Devo for 02/02/2025 service- Message by Pastor Clint Sprague
We are in week 2 of Pastor Clint’s message series Fully Alive. Last week, Pastor Clint described being fully alive as those “who receive, experience, and enjoy the empowered life God gave us.” Our goal is to live this abundant life and live it to the fullest!
This week, Pastor Clint made this point, and I think it is a good one for us men to dive into:
We need to acknowledge when we are not living fully alive and ask ourselves, “Why?”
Acknowledgement is key to living Fully Alive! Psalm 51:3 says: “For I know my transgressions”. Some versions put it this way: For I know my rebellion”. Only after we acknowledge our “stuff” can we repent and go the Father’s way instead of ours. As Pastor Clint said, repentance is essential and the gateway to living a life Fully Alive!
Next, we have to acknowledge there are obstacles to us living fully alive. Obviously, satan wants to get in the way, but we also get in our own way. It comes down to knowing and believing what the word of God says. This quote from John Eldridge that Pastor Clint spoke about breaks this concept down:
“God loves you; you matter to Him. That is a fact, stated as a proposition. I imagine most of you have heard it any number of times. Why, then, aren’t we the happiest people on earth? It hasn’t reached our hearts. Facts stay lodged in the mind, for the most part. They don’t speak at the level we need to hear.”
I highlighted the two lines in the quote from Eldridge, as this is the key to overcoming the obstacles keeping us from being fully alive. We have to know the truth (we know it in our minds), and we also have to believe that it applies to us (we receive it in our hearts), then we have to live like we believe it (fully alive).
We can apply that principle to scripture. Take a look at what Jesus says in John 8:32:
“Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”
As we read and study the Truth (know it in our minds), and we believe it applies to us (we receive it in our hearts)- we will be free of the chains that hold us back (fully alive)! Try this concept out as you read scriptures that promise us a blessing if we are obedient!
As Pastor Clint pointed out, being fully alive is an inside job. We have to be intentional and make sure what we know in our mind gets to our heart so we can live as God intended us to live-Fully Alive!
Don’t forget to invite God into your day!
Topic for Study -
Forgiveness
Matthew 6:14-15
1 John 1:9
Ephesians 4:32
February Memory Verses:
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.