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Verse of the Day: James 1:21

Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. (NASB) 

The verse of the day comes from the book of James. James is believed to be written by James the brother of Jesus. His book is hard-hitting and a quick read at only five chapters.  

Today’s verse comes in the beginning when James jumps right into his message with the testing of our faith and being obedient to the word. Verse 21 falls in the middle of a paragraph on anger and being a doer of the word and not a hearer only. 

James is writing to Believers, so he has no problem telling them and us what our lives should look like. Today’s verse reminds us that filthiness and the remnants of wickedness of what we once were have no place in our lives now that we belong to Christ.  

Take a moment and look inside your own life. What does it look like? Is there filthiness that no one else sees? Is there filthy language that flows from you like dirty water? Would you want anyone else to know what you think about, read, or watch? These are the filthy things we need to part with.  

What remnants are there of wickedness that might linger from before you met Christ? Deep in the secret places of your heart. Now is the time to rid yourself of them. I admit it is not easy. Perhaps that is why James used the word “ridding”. It is an ongoing action.  

When we begin to look honestly at ourselves, it brings us to a place of humility. Let that drive us to the word of God and let His word wash over us. His word reminds us of His love and forgiveness. His word is implanted within us as we spend time reading it and listening to it. It is through His word we are kept for eternity.  

Jesus’s blood saves us. His sacrificial death on the cross saves us from our sins and His written word keeps us on the path He has prepared for us.  

Spend time today to examine your heart and ask God what corrections you need to make to adjust to His word. Seek what you need to rid yourself of to be more like Him. Let His word be your guide today. 

All for One 

Posted on by Angela

Time to Examine

On July 4th, America celebrated her 250th anniversary of her declared independence from the rule of King George III of England in 1776. Our independence was hard fought and won over a war with Great Britan. In the decades and centuries that followed America fought growing pains as she expanded from thirteen original colonies westward into the unknown regions of the Midwest, Great Plains, Rockies, Southwest, the frozen wonder of Alaska and the paradise of Hawaii.  

We fought Indians, the name given to the Native Americans by Christopher Columbus who mistakenly thought he had reached the East Indies in Asia. We fought France and Spain. We fought England again. And we fought ourselves in the ugly scar of slavery and the rights of the states. Every skirmish, battle, and war, taught us to fight a little harder, to stand a little taller. We fought for our freedom, and we weren’t about to lose it. We fought for our land, and we weren’t going to give an inch back. And we didn’t.  

We tried to stay out of world conflict and fights that weren’t ours. George Washington was adamant that these United States stay out of world affairs. Yet we found ourselves drawn into two World Wars. Then it was a slippery slope into Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and others. America was a dominating world power, and we had great leaders who meant what they said and had a country who backed them up. We had a military who went in and got the job done whatever, whenever and wherever it was.  

Something changed somewhere along the way. We lost our focus. We let the minority affect the majority. Somehow right became wrong and wrong became right. We became divided. The last thirty years have brought a change in this great nation. And it is not good.   

I can’t say with certainty where it began. Maybe when we removed the Ten Commandments from our schools. Or told our children we could not pray before lunch. We have the freedom to practice religion or no religion at all. Many early settlers came here with the hope to worship God as they wished, but they all worshipped God. Those early settlers wanted to worship the way they believed without the fear of state persecution from the Catholic Church or Church of England. So, they came. Puritan, Anabaptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic and others. The one thing they had in common was that they worshipped God. The difference was in the method of their worship.  

Now here we are two hundred and fifty years later and while we have not lost any physical ground, much of our moral and spiritual ground has been lost. The morality of our country has been lost to ideals our founding fathers never considered. While it is true they were not saints, what has been done in the name of freedom would have no doubt sickened them. As it should us today. We have groups showing pride for things that are shameful. Children are targets for another’s perversion. And we mock God for His creating us male and female by creating genders that do not exist.  

Spiritually, it isn’t much better. Some of the same individuals I mentioned are leaders in our churches. We use God’s love as an escape for our sin and forget his love is balanced by His judgment. In the name of freedom of religion, we allow religions to enter our country who hate our way of life and would destroy us. We preach grace and forgiveness and neglect repentance and holiness.  

It is time for change, and it is time for it to begin with us. I have examined my country, but if you are reading this from a distant shore, is your heritage much different?  What is your moral and spiritual heritage? I am not talking about politics. I am talking about right and wrong. Not philosophy. What does the Bible say about these things? I am not here to offend, but to call us all to consider our ways. To bring our hearts back to God. We may not be in a position to change the course of our nation, but we might be able to affect our church, our community. Consider Psalm 33:12 

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen for His own inheritance. (NASB) 

Of course, He has chosen Israel as His inheritance. But I do believe there is a blessing for any nation who makes God LORD. The nation who as one honors the Lord and seeks His blessing from its leader to the poorest person on the street. When we decide to take an honest look at ourselves and put our sin away from us, we change and we begin to affect others around us. We change the way we dress and the way we talk. We begin to honor God in the little ways and in the big ways. And it matters.  

So, let’s celebrate our freedom and our liberty. Let’s begin by turning to God in repentance and surrender. While we have celebrated America’s Independence Day, it can be anyone’s day to celebrate what God has done in their life and what God might have prepared for their nation. Celebrate, pray, and seek the God who judges the nations and tell others of His wonderful deeds.  

Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. Psalm 96: 3 NASB 

 All for One  

Angela 

Posted on by Angela

Third Verse Devotion: Down at the Cross

We are humans born into sin. We are all sinners in need of salvation. When we accept Jesus’s precious gift of salvation, that gift is eternal. We will stumble. We will fall. Stumbling and falling doesn’t mean we have to start over in our salvation. It means we must confess our sin and seek forgiveness in repentance and strive to walk in faithfulness. The third verse of the hymn Down at the Cross gives us hope in our eternal security.  

O PRECIOUS FOUNTAIN THAT SAVES FROM SIN 

Jesus gave His blood as an atonement for our sin. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, there had to be atonement. Remember, after their eyes were opened what did they do? They sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. After God confronted them and punishment was given, God himself clothed them with animal skins. There had to be shedding of blood to cover their sin. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).  

From those earliest days we understood there had to be a sacrifice. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. He did this once for all time. Paul wrote to the Romans, “for the death that he dies, He died to sin once for all time: but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” Romans 6:10 NASB. The writer of Hebrews also reflected this in 7:27 and in 9:12. Peter, also, in 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit…”  

Jesus’s sacrifice was enough to save us eternally. He does not have to repeatedly sacrifice himself to save us from our sin. His sacrifice was once for all time, and we are saved once for all time. Our response is to put our trust in Him. The choice is ours. 

I AM SO GLAD THAT I ENTERED IN 

When God placed Adam in the Garden he told him he could eat from any tree in the garden except one. The tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the only one Adam was told not to eat from. From that moment on God gave Adam a choice. Would he obey what God told him?  

Eve was created and the same command was given to her. Soon temptation slithered in and the rest is history. From that first bite till now mankind has been given the choice to obey God or not.  

We have free will. When Jesus gave His life on the cross as an atonement for our sins, He gave us a choice. Accept Him and His free offer of salvation or not. The choice is still ours. What is your choice? Can you say you are so glad you entered His salvation? If you have breath, you still have a choice. Make the choice today to enter the salvation that is freely offered.  

THERE JESUS SAVES ME AND KEEPS ME CLEAN 

When we make the choice to accept the work of salvation Jesus has done on the cross, the process is continuous and eternal. We are sealed forever in His presence. The work of the cross cannot be undone. We may wander away from the teaching of Christ and follow our own way, and many have done so, yet their lives are unfulfilled and empty, they have no satisfaction or peace, until the moment they return to Christ. It is far better to remain in Christ than to wander away into lifestyles that we know are not meant for us. When we remain in Christ, we are continually kept clean and know the joy of His salvation.  

For example, suppose you are hiking, and the trail is well marked and clean. Off to the side, you see a beautiful flower. It is not on the trail, but some distance away. You can see it from the trail, so you decide it is safe to leave the trail to go examine this lovely flower. So, you step off the trail into the forest and brambles. You walk several feet and look back. Yes, you can see the trail clearly. You see the flower and soon forget about the trail. You want the flower.  

You stumble through the undergrowth and over the fallen logs and brambles you didn’t see when you were on the trail and have had to make several detours and now you cannot see the flower or the trail. You are still in the park but are lost. You don’t panic you have a compass. You take it out only to discover it is broken.  

Now you start to worry. You try to retrace your steps. All you want now is the trail. The flower is forgotten. You regret ever leaving the safety of the trail. You are sweaty and dirty and … was that a snake? The sun is starting to set and you really don’t want to be in these woods overnight.  

Finally, you hear a motor. A park ranger is nearby. You cry out for help. He comes to your aid and though he scolds you for leaving the trail, he takes you back to the safety of the trail. It was right where you left it. Waiting to take you back to your cabin. As you follow along, you see the flower again. It is still beautiful in the evening light, but this time you have no desire to leave the safety of the trail to pursue it.  

When we accept Jesus, we are still in the park but sometimes we leave the safety of the trail he has us on and decide to chase after something else. This is where we get into trouble. Often, we need help finding our way back. When we get back, Jesus is still waiting. Exactly at the point where we walked away.  

Sadly, there are some who decide to completely turn their backs on the salvation they have heard about. They follow along for a while but are determined to walk away. These have never accepted the free gift of salvation to begin with. For true believers, salvation is not something to be won or lost. Salvation is a gift freely given based on nothing but the shed blood of Jesus. We accept His gift and He keeps us continually and eternally. Even when we chase flowers in the forest and lose sight of the trail.  

GLORY TO HIS NAME 

The realization of this security leads us to praise and adoration. We praise the One who is able to save us so completely. We rejoice in the Name of the One who is able to bring us back when we wander off and stumble and fall. He loves us through it all. And He saves us eternally.  

Jesus assures us in John 10:28, 

And I give them eternal live, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. (NASB) 

What hope would we have if every time we chased pretty flowers and lost our way, there was no hope of restoration, no chance of forgiveness? God calls us to return to Him. He had many times to un-choose Israel. Yet He never did. He called them and they were His and they remain His to this day. It is no different for those who have accepted the salvation of Jesus.  

Bring glory to His name by living your life in a way that pleases Him. Call on His name. Rejoice in Him. Celebrate Him. Tell of His goodness to those around you. Let Him shine through you. Praise His name forever.  

CONCLUSION 

While I believe in the eternal security of the believer. I also know that there are those who have never entered into this security I hold so dear. Or maybe at one time they believed but now have turned away from the faith. They have decided not to follow Jesus. All I can say to them is repent of your way. Return to Him. Believe in Him.  

For those of us who are in Christ, but we stumble and fall on our way. Get up and press on. Get back on the path. Pretty flowers soon fade. The path we are on leads to a place that will never fade and a hope that never passes away. Stay on the path, my friend. It may not be easy, but you are not alone.  

To reassure you this coming week, I challenge you to read the book of 1 John. It assures us of eternal life. Also, go to www.hymnary.org and look up Down at the Cross. It was written by E.A. Hoffman. Read the words of the entire song and listen to the music. If you already know the song, sing along. Let the words wash over your heart this week.  

All for One 

Angela 

Posted on by Angela

Stop Striving

I just checked my posting stats. I was shocked to find it has been ten days since I last posted. I have never gone for so long without a post. At least I don’t think I have. I am working on three posts and planning more. So, I guess the days just slipped by without my noticing.  

I was getting ready to write this morning and realized I needed to straighten my desk. While I was at it, I needed to dust. Then I noticed I had broken a nail, of course I had to take care of that. Time again slipping by in my distraction, or is it procrastination? 

Funny that. Time. We seem to have so much then suddenly not enough at all. We all have the same twenty-four hours of spinning around. In our spinning, somehow, we lose track of how much we lose and how much we waste. We hurry here and there with our list of things to do. Work, kids, family, hobbies, maybe we need to just stop and remember the most important part of time. It waits for no one.  

I opened www.biblegateway.com to check the verse in my head. I wanted to make sure I had the quote correct, and it turned out to be the verse of the day. Maybe we needed to hear it…ok maybe I needed to hear it today. 

Psalm 46:10a NASB 

Stop striving and know I am God… 

Those of you who like me grew up with the King James Version know it as “Be still and know that I am God.” But I like that word striving. Both are true. Be still and stop striving. Striving though has a different connotation. Stop trying to make something happen. Stop struggling. Stop for a while and rest. Think. Renew your energy. Time is passing by. You are missing what is happening right here, right now.  

So, I will be back and I will get myself on track. I feel a responsibility to whoever reads my words to be here. To be consistent. I can’t say I won’t go off the rails again. I am a dreamer chasing rainbows deep down. For today I hope we all can take a little time to stop striving, to be still and remember that He is God. Time is in His hands. Everything will be here when we get back.  

All for One  

Angela 

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Celebrating One Year

All for One has hit a year. It is hard to believe I have managed to keep writing here for one whole year. Other blogs I have started fizzled out after a few months. I have been determined to keep this one alive. Sure, I have missed a few days and there have been a few weeks that there hasn’t been something published, but overall, there has been at least one post per week since I started, sometimes more. So, where do I go from here? Good question.  

I believe it is good and healthy to take time for reflection and renewal. Time to evaluate what works and what does not work.  There are things I want to add to All for One. There are things I want to improve. I am not going to mention them right now as I am still contemplating and working through them, but I hope you will stay with me through the changes whatever they look like. More than anything I hope you will see the encouragement to grow closer in your walk with Jesus or to begin your walk with Jesus, whatever your stage of life.  

All for One at its heart is a discipleship/ lifestyle blog intended to help you on your journey with Jesus. Beyond that it could cover anything from Bible study to books to anything else. At one time I had five different blog ideas that I loved and couldn’t decide what I wanted to pursue. So, in a way, I have combined them all here and have only touched the tip of the iceberg of interests and ideas. Yet everything is filtered through my Christian worldview.  

I hope by now you have realized my words are my own and not the product of AI. I do not use AI to plan content or write content. My words and ideas are my own, good or bad.  For me, using AI to write this blog, or any future book or story is unethical and not true writing. There may be those who disagree, and that is fine. The place of AI is the source of debate right now, and people come down on both sides. It is unfortunate that a tool created by man is feared by some as to take the place of man and that we have such a hard time differentiating between what is real and what is AI. The words you read are real. My thoughts are real. Fortunately, they have been filtered and edited, but real just the same.  

I have set up All for One with three sections each with different functions. Third Verse Devotions looks at the old hymns, especially the third verse that often gets overlooked. So far, I have only looked at hymns with which I am familiar. It isn’t all that fair to the wealth of hymns which have been published in the past couple of centuries which are still sung in some churches and still hummed in homes. So, I hope to include hymns I don’t recognize as well. Times Like These is another section of All for One and is set us as Bible study and general posts. It is where this post will go. It is also intended to contain doctrinal studies, cultural thoughts, and things of like matter. We are living in strange and wonderful times. Times Like These is intended to help you on your way and maybe give you some food for thought. The final section is Angela’s Bookshelf. When I started blogging, I had thought that I would lean more toward the book and publishing market. Yet as soon as my fingers hit the keyboard, it became All for One. And what surprised me even more was that Angela’s Bookshelf is my least published page. It isn’t that I am not reading, I am. It is more that I spend more time on the other two pages, but I leave the page because we never know what the future holds, and any of these pages could wax or wane at any time.  

So, is All for One going away? Not a chance. We are just getting started. I always have more to learn, at any age. Technology, in some ways, escapes me, but I keep trying. Isn’t that all any of us can do? We keep pressing forward, forgetting what is behind straining for what is ahead. (Philippians 3: 13-14) 

All for One

Angela

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Blessings of a Cluttered Desk

1 Timothy 6:17 

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 

I sit at my desk this morning with a cat on my left hand. She rubs her head against my hand, causing my hand to type letters I don’t intend. I sigh and backspace to correct the mistakes. I have a notebook on my right entitled “Blog.”  On my left, past the cat, are a couple of journals and a devotional. My husband brought home a novel from work, so it has been added to the stack. I have two monitors. Beneath one is an old shelf- thing with a drawer. I have no idea what its original purpose was, but I loved it when we came across it in a thrift store, so it became my Mother’s Day gift that year. It makes a great monitor riser. It is in serious need of dusting. The other “monitor riser” is another Mother’s Day gift. It has a couple of Bibles and a hymnal and odds and ends some of which I don’t know quite what to do with, so they get stuck there. I also have a large candle holder full of pens, pencils, and highlighters. I have paperweights and stress toys and lotion and sticky notes scattered among the risers. This more or less constitutes my desk, which is a small dining table shoved against a wall.  

My purpose in describing my space is not to bore you or show you my organization skills, or lack of them, but rather to remind myself and you that there is a blessing in a cluttered desk. A while back I posted about identity in the things on the desk. How the things on the desk can reveal things about us. This time I want to look at it a little differently. Maybe there is a blessing in the clutter.  

Most of us tend to hate clutter. It makes us feel claustrophobic and cramped. We cannot relax or think straight until the clutter is gone. In fact, you may have read my listing above and had some anxiety. I admit to some anxiety myself. Yet, as I take a second look and consider the items, I discover how blessed I am.  

The cat wants to be near me because she loves me. She has, since I began typing, moved to lay on the notebook, to sit in front of the keyboard watching my fingers or blinking at me. The risers and novel indicate I have a family and am loved. The notebook reminds me that I need to study and plan content. I have a responsibility to whoever reads this blog. Even the dust reminds me of the fact that I have a home, a roof over my head. The Bibles remind me, if I ever need reminding, there is a God and He loves me and gave Himself for me. He is the reason I do this. He is my Audience of One.  

There is a blessing in the clutter. I am not saying that the clutter doesn’t need to be cleared away. Not at all. But maybe the next time we grumble and complain about the inconvenience of the dust, the dishes, the laundry, the mess, we can take a moment to remind ourselves that these could remind us why we have them in the first place. They could mean we have a family. They could remind us that we are loved. Regarding a pet, the clutter could remind us that an animal depends on us and trusts us. The dirty dishes mean we had food to eat and had something to prepare it in and eat that food from. The laundry indicates that we have clothes to wear. We have been blessed far beyond what we deserve and in truth we can live on far less than what we have.  

So, there is a blessing in the clutter. Whether it is a desk, a corner, or a room, the clutter can be used to remind us we have a blessing and a purpose. Clean it up certainly, but while you do so rejoice in the blessing of a God who gives us all things to enjoy.  

All for One 

Angela 

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Third Verse Devotion: There is Power in the Blood

There has been a movement in recent years to remove the word “blood” from the language of churches and church music. Yet when we remove the blood the sacrifice of Jesus is meaningless. Our salvation is based on the shed blood of Jesus as a substitution for the debt of sin we could not pay. Romans 6:23 reminds us that “the wages of sin is death…” Jesus took those wages upon Himself and gave us “…the gift of God …eternal life…” I hope we never find ourselves wanting to remove something so precious from our faith as the shed blood of Jesus. Our hymn today reminds us “There is Power in the Blood.” 

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow? 
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood. 
Sin-stains are lost in its life-giving flow; 
there’s wonderful power in the blood.  

There are four verses to the hymn, and each verse begins by asking a question? Our focus verse, verse three, asks, “Would you be whiter much whiter than snow?” This question reflects Isaiah1:18 in which the Lord states, 

 “Come now, and let us debate your case,” 
Says the Lord, 
“Though your sins are as scarlet, 
They shall become as white as snow; 
Though they are red like crimson, 
They shall be like wool. 

The question is followed by the reminder that there is “power in the blood” The next line tells us that in the blood our stains are washed away. Each of the first three verses build on the fact that we can be cleansed from our sins in the blood of Jesus.  

Sin leaves a stain on our heart and soul. We cannot wash it away on our own. Our good works will not remove it. Church attendance will not take it away. Singing in the choir will not touch it. Volunteering for the nursery will not even remove the stain of our sin. The only remedy for the removal of the stain of our sin is the blood of Jesus. There is no other religion that can offer so bold a claim. There’s wonderful power in the blood. It’s only by the blood of Jesus we can be made clean.  

You may be asking, “What about in the Old Testament, before Jesus came?” That is a fair question, but even then, God had the sacrificial law in place for the cleansing of sin. The writer of Hebrew reminds us, 

And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22 NASB 

After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden and covered themselves the best they could with fig leaves sown together, God taught them about sacrifice and offering and redemption. Genesis 3:21 tells us,  

And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. (NASB) 

One of the animals that Adam loved and named and cared for gave its life so that the man and woman could be clothed and their sin covered. Did you ever wonder how the people knew what offering to bring before the law was given and the Levitical was established? It was taught to Adam and Eve in the garden as God made clothes for them. They carried it with them and taught it to their children.  

Now because of Jesus, we can come directly to the throne of grace and confess our sin to the Father and find the same forgiveness and redemption that Adam and Eve found. We no longer have a need to offer an animal sacrifice; Jesus was our sacrifice. We find in Ephesians, in the first chapter, the basis for our hope of redemption. 

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1:7 NASB 

There is power in the blood. I will gladly sing and write about the blood because without the blood of Jesus, I am still lost in my sins with no hope for eternity. My prayer for you as you read this is that you also find the salvation that comes from the blood of Jesus which was given for you. It is in accepting His sacrifice we begin to truly understand that we live for an audience of One. 

All for One 

Angela 

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Third Verse Devotion: I Am Thine, O Lord

This week’s hymn is “I am Thine, O Lord.” It is one I can still hear my grandfather singing and one of many favorite Fanny Crosby songs. So, let’s explore the third verse,  

O, the pure delight of a single hour 
that before Thy throne I spend, 
when I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God, 
I commune as friend with friend!  

 
There are four stanzas to the hymn, and each seems to have a different theme. However, when you come to the refrain (chorus) they are all bound together.  

Refrain: 
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, 
to the cross where Thou hast died; 
draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, 
to Thy precious, bleeding side. 
 

They are all about being drawn closer to Christ. This particular stanza is about drawing deeper in prayer. What does prayer mean to you? How much time do you dedicate to prayer? Can you say you spend a single hour in prayer? I tend to relate more to the disciples when Jesus was in the garden, and He took the disciples with Him. He asked them to watch and pray. What did they do? They fell asleep. He came back and found them sleeping. His response? “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” (Mark 14:37) He asked the question to Simon Peter, but He might as well have asked me. I doubt I could have done much better. This account is found in Matthew 26 and Mark 14 if you need a refresher.  

Crosby calls it a “pure delight” to spend an hour in prayer. Some of us can barely manage fifteen minutes in prayer before our minds start to wander. So how can we spend an hour in prayer? I think it is a learned practice. It is something you build up to. It becomes a spiritual discipline. We begin to delight ourselves in the Lord (Psalm 37:4) and watch as His desires become our desires. At first distractions are everywhere then over time they come to a minimum as we learn to focus on Him and he becomes our heart’s desire.  

It is also important to remember that we are coming before the throne of Almighty God. We are not calling 1-800-I WANT NOW. We often need to change our attitude before we begin our prayer time. Our stanza talks about the delight of spending an hour before His throne. It is Him we are seeking. His presence. When we come with a list of Christmas wants, of course we can’t focus on much more than just those few things. He wants to spend time with us. He wants to commune with us. He wants us to want to commune with Him. Notice the last line, “as friend with friend.” You can’t say that when you meet with a friend you rush in with that friend and say something like, “I can only give fifteen minutes, so much to do, but here is what I need, by the way, I love you. You are my best friend. See you soon. Gotta run. Bye.” Before long that friend won’t want to meet with you and you can hardly call yourself friends. Friends talk and share. They listen to each other. They spend time together. They enjoy each other’s company. This is the relationship described in the hymn, “I commune as friend with friend.” 

I don’t know what your relationship with God is like. You may have a depth that others can only dream about. You may be more like the friend I just described. You may be somewhere in between. I hope wherever you are in your relationship you long to go deeper. You long for an ever-closer relationship with Him. I can say that with confidence because our God is so awesome in scope and power that just when we think we know Him He reveals another layer of His nature and character to us and we are blown away by Him and His greatness. 

I challenge you in this next week to change the way you think about your prayer life. Maybe you need to just begin to pray. So, five minutes is a challenge, and an hour is an eternity. So, start with the five minutes you do have. Maybe you are more like the friend I described earlier. Slow down and focus on Him who sits on the throne. He loves you and gave Himself for you. Leave your list and worship Him. Try something different. It is not too late to begin to draw nearer to God. In fact, He desires a relationship with you. Prayer is a conversation between you and God. He is waiting for you.  

 My prayer for all of us is that we would reach a place where our delight is a single hour in prayer talking with our God as friends.  

“Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord.” 

All for One 

Angela 

Posted on by Angela

Third Verse Devotion: The Old Rugged Cross

The cherished hymn “The Old Rugged Cross” was written by a Methodist Episcopal minister. He wrote the words in 1913, and it is his best-known hymn.  

For our purposes, we will look at verse three. The hymn is in the public domain, and you can find it as always at www.hymnary.org. Here is the third verse for reference.  

 In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, 
a wondrous beauty I see, 
for ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, 
to pardon and sanctify me.  

There is a key word in this beautiful verse that I want us to focus on for a while. Sanctify. The word comes from Latin, and it means, “to make holy”, or “to set apart.” It is first used in the Bible in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 3 where God sanctified the seventh day. He set apart the seventh day and made it holy.  

Yet our hymnal verse is talking about us as being sanctified. Jesus died to “…sanctify me.” We have been sanctified. What does that mean? It means that once we have accepted Jesus’s gift of salvation, we too have been set apart. We have been made holy. When Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, He bought our redemption. So, when we give ourselves to Him, we are set apart from the rest of the world. We are His.  

The first thing we need to understand about sanctification is that it is the work of Christ in us. He is the one who sanctifies. Consider the following verses: 

Hebrews 13:12 

Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood. 

Hebrews 10:10 

By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. 

Hebrews 10:14 

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 

So, since the blood of Jesus sanctifies us by His sacrifice on the cross what is our response? Since salvation is by grace through faith and we are not saved by works, what are we now to do? We remember we are changed. We are set free from the entanglements of the world. We no longer are slaves to our old selves and the old habits. We have been set apart. The blood of Christ has made us holy. Yes, holy. We have been bought at a great price. The Son of God gave His life on a cross for our sins. The price could not have been greater. He paid that price for you and me. Our acceptance and belief in that singular act set us apart from the rest of the world. It sanctifies us.  

Now we live by new guidelines. The old way of thinking is gone. The old way of talking is gone. Sometimes the old friendships we had are gone. Here are some more verses to consider: 

Romans 6:22 

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 

2 Timothy 2:21 

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be an implement for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 

Romans 12: 1-2 

Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 

Sometimes it happens quickly. Other times it happens slowly. But we begin to change. The way we conduct business changes. Our interaction with family changes. The way we talk changes. The way we dress might even change. Everything about us is new. We are set apart for God’s use. We represent Him to the world.  

Does that mean we always get it right? Of course not. Think about some who were set apart by God yet messed up terribly. Samson, David, Moses, the disciples, Israel, yes, the list could go on. Also add my name to the list, yours too. God set each of these apart for a special work. All of them had a different task. They all knew God and had witnessed his power and majesty. David was a man after God’s own heart. Moses had to wear a veil over his face after being in God’s presence. The disciples walked daily with Jesus for three years.  

It could be assumed that if anyone could get the idea of what God had in mind it would be these individuals, but some of the greatest failures came through them. David slept with Bathsheba and when he learned she was pregnant tried to cover it up, but when that didn’t work had her husband killed. Moses disobeyed God and did what had worked before, striking a rock instead of speaking to it. He didn’t enter the promised land as a result. The disciples were competitive and slow to understand Jesus’s teaching then fled when Jesus needed them most. One betrayed Him. One denied he even knew Him. Israel is still God’s chosen people, the apple of His eye even though they have rebelled time and time again.  

From this we understand once we have been sanctified, God does not rescind that covering. The above examples were still set apart despite their failures. There were consequences certainly. But they were still set apart for God’s purposes. And so are we.  

We have a responsibility once we realize the importance of what it means to be sanctified, to be set apart. We no longer can look like the rest of the world. We still live in the world, but we don’t look like the world. We are supposed to be different. We talk differently. We dress differently. God now convicts us about what we watch on television or at the movies or what we read. Put away the filthy language. Change your clothes. Change the channel. Put down the book. Remember, you are set apart. You are sanctified. Instead, “…cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.” 

If you need a little more convincing, let me leave you with a few more scriptures that might help. 

1 Corinthians 6:11 

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 

1 Thessalonians 5:23 

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1 Peter 3:15 

but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect 

Have you stumbled? Have you fallen? Look to the Father. He is waiting to restore you. Jesus died on the cross to pardon and sanctify us. Cling to Him. Remember the Old Rugged Cross today.  

All for One  

Angela 

Posted on by Angela

Stuff We Accumulate

If you have ever moved from one home to another, you know we as humans accumulate stuff. In fact, we like our stuff. We build buildings to house our stuff when our houses aren’t big enough to keep our stuff. Then we decide we have too much stuff and we decide to get organized and toss the stuff out. We might sell it in our yard or garage for other people to buy and add to their stuff. But we feel better because the stuff is not in our house anymore.  

Others hold on to their stuff and keep adding increasingly till it overflows and takes over their home and lives. They need help to overcome this problem. Some sadly never overcome this problem. They feel secure with all their belongings around them. We call them hoarders and we pity them and we don’t understand them.  

(Image sourced from the Public Domain Image Archive / Internet Archive / University of Toronto Libraries) 

There are still those that have no stuff at all. They are the poor and destitute. They live among us but we don’t like to look at them. They remind us of all the stuff we have and how little they don’t have. Sure, every once in a while, usually around Christmas we will donate money to some charity or give away some of our stuff to make us feel better. Basically, though we slosh through our stuff content, we have done our part to make the world a better place.  

I am not here to judge or condemn. That is not my job or my point. Goodness knows I have enough stuff of my own. No, I am not here to make any of us feel guilty. We carry enough guilt. I do want us to be mindful of what we already have. We have been blessed in our lives. In our journey to live all for One, part of our understanding involves our possessions in relation to our God and Savior. We can take none of what we have with us when we pass from this life into the next. In fact, the Bible gives a story of a man who had plenty and wanted to hold on to what he had. Take a look. 

 But He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions.” And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.  And he began thinking to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’  And he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. And I will say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years to come; relax, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!”’  But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is demanded of you; and as for all that you have prepared, who will own it now?’  Such is the one who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich in relation to God.”  Luke 12:15-21 NASB 

This man thought he had it figured out. The land had produced well for him. He had become prosperous. What was he to do with all the extra? He had more than enough for himself and his family. “I’ve got it.” He said with a snap of his fingers. I will tear down all my barns and build bigger barns. That will solve my problem. He forgot about the hungry people he passed from his fields to his home. He never paid attention to the poor who could have shared his wealth had he given away some of his prosperity. Instead, he tried to have as much as he could by building bigger and better barns to hold it all. To what end? God said he would die that very night. Then what would happen to all of his plans and wealth? Who then would reap the benefits? He wouldn’t take it with him. 

In 1922, Howard Carter made an extraordinary discovery. He opened an Egyptian tomb containing abundant wealth. The Egyptians had planned on everything the dead man might need in the next life. Of course, we know that the man was King Tut and all the wealth he was buried with is in a museum. Tourists can go to his tomb and view the painted walls. Archaeologists are still uncovering truths about this young king. All the riches buried with him, he never used. The only reason King Tut’s tomb was so remarkable was that grave robbers had not been able to find the tomb or break into the tomb. So, it sat for centuries untouched until Howard Carter saw “wonderful things” through a small opening.  

(Page  2023 Free-images.com. All images are Public Domain) 

We have the opportunity to see wonderful things as we move from looking at the things around us to the things above. Let us set our eyes on the things of Christ and His Kingdom. When He returns, the things we have saved and collected and hoarded will not matter at all. They are rust and dust compared to Him who sits on the throne. So, before you make the next purchase ask yourself why? Is it just one more thing that you will later toss into the donate box? Or is it something that you can use to help lead someone else on their journey to give their all for One. After all, isn’t that what it is all about? 

All for One 

Angela