The Up Devo

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Wild goose or game geese The "Up!" Devo for December 10 Speaking to his fellow disciples, Peter wrote: “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). They are chosen, royal, holy and special. Why? So that they can “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” We do that. Sometimes. But not always. It can just be so easy to blend in—to cozy up to comfort. To forget. To dismiss. To take-for-granted. Soren Kierkegaard tells a telling story: “There was once a wild goose who went to live with some tame geese. He was committed to liberate them from their mediocre lives. The wild goose lived with the tame geese for a year, and he enjoyed the rich food, comfortable shelter and easy life. Each year, when the wild geese flew overhead, he would flutter his wings, prepare to join them, but settle down again in the farmyard. Ten years passed and the wild goose became tame, and it forgot how to fly.”* That story is a warning. If we get too comfortable and familiar with the misplaced rhythms of our world we too will forget how to fly. The way to flap our wings is to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Don’t be afraid to stand out—to shine the light you were made to reflect: Declare. Praise. Thank. Sing. Love. Pray. Help. Celebrate. Some days you might feel stuck in the muck. But the sky is closer than you think. By Matthew Ruttan #different #faith #dailydevotional #unique #inspiration #fly ##Jesus #kierkegaard
Don’t shortchange your life The “Up!” Devo for December 9 Talking about the return of Jesus, the apostle Peter wrote, “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Peter 3:11-12). But what does it mean to be holy? Something that is holy is set apart; it is made for a special, godly purpose. For example, if I was playing a game of tennis, and instead of using a tennis racket I used my Bible, someone might take issue with that. Why? Because, they would probably tell me, the Bible is holy. In other words, it is made for a special purpose. It’s God’s word and wisdom to us and should be respected as such. (By the way, I have no plans to use my Bible as a tennis racket.) In a similar way, followers of Jesus are holy. That doesn’t mean you’re ‘holier than thou,’ have all the answers, or never make a mistake. It means you are set apart. You are made for a special, godly purpose: to know, love, serve and glorify God as the hands and feet of Christ, as you get in on the ways he is renovating the world with his love and truth. Sure, that will take different forms in different chapters of your life, and based on your experiences, personality, and spiritual gifts. But whenever and however, you are to be holy. Don’t just fit in. Don’t blend. Don’t adopt the apathetic and cynical view that nothing really matters anyway so who cares. Good things are coming. Hope is dawning. And your life—as one of God’s holy ones—can be a foreshadowing of that great day when heaven and earth really do meet. “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” Life is short. So don’t shortchange your life. By Matthew Ruttan #holy #holiness #godly #faith #inspiration #christianity #purpose #special #meaning #handsandfeet #unique #secondcoming #parousia #waiting #advent
How to memorize a Bible passage (with Video) The "Up!" Devotional for December 6 I’ve talked before about memorizing Bible verses as a way to grow spiritually. But I realize some people find it difficult. So I did a short video with some tips. [Click the link below to watch.] Here’s a summary. 1. Pick a passage For this example, let’s choose 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2. Start small and expand Start with the first part, and don’t move on until you have it locked in. For example, start with “All Scripture is God-breathed.” Say that day after day until its firm in your head. Then, add in the next part (“and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”). Stay with that until you have it. Keep adding until the passage is complete. 3. Be exact Don’t settle for the ‘gist’ of a passage. Follow the exact wording from the translation you’ve picked. This will be hard at first, but will serve you well over the long haul. The more you use your memory muscles, the stronger they get. In Scripture, details matter. 4. Include the chapter and verse number In this case, it’s 2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17. In all of this, remember why it’s important: The Bible contains God’s eternal wisdom. How amazing would it be, through the ups and downs of daily life, to be able to recall God’s wisdom at a moment’s notice? Today we have computers, cheap paper, and apps at the ready. As a result, we don’t NEED our memories as much as previous generations. Therefore, our memory muscles have become flabby. But with practice, they get buff! A friend’s Bible study group memorized the entire Gospel of Mark together. Over the past year I’ve spent time on this and have literally amassed hundreds of verses. Start small, follow the steps, and experience the rewards. The more you get into God’s word, the more God’s word gets into you. By Matthew Ruttan Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unepE3-rSiM&t=20s #dailydevotional #truth #faith #spiritualgrowth
Wasting time well spent The "Up!" Devo for December 5 Maybe we should all get a bit better at wasting time sometimes. Now hear me out. I’m not saying we should be lazy. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t work hard. We should. Just not every second of every day of every year. We generally look down our noses at wasting time. After all, we’ve got a bazillion things to do. So if we waste time, we just put more pressure on a pressure cooker that’s already feeling the pressure, right? But doing nothing—in moderation—is actually good for you. Psalm 46:10 famously reminds us to “Be still, and know that I am God…” Notice how being still is connected to knowing that God is in charge. If we chase our tails all day long we can mistakenly get the impression that everything is actually up to us. But it’s not. That’s why wasting little pockets of time here and there can be a good thing. Earlier this week I had 15 free minutes fall right into my lap. At first I checked Instagram. Then Sportsnet. And then… Pause. I put my phone down, resisted the annoying and unrelenting urge to be “productive” and sat back with my hands behind my head. It felt strange… and awesome. I stared at the wall, enjoyed a memory of summer as a child, and listed to my heartbeat come back down to normal. Maybe we should all get a bit better at wasting time sometimes. In a world where frantic is the new normal, wasting time can be time well spent. By Matthew Ruttan --Bible quotes are from the NIV. #health #rest #relax #faith #dailydevotional #inspiration #psalms

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