the sermon in its entirety, go to KPC.ORG/WATCH & LISTEN.

This Week’s Memory Verse:  Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for Your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in Your truth. (Psalm 26:2-3 NIV)

Take a moment and pray that the Lord will speak to you in this time of study.

Read 1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NASB)

The past couple of weeks we have been asking you to do three things. One is to pray that the Lord will give you a heart, broken for the lost. Two, that you would ask someone the question, “How could I pray that God would bless you today?” And finally, to make a list of three people that you would commit to pray for each day that the Lord would bring them to a saving knowledge of Himself.

Some of you have been gracious enough to share your experiences. Joy Gray, our KPC receptionist gives this account:

When Pastor Nate encouraged us during the service last Sunday to ask God to reveal someone close to us we could reach out to with the Gospel, I heard one name loud and clear.  It was “John,” the US postal worker who drops off mail at the reception desk three to four times a week. I’ve dubbed him “Happy John,” because about 90% of the time when he walks through the front door he cheerfully blurts:  “Hey … It’s just another day in paradise!”

I’ve tested the waters a few times with John to see where he might be spiritually, and he’s just one of those folks I’m not quite sure about.

While I was getting ready for work today, God brought “Happy John” to mind. I asked God to help me come up with a way to reach out to him when he comes in again.  Immediately, God reminded me of some extraneous materials I received from Turning Point Ministries (Dr. David Jeremiah) when I recently ordered a teaching series on the subject of heaven.  I’m doing a series on heaven right now with women at the Virginia Beach Correctional Center.  I go there every week and talk with women about Jesus and the hope of heaven. The subject of heaven has simply been my angle at the jail to share the Gospel with broken women.

At God’s prompting this morning, I went digging for those extraneous materials and laughed when I discovered a colorful gift book entitled:  Discover Paradise: A Guidebook to Heaven, Your True Home. I had totally forgotten about receiving that gift book when I ordered the teaching series. The gift book is put together like something you might get through a travel agency trying to entice you to make reservations at some exotic location. The book is full of scriptures about heaven, presents the Gospel, and includes an invitation.

I knew immediately that God answered my prayer this morning as to how I could initially reach out to Happy John.

Happy John just dropped off the mail, and I had a chance to give him the book, tell him how I was praying for him this morning, and God led me straight to that book to give him.  He was appreciative of the book and told me how much it meant to him to know someone had been praying for him.

I was really excited for God to “come through” in such a specific and personalized way concerning the name He dropped on me during the service last Sunday. I bet God is doing that with others this week also.

What happens time after time is that when we step out in faith, God is always there. When we are obedient to become a part of what God is already doing in the life of another person, then we get the blessing. As our reading indicates today, we “begin to take hold of life indeed.” This is living life at its fullest.

Pastor Neil

______________________________________________________________________

Devotional studies this week are based on the sermon “Really Unlikely People” by Pastor Nate Atwood.  If you would like to hear the sermon in its entirety, go to KPC.ORG/WATCH & LISTEN.

Psalm 26:2-3 (NIV) Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.

Take a moment and pray that the Lord will speak to you in this time of study.

Read Esther 2:17-3:15

This week we’ve heard Pastor Nate make the comparison between the characters in the story of Esther, and our own modern day experience of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We’ve heard the account of how Esther became Queen of the Persian Empire under King Xerxes. Our reading today tells us how Esther’s people, the Jews came under a death sentence. Unless Esther intervenes on their behalf, they will all perish.  We see the Jews as lost, even as people of today who have failed to respond to the Gospel and trust in Christ for their salvation are lost. It is Mordechai, Esther’s uncle, who challenges her to overcome her fears and intervene on behalf of her people. Thus, today we see Mordecai as a figure representing the Holy Spirit, who prods us to step forward, overcome our fears, and share the good news. The bottom line is this, we are all Esthers, called by God, “for such a time as this.”

There is another character in our story that has a strong parallel with today. That person is Haman, the personification of evil, who in his pride, arrogance and resentment plots to destroy the Jews. It doesn’t take much effort to see him as the representation of Satan himself. Satan seeks to kill and destroy. (1 Peter 5:8) He wants to destroy God’s plans. He wants to destroy God’s kingdom. He has power and authority in this world (John 12:31) and he seeks to destroy all who might become children of God.

Satan is a liar. (John 8:44) He tells you that you do not have time to befriend others. He tells you that if you talk about what Christ has done in your life, you will be ridiculed and rejected. He tells you that you are neither smart enough, nor knowledgeable enough to talk about spiritual things. He does not want the truth to be known.

In our story, Haman tells the King that there is a group of people (the Jews) who live in the King’s kingdom that are different from everybody else. Their laws are different and they do not observe the King’s laws. Therefore it is not in the King’s interest to allow them to remain. Then he bribes the King to have them executed. (Esther 3:8 – 9)  He is not looking after the interests of the King, but rather his own selfish vengeance.

In the same manner when Satan lies to you and tells you that no one wants to hear you talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ, he is not looking after your interests, he is looking after his own.

So how did Esther deal with Haman? First of all, she got everyone praying and fasting. She understood the power of prayer. So, we are asking that everyone begin praying that the Lord will give us hearts, “broken for the lost.” Pray for the opportunity to ask someone how you could “pray God’s blessing for them.” Pray for the opportunity and courage to share Christ with someone. (See also Ephesians 6:10 – 12)

Finally, Esther listened to Mordecai’s promptings, overcame her fear and spoke to the king on behalf of her people.  In like manner, we need to overcome our own fears and speak the truth to those in need. (Ephesians 4:15; James 4:7)

As you pray today again seek the Lord for His Spirit to come upon you, to give you the opportunity, and the courage to speaking into the lives of those who are lost. Pray over your list of three people that you would like to see come to the Lord. (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

Pastor Neil

______________________________________________________________________

Devotional studies this week are based on the sermon “Really Unlikely People” by Pastor Nate Atwood.  If you would like to hear the sermon in its entirety, go to KPC.ORG/WATCH & LISTEN.

This Week’s Memory Verse: Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (2 Timothy 4:2 NASB)

Take a moment and pray that the Lord will speak to you in this time of study.

Read 1 Corinthians 3:4-11

This week we have been taking a look at the unlikely people God uses and how we go about sharing the Gospel with our neighbors, friends, and acquaintances. Yesterday we heard a great story from KPC Elder Bob Hammer and how he and his wife took the opportunity to pray for God’s blessing for a woman who waited on them in a restaurant.  If you didn’t read it – look at yesterday’s blog.

Too often we think that to share Christ with others, we must have them pray and commit themselves to Christ. It’s like we think that we somehow have to “close the deal.” But if we look at our own walk of faith we may realize that the Holy Spirit used many experiences to bring us to a saving knowledge of Christ. This is born out in our reading today.

So one way to introduce this process into a person’s life is to merely ask a person if we can pray for God’s blessing for them. Most people are not put off by such a request but are even appreciative of the offer.

This offer to pray for God’s blessing on people does several significant things. One, it brings God into their level of awareness. They begin to look for evidence of God working as a result of your prayer. Good things no longer happen by chance or by luck, but they may consider that God really is working in their lives. This encounter may give them the incentive to investigate more about Christ and who God really is.

If they have had any prior connection with a church or a season of life where they were involved in a church fellowship, the Holy Spirit may use this event to impress upon them the need to return to church and again explore a walk of faith.

Finally, if it does nothing else, an offer to pray for God’s blessing for them communicates that Christians are not weird, judgmental, isolated people who only care about themselves. It gives the message that the Gospel includes loving and caring for other people.

Bob and Joyce, in spite of the fact that they were celebrating their anniversary, took the time to focus on the needs of someone else. At a time when they might have sought privacy and looked only to themselves, they “sought after the one who was lost” by offering to pray for their waitress and God blessed them for it.

Let me encourage you to ask someone the question this week, “How can I pray God’s blessing for you today?” Try it and see what the Lord does.   Share your story, email us at deeper@kpc.org and let us know how it goes.

Pastor Neil

______________________________________________________________________

Devotional studies this week are based on the sermon “Unlikely People” by Pastor Nate Atwood.  If you would like to hear the sermon in its entirety, go to KPC.ORG/WATCH & LISTEN.

2 Timothy 4:2 (NASB) Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

Take a moment and pray that the Lord will speak to you in this time of study.

Read Matthew 5:14-16

Bob Hammer KPC Ruling Elder

It was a lovely restaurant overlooking the Assateague Channel.  The gulls swept playfully over the waters as vacationers experimented with techniques for maneuvering kayaks in tidal waters.  As the sun lowered in the western sky, long shadows cast their way across the luscious swamp lands.  The deck of the restaurant was awash with vibrant color from multiple varieties of potted plants that adorned the railings.  It was a perfect setting in which to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  Like years gone by, we looked forward to a quiet meal together, enjoying each other’s company and reminiscing about our lives together and the many ways God has blessed us.  This anniversary would be different, however.

The waitress went about her task of serving us as she had probably done for others thousands of times before.  “Good evening.  My name is Nichole and I will be serving you tonight.”  She dutifully announced the evenings’ specials, took our orders and left.  My wife looked at me and said, “Are you going to…”  “Yes” I interrupted.  I knew exactly what she was going to say.  It had only been a few weeks since I had heard Reggie McNeil challenge us to be God’s people of blessing in communities and we were both anxious to try his suggestion.

As Nichole returned with our salads and bread I turned to her and said: “We’re getting ready to ask God to bless our food.  How may we ask God to bless you?”  The words flowed just like I had done this all my life.  I will never forget the look on Nichole’s face.  She began to blush slightly as her eyes scanned the horizon, almost as if searching for an answer. “Oh my gosh,” she said, “There’s so many things!” I knew immediately that we had connected.  “Well,” I replied, “Just give us the top one or two things and we’ll take them to God.”

As if she were just waiting for someone to ask or someone to care, Nichole began sharing a deep need concerning herself, her fiancée, his mom from California and an intricate legal battle.  It was obvious this was a big burden for her.  I thanked her and said we would pray for them.

Nichole was blown away with the fact that somebody cared enough to ask how they could pray for her.  She returned to our table several times to thank us for praying.  She spent even more time explaining the situation to us as we prepared to leave.  She thanked us again as we left and gave us a big smile.  “You guys are sweet.  Thank you.”

My wife and I were thrilled.  We have been blessed by God and we used an opportunity to bless another in His name.  This wasn’t hard to do at all.  In fact, it was fun.  We felt like we were partners with God in making a difference in this world… in ONE LIFE in this world!  After all, God died for Nichole as much as He died for you or me.  How about you?  Can you take the time to care enough to ask, “How may I ask God to bless you?”  It will make a difference in someone’s life.  I guarantee it.

Bob Hammer, KPC Ruling Elder

______________________________________________________________________

Devotional studies this week are based on the sermon “Unlikely People” by Pastor Nate Atwood.  If you would like to hear the sermon in its entirety, go to KPC.ORG/WATCH & LISTEN.