All In Weekly Devotionals

First Redeemer God Multiplies What We Give Him “Give and it will be given to you; a good measure–pressed down, shaken together, and running over–will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”    Luke 6:38   “When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus all that they had done. He took them along and withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out, they followed Him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and cured those who needed healing. Late in the day the Twelve approached and said to Him, ‘Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here.’ ‘You give them something to eat,’ He told them. ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish,’ they said, ‘unless we go and buy food for all these people.’ (For about 5,000 men were there.) Then He told His disciples, ‘Have them sit d...

First Redeemer We Find Our Lives When We Lose Them for Christ’s Sake “Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, ‘If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it.’” Mark 8:34-35 Surrender is the highest battle worth conceding, and the pursuit is extraordinarily worth it. All the difficulty in letting go yields a harvest only He can deliver. We find our lives when we lose them, for Jesus’ sake.   Oh, how we must stop and remember.   Surrendering is never easy for our sticky hands. We are too comfortable in our surroundings, too easily distracted with packed lives that leave no margin. We miss opportunities because we do not even see them coming. We cannot entertain half-heartedness. We cannot afford to look up and catch ourselves chasing the gifts more than the giver or the miracle more tha...

first redeemer  God Exalts the Humble “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” James 4:10 We are not enough. How freeing to know that God is. He looked at us and decided we were worth it. Our only proper response is to fall on our faces in complete dependency.   Oh, how we need to slow down and remember.   We are so human. We too quickly exalt ourselves. We take up our own honor to trample those around us. We chase our own praise, and it is never pretty. We view ourselves and those around us through self-consumed lenses. We forget that God sees from the inside out.   The truth is, we are hopeless without calloused knees and yielded hearts. Humility is the element that makes surrender whole. Therein is the battle in which we must be intentional.   God is the lifter of our heads. He is our greatest joy, deepest freedom, unfailing love, unexplainable peace, and sure hope. Only in our humility can He stand us up and bring a cle...

 First Redeemer It Is No Longer I Who Live but Christ Who Lives in Me “And I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20    Christ is our hope of glory. We find our joy in surrendering to Him. It is in Him that we find our purpose. John the Baptist said it well; “He must increase, and I must decrease.”  Oh, how we need to remember. We must get ourselves out of the way so He can do what only He can in our lives. His is a power beyond our own.   We must not miss the beauty.   Jesus surrendered His life to call us His. We are no longer our own; we were bought with a price.  We get to walk in faith beside the One who is willing to walk with us and gave Himself so that we could.    It is our privilege to live lives that display Him. He who accomplished the mighty for us remains mighty in us now. The gospel persists and is...

 First Redeemer A Picture of Jesus’ Surrender:  Jesus’ Surrender to the Father’s Will and to the Incarnation “And He said, ‘Abba, Father! All things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.’” Mark 14:36 “Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage.  Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men.  And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even to death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 The entire Old Testament looked toward the day He would clothe Himself in human flesh and become a picture of God’s radiance for all. That is exactly what He did. His deity and His humanity together shout the glorious gospel message.   He did what He said He would.   He did what no ...

 First Redeemer Church Sacrifice Means Different Things to Different People     “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God granted to the churches   of Macedonia:   During a severe testing by affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed into the wealth of their generosity.     I testify that, on their own, according to their ability and beyond their ability,   they begged us insistently for the privilege of sharing   in the ministry to the saints,   and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves especially to the Lord, then to us by God’s will.” 2 Corinthians 8:1-5     Sacrifice is an inside-out kind of giving from the heart. A posture that grants Him first place.   It is there that we give in response to who He is. It is there that we joyfully lay down what is personal and whole to us.   It is there that we learn to trust Him.   ...

First Redeemer Church Sacrifice for God’s Purposes Will Be Rewarded     “Peter began to tell Him, ‘Look we have left everything and followed You.’ ‘I assure you,’ Jesus said, ‘there is no one who has left house, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children, or fields because of Me and the gospel, who will not receive 100 times more, now at this time – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions –   and eternal life in the age to come.’” Mark 10:28-30     God knows what tomorrow holds and all our tomorrows after that. He knows far better than we do. We can trust Him for it. All that we now see in faith, we will one day see in full.     The disciples left everything to follow Jesus. God promised they would be rewarded for all they sacrificed for His kingdom. It is no different for us today.     The point of it all is the glory of God.     There are...

 First Redeemer Church I Will Not Sacrifice a Burnt Offering that Costs Me Nothing     “King David answered Ornan, ‘No, I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the   Lord   what belongs to you or offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.’” 1 Chronicles 21:24     Sacrifice is never easy. God proved this to us on the cross with the gift of His Son. We must pay attention. What costs nothing is no sacrifice at all.     What we are willing to give reflects what we pursue. What we are willing to sacrifice is the true measure of what we value. God must be our greatest pursuit. His example of giving what cost Him dearly is ours to follow.   Our lives are not meant for comfort and coziness. Our lives are not meant to lounge around in faith that does not follow. Convenience clouds our endeavors. We find ourselves far too satisfied with apathy and look up to find that our giving costs us...

First Redeemer Church Our Sacrifice to God is our True and Proper Worship     “ Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you   to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,   holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.     Do not be conformed   to this age,   but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,   so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will   of God.” Romans 12:1-2     The blood of Jesus was a one-time, all-sufficient sacrifice. No more payment for sin is necessary because Jesus paid it all and finished His work.   Oh, how glorious the gospel is.     We are not required to outwardly comply or appease. Our only response is a heart yielded at His feet. Every time we consider the cross and grasp the grace displayed there, our only acceptable response, our only reasonable conclusion, is to relinquish our lives in true an...

 First Redeemer Church Greater Love Has No One than This, That Someone Lay Down His Life for His Friends     “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life   for his friends.” John 15:13     God staked His great love upon us and sacrificed His best. While we were still sinners, Jesus laid down His life. By this, we know what love looks like. Through this, we know what love is.     His example compels us forward. We extend love in the same manner whether we think others are worthy or not. None of us deserved His pursuit or His grace. Still, Jesus valued us worthy.     He values others the same. Too quickly, we cease to see others as God sees them. We must be intentional about putting ourselves aside. The Son of Man came to give His life as a ransom for all. Great love exhibits great sacrifice. It is His example we emulate.     So we look up, and we look outsi...

First Redeemer Church A Picture of Sacrifice – Jesus’ Sacrifice for Us     “But God proves   His own love for us   in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8          God accomplished what we never could. While we were sinners, He demonstrated to us His love. He did not wait for us to be better or meet Him halfway. He knew we would not come running, and He pursued us while we were still under the weight of our own chains.   What a picture of grace unearned.   What an undeserved gift.        When we slow our busy pace to ponder, we see how our unworthiness magnifies His sacrifice. It drops us to our knees because we know the depths of our sins. It’s amazing how He called us His before we ever thought to love Him back.          At His feet, we find freedom in mercy. What we never deserved, He provided. He gave His very ...