Masterpiece

Popular

READ: JOHN 3:16-17; ROMANS 15:1-7; 1 PETER 2:22-24 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JOHN%203%3A16-17%3B%20ROMANS%2015%3A1-7%3B%201%20PETER%202%3A22-24&version=NIV] Our need for love and appreciation is written deeply into our nature. We want to be seen and accepted by those around us. But, in this broken world, humans are selfish, and human attention is fickle. Popularity can tease those who don’t find it...and wreck those who do. Jesus knows about popularity. He understands people. Humans were created through Him—and He came and lived among us, fully God yet also fully human. He knows firsthand that people can crown you one day and crucify you the next. So, during His ministry on earth, how did Jesus deal with that oh-so-human desire for attention and acceptance? How did He deal with popularity? John 2:23-25 says, “Many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.” Instead, Jesus often spent time alone with the Father, and He “entrusted himself to him who judges justly,” even in suffering (Luke 5:16; 1 Peter 2:23). Yet Jesus was not detached. He cared. He loved. He had a mission to accomplish for our sake. He made the ultimate sacrifice, giving up His life on the cross, because He so loved us (John 3:16-17). And when He rose again, Jesus declared that all who belong to Him are fully and completely accepted. So now, we are free to love others instead of comparing ourselves to them. Consider taking a moment to talk to God, perhaps using this prayer as a guide: Lord, thank You that, because of Jesus, I can entrust my heart to You, loving others with abandon as I follow Your leading. Remind me I am secure in Your great love, and may that love overflow from me to each one You bring into my life today. • Trent D. Schrock • God created us to be in community (Genesis 2:18). But sin has broken our relationships with God and others (Genesis 3). How has Jesus made the way for our broken relationships to be reconciled? As we wait for full reconciliation at Jesus’s return, how can we see glimpses of it today? How does Jesus’s love for us make it possible for us to love others? (If you want to dig deeper, read Romans 5; 2 Corinthians 5; Colossians 1; 1 John 4:19.) • What might it look like for you to set aside time in your day to be alone with God in His Word and in prayer so you can be refreshed, reminded of His love for you, and strengthened to overflow it to others? Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:7 (NIV)

Popular

READ: JOHN 3:16-17; ROMANS 15:1-7; 1 PETER 2:22-24 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JOHN%203%3A16-17%3B%20ROMANS%2015%3A1-7%3B%201%20PETER%202%3A22-24&version=NIV] Our need for love and appreciation is written deeply into our nature. We want to be seen and accepted by those around us. But, in this broken world, humans are selfish, and human attention is fickle. Popularity can tease those who don’t find it...and wreck those who do. Jesus knows about popularity. He understands people. Humans were created through Him—and He came and lived among us, fully God yet also fully human. He knows firsthand that people can crown you one day and crucify you the next. So, during His ministry on earth, how did Jesus deal with that oh-so-human desire for attention and acceptance? How did He deal with popularity? John 2:23-25 says, “Many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.” Instead, Jesus often spent time alone with the Father, and He “entrusted himself to him who judges justly,” even in suffering (Luke 5:16; 1 Peter 2:23). Yet Jesus was not detached. He cared. He loved. He had a mission to accomplish for our sake. He made the ultimate sacrifice, giving up His life on the cross, because He so loved us (John 3:16-17). And when He rose again, Jesus declared that all who belong to Him are fully and completely accepted. So now, we are free to love others instead of comparing ourselves to them. Consider taking a moment to talk to God, perhaps using this prayer as a guide: Lord, thank You that, because of Jesus, I can entrust my heart to You, loving others with abandon as I follow Your leading. Remind me I am secure in Your great love, and may that love overflow from me to each one You bring into my life today. • Trent D. Schrock • God created us to be in community (Genesis 2:18). But sin has broken our relationships with God and others (Genesis 3). How has Jesus made the way for our broken relationships to be reconciled? As we wait for full reconciliation at Jesus’s return, how can we see glimpses of it today? How does Jesus’s love for us make it possible for us to love others? (If you want to dig deeper, read Romans 5; 2 Corinthians 5; Colossians 1; 1 John 4:19.) • What might it look like for you to set aside time in your day to be alone with God in His Word and in prayer so you can be refreshed, reminded of His love for you, and strengthened to overflow it to others? Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:7 (NIV)

Heaven on Earth

READ: JOHN 14:1-6; PHILIPPIANS 3:20-21; REVELATION 21:1-5 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JOHN%2014%3A1-6%3B%20PHILIPPIANS%203%3A20-21%3B%20REVELATION%2021%3A1-5&version=NIV] Too often, Christians have a vague understanding of heaven as a cloudy, indistinct place where we’ll wear white bathrobes and strum on harps. No wonder so many people don’t want to go there! If we take a good look at what the Bible actually says about heaven, we’ll find that it sounds pretty good. Heaven will ultimately be on earth (Revelation 21:1-5). I remember being so relieved when I first understood this. It’s a familiar, concrete idea I can wrap my mind around. God created the Earth uniquely for habitation, with the intention that people live on it. That objective won’t change, but the earth will be made better—healed from sin and all the brokenness it caused. The Bible tells us the first earth will pass away and be made new—minus the sin, hunger, sickness, death, and war we’re all too accustomed to on the current one. We will have physical bodies (Philippians 3:20-21). Another relief, isn’t it? We’re accustomed to our five senses, to the pressure of air in our lungs and dirt under our feet. God intended us to be physical as well as spiritual beings. When Jesus rose from the dead, he had His physical body that bore scars and could consume food. Since Christ set the pattern we will follow, we can expect physical bodies too. His resurrection secures ours (1 Corinthians 15). God will dwell with us (Revelation 21:3). We were created for fellowship with God such as Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden. Sin broke that relationship, but Jesus conquered sin. One day, His work on the cross will come to full realization, and everyone who has put their trust in Jesus will once again enjoy the presence of the Creator of the universe in this way. Scripture tells us we are sojourners on this present earth, and our true citizenship is in heaven because that’s where Jesus is. We can rejoice knowing that we will dwell with Him and His people forever—and that He will exceed our expectations in every way. • Michelle Isenhoff • How have you imagined heaven, both when you were a kid and more recently? • After reading today’s Bible passages, what questions do you have about heaven? • Jesus is in heaven, and at the same time, He is also with us! What questions do you have about this? (Matthew 28:20; Mark 16:19; 1 Peter 1:8; 3:22) But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Regret

READ: PSALM 103:12; ROMANS 3:21-26; 2 CORINTHIANS 7:10; EPHESIANS 2:8-10 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=PSALM%20103%3A12%3B%20ROMANS%203%3A21-26%3B%202%20CORINTHIANS%207%3A10%3B%20EPHESIANS%202%3A8-10&version=CSB] Regret: everyone experiences it at some point. I recently sold my truck, before I really needed to, at a price that was too low. And, afterward, I was full of regret. I had no plan for what I was going to buy to replace it, which led me to spiral into fearful desperation. I knew I had just made one bad decision. How could I make another major decision—what car to buy and how much to spend? My situation isn’t new or unusual. In Genesis 1–3, the story of the first people, Adam and Eve, is characterized by regret. They sinned against God, rejecting His love and doing what He’d explicitly told them not to do. They were guilty, and, therefore, they experienced the regret of sin. The Bible is littered with similar stories. Consider David’s lust and murder, Esau’s birthright sale, Jonah’s bitterness, Thomas’s unbelief, Peter’s pride, Judas’s betrayal…the list goes on and on. Some of those individuals experienced repentance and healing for their regret; some didn’t. The difference in whether someone found healing or not is simple: grace. We often live under the delusion that personal perfection is a possibility. But over and over, as sinful and guilty people in need of a Savior, we are confronted with our failures and flaws. No amount of education or training will rid us of these qualities. Thankfully, there is hope. Romans 5:20 tells us, “Where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more.” That is good news indeed for flawed people. The grace of Christ gives us hope. His sacrificial death took God’s just wrath for our sin. So, the moment we were united to Jesus by faith through His grace, our sins were nailed to the cross and we received Jesus’s perfect righteousness. Our sins are washed away in the flood of Christ’s forgiveness. They are gone forever and have lost their hold on us. No regret can separate us from God’s love. • Mike Hurley • What kinds of regrets have you been carrying? Are they regrets over sins, like hatred, or merely unwise decisions, like selling something before you thought through all the factors? • We’ve all done things we later regretted. Yet God is so merciful to us that even when we mess up, He extends help. This is the hope of the gospel—when we were dead in our sin, helpless to save ourselves, Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave to save us (for more about this good news, see our "Know Jesus [https://unlocked.org/knowjesus/]" page). And even after we’ve put our trust in Jesus, He continues to show us mercy when we mess up. Consider taking some time to talk to Him about any regrets that come to mind. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more. Romans 5:20 (CSB)

A Promised Way of Escape

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13; 2 THESSALONIANS 3:3; 2 TIMOTHY 1:7; TITUS 2:12-14 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20CORINTHIANS%2010%3A13%3B%202%20THESSALONIANS%203%3A3%3B%202%20TIMOTHY%201%3A7%3B%20TITUS%202%3A12-14&version=NLT] During my senior year, my best friend invited me to her birthday party. Our entire circle of friends showed up, and the day seemed innocent enough. A few hours later, things took an unexpected turn. Out of nowhere, my high school best friend pulled out her parents’ bottle of vodka and asked if anyone wanted to take shots with her. Immediately, I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach as everyone, except me, enthusiastically agreed. I knew this was wrong. She looked to me, waiting on an answer. I felt the pressures to fit in and say, “Yes.” Suddenly, I remembered what my youth pastor had preached earlier that week, that God would show me a way out when I was tempted so that I could endure it and not give in (1 Corinthians 10:13). I knew what I had to do. I said, “No. I have to go home.” While the temptation to fit in was strong, God faithfully gave me a way out. I don’t know what temptations you’re facing, but I do know this: you’re not alone. The temptations and struggles you’re dealing with are no different than what everyone else has experienced. Since the beginning of time, starting with Adam and Eve, we’ve all been tempted. While, yes, there are temptations and struggles, there is great news in our moments of weakness. God is faithful, and His Word promises we will not be tempted more than we can stand. He promises to show us a way out so we can endure. It is sometimes difficult, but once we know Jesus, we can always pray prayers like this: Lord, show me the way of escape You’re providing from this temptation. Thank You for giving me the strength to choose Your way and not sin. Remember, Jesus is with us, and He is faithful to help us resist sin—and to forgive us even when we fall. As we rely on His love, we become willing to choose His way out. • Brandi Prather • In times of temptation, Jesus invites us to come to Him, to be reminded of His goodness, and to better see the way of escape He’s offering. Consider taking a moment to talk to Him about whatever temptations you’ve been facing lately. Why is it that we don’t have to be afraid of being totally honest with Jesus about our temptations and sins? (Psalm 139; Romans 3:23-24; Hebrews 2:18; 4:14-16; 1 John 1:9) • What questions do you have about drinking alcohol? Who are trusted Christians in your life you could talk to about these questions? (If you want to dig deeper, read Psalm 104:14-15; Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35; Ecclesiastes 9:7; Isaiah 5:11; Amos 9:14; Luke 7:33-34; John 2:1-11; Romans 13:13; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Timothy 5:23. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Psalm 91:4 (NLT)