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When you’re always rushing⠀ ⠀ The “Up!” Devo for January 24⠀ ⠀ Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).⠀ ⠀ John writes that “if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:12).⠀ ⠀ To the Romans, Paul says, “Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up” (Romans 15:2).⠀ ⠀ I don’t know about you, but some days I really miss the mark. Actually, scratch the word “some.” MANY days I miss the mark!⠀ ⠀ And do you want to know why? It’s often because I’m rushing around too much. And since I’m rushing around, I don’t have the time—or, at least, I don’t TAKE the time—to see and respond to the needs of others.⠀ ⠀ Yup, it’s harder to be loving when you’re always rushing.⠀ ⠀ I realize it’s a work in progress, and that there’s a deeper, darker issue at play. It’s a pervasive busyness in our lives and minds which is getting worse, which is selfish, which contributes to distraction…⠀ ⠀ and which threatens to unplug us from loving and building up the people around us.⠀ ⠀ That’s why it’s helpful to take a sober second thought before you cram something else into your schedule; to go to bed 20 minutes earlier so you feel more refreshed the next day to be at your best; to leave for an event or outing 10 minutes early so you can pitch in if someone needs you.⠀ ⠀ “If we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”⠀ ⠀ It’s harder to be loving when you’re always rushing.⠀ ⠀ By Matthew Ruttan⠀ ⠀ --This Sunday at Westminster in Barrie I’m teaching about Romans 8:31-39 and being “more than conquerors.” We also have our monthly Q & A Forum after the service and these two submitted questions: “Why are some atheists so offended by Christianity that they resort to stereotyping and vilifying us?” and “Are evolution and the Bible compatible?”⠀ ⠀ --“Up!” is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on January 27.⠀ ⠀ --Bible quotes are from the NIV. ⠀ ⠀ #loveoneanother #love #loveyourneighbor #faith #inspiration #rest #slowdown #rush #balance #wellness #spirituality #JesusChrist

Even when you can’t see through the fog⠀ ⠀ The “Up!” Devo for January 23⠀ ⠀ Romans 8:28 is a text we could chew on for a lifetime: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”⠀ ⠀ It’s a part of a wider passage about living faithfully even in the midst of hardship.⠀ ⠀ What Paul is NOT saying is that all bad things are good. Some things are clearly bad. What Paul IS saying is that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him—i.e. followers of Jesus.⠀ ⠀ Here’s an example. When we’re struggling with something, we can often get encouragement from someone who has had a similar battle in their own life. Quite often it’s because they can genuinely sympathize with our situation and offer sincere advice because of their own difficult experience. As a result, we’re more receptive to what they have to say.⠀ ⠀ Someone told me about a time they were seriously depressed, and a friend was able to offer some great advice and friendship through that dark time. Does that mean depression is good? Of course not. But that first person was able to offer advice, encouragement and friendship to the second because they had gone through something similar. Something good was able to come out of something bad.⠀ ⠀ Today, my point is this. Love God daily, even when you can’t see through the fog. ⠀ ⠀ Your job isn’t to be an expert about everything or to fix every little thing in people’s lives. Nor is you job to know the reason behind every hardship or to predict the future. Your job is to love God daily, even when you can’t see through the fog. Trust that he is working, and that he can bless us despite what distresses us.⠀ ⠀ “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”⠀ ⠀ By Matthew Ruttan⠀ ⠀ --This devotional is connected to my most recent sermon: “The problem with religion.” You can watch or listen at MatthewRuttan.com⠀ --Bible quotes are from the NIV.⠀ ⠀ #Romans8 #faith #inspiration #loveGod #uncertainty #spirituality #theroad #love #hardship

In our weakness that strength goes viral⠀ ⠀ The “Up!” Devo for January 22⠀ ⠀ There’s an expression that drives me nuts: ‘God helps those who help themselves.’⠀ ⠀ (No, it’s not from the Bible.)⠀ ⠀ Even though it’s true that God helps those who help themselves, he doesn’t ONLY help those who help themselves. He also helps the down and out and those who are chasing their tails.⠀ ⠀ In Romans 8:26 and 27 Paul writes, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans… the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”⠀ ⠀ God helps us “in our weakness.” Even when we don’t know “what we ought to pray for” the Holy Spirit continues to intercede “for us through wordless groans.” And he does so in a way that honours his own will!⠀ ⠀ Talk about a loving and understanding God! He advocates for you—even when you’re a bumbling mess who is too exhausted or hurting to think straight.⠀ ⠀ In his book The End of Me, Kyle Idleman says, “God is always strong, but in our weakness that strength goes viral.”*⠀ ⠀ In and through our weakness, when our masks are removed, and when our guards are down, and when the illusion of our own self-sufficiency is shattered into a thousand pieces, God continues to work.⠀ ⠀ Take the pressure out of your prayers. Be honest. And ask for the Spirit to help you, even when you can’t stammer a single sentence together.⠀ ⠀ Our lives are built not on what we can do, but on what God can do.⠀ ⠀ “God is always strong, but in our weakness that strength goes viral.”⠀ ⠀ By Matthew Ruttan⠀ ⠀ --*As quoted in: Kyle Idleman, The End of Me: Where Real Life in the Upside-Down Ways of Jesus Begins (David C Cook: Colorado Springs, 2015), 184.⠀ --Bible quotes are from the NIV.⠀ ⠀ #kyleidleman @kyleidleman #weakness #strength #strong #holyspirit #God #prayer #faith #inspiration

When you have something good to look forward to⠀ ⠀ The “Up!” Devo for January 21⠀ ⠀ When you have something good to look forward to, it softens the blow of what you’re currently going through.⠀ ⠀ We all know it’s true.⠀ ⠀ If a child doesn’t want to go to school on a Thursday, remind them that the weekend is almost here and it helps.⠀ ⠀ If you’re having a tough week, and if you have a fun gathering with friends to look forward to, you’re better able to buckle down and get it done.⠀ ⠀ If you have a cast on your arm, and if the cast is coming off in a few weeks, and if your baseball season starts a few weeks after that, the burden of a cast gets a little lighter.⠀ ⠀ Light at the end of the tunnel has a way of shining backward to the one who sees it.⠀ ⠀ That’s the idea behind Paul’s thinking in Romans 8: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” One day, all of God’s creation “will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (verses 18, 30).⠀ ⠀ He offers a reminder that life’s current difficulties are not the end of the story. Sooner or later they will come to an end, all suffering will cease, and glory will be revealed to and in Jesus’ followers.⠀ ⠀ Difficulty is a comma, not a period, in the language of eternity.⠀ ⠀ So, do you have something good to look forward to?⠀ ⠀ If you’re a follower of Jesus, the answer is Yes. Remind yourself about God’s eternal and amazing promises that are yours.⠀ ⠀ And if you still need some help for your day-to-day life, plan something good—maybe an outing with friends, a Saturday adventure, or a new experience that reminds you who God made you to be.⠀ ⠀ “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”⠀ ⠀ When you have something good to look forward to, it softens the blow of what you’re currently going through.⠀ ⠀ By Matthew Ruttan⠀ ⠀ --Bible quotes are from the NIV.⠀ ⠀ #perspective #suffering #hardship #heaven #hope #faith #inspiration #romans8 #eternity #pain

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