CrossReads Weekly Devotionals: Gems From Pastor Jim 2/17/2020

Send to Kindle

Blog Featured Standard

by Jim Hughes

crossJer. 7:24 “But my people would not listen to me. They kept on doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backwards instead of forward.”

We need to think about what the Lord is saying to His people here. Although in this context the nation of Israel is being addressed, I believe it applies to us as well.

It is our nature to want to do what we want to do and not what God wants us to do. Ingrained within us is the tendency to be drawn away from God. We naturally want to resist the voice of God that guides us to Him. Whether you are a believer or not, it is true. Our sinful nature left alone will cause us to slip backwards away from God.

Our only hope of resisting our urges is to work hard on our relationship with Christ. We must resist the mindset that once we are saved we can coast our way to heaven. We live by grace, but grace without works is no grace at all. It takes effort to stay connected to God. It is not possible to live in Christ and not be changed. He changes our natural desires to resist and pull away from Him. He changes the very direction of our lives. He changes our desires so that we will listen to Him and not shut Him out. The more we work on developing our ties with the Lord, the quicker our growth will be.

I don’t believe there is any neutral ground upon which we can stand as Christians. We are either growing closer to Christ or we are drifting away from Him. If we are drawing closer to the Lord we are consistently reading and meditating on His Word. We are seeking ways in which we can become who God says we are and need to be. We are seeking ways to apply to life what God tells us to do. We as well are spending time in fellowship with the Lord, talking to Him and worshiping Him.

Listen to the Lord. Let Him draw you closer. Learn from Him. Lean on Him. Let Him have His way with you.

Before and After the Honeymoon

About the Author:

Jim Hughes

Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one’s self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn’t broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.

Page Divider

Ask the Author Podcast conducts candid and insightful interviews with Christian Independent Authors. Ever wanted to know what your favorite authors favorite food is? Want to know what your favorite author does in his/her spare time? You’ll find the answer here each week https://anchor.fm/russell-sherrard

This site contains Third Party Advertising, using online behavioral tracking technology. Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we believe will add value to our readers.

FREE eBook Interactive Romans Road American Standard Version This is the ideal and easy way to share the gospel using your Kindle http://bit.ly/2xvdXNY #free

 

Share Button

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *