Encountering God through Others
First15 Devotional
First15
4.9 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 25 June 2023
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
People are messy. We are difficult and challenging. And it’s because of that no church is perfect. But there must be some reason Jesus desires for us to be unified and be one. Today we’ll explore how and why it’s important to encounter God through other people. May your wounds be healed, and your heart be opened to how God wants to use others to lead you to him.
Our Scripture for today comes from Matthew 18:19-20, and today's worship is Heart and Hands by Sean Feucht.
First15 is a daily devotional written and recorded by Craig Denison. If you would like to learn more about the First15 app, books, blogs, videos and our other resources, please visit first15.org. You can always reach out to us on our contact page on the website.
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We just launched Vol. 7 of our First15 Devotional Series, Trust. And I couldn’t be more excited!
Trust is one of the devotional books I’ve been most anticipating, because of how critical trust is to our ability to thrive in and out of life’s difficult seasons.
This year has been arguably the hardest year we’ve faced globally in a generation. The pandemic has quickly taken its toll in every corner of our society, and every corner of the human heart. And the effects of systematic racism, and our lack of true racial reconciliation across the U.S. and beyond has brought us face to face with the mountain of division we’ve yet to overcome.
Personally, when life is good I find it easy to trust God, to be grateful for the ways he’s providing for me. But when my circumstances get hard, I find myself taking my life back in my control, and suffering as a result.
In Scripture, so many of God’s promises of peace, of provision, of safety are linked to our trust. Trust is like the “yes” that empowers God to move in deeper and more profound ways in and through us.
So I want to sincerely encourage you to get Trust today, to immerse yourself in this 5-week guide that will help you genuinely and wholeheartedly trust God. Because when you give God your trust, you’ll find an abundant peace and life that can carry you with unshakable joy through even life’s hardest challenges.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | People are messy. We are difficult and challenging. And it's because of that, no church is perfect. |
| 0:12.5 | But there must be some reason Jesus desires for us to be unified and be one. Today we'll |
| 0:18.3 | explore how and why it's important to encounter God through other people. May your wounds |
| 0:24.4 | be healed and your heart be opened to how God wants to use others to lead you to Him. |
| 0:31.0 | Welcome to the first 15 podcast. One of the most impactful ways God reveals |
| 0:37.0 | Himself is through others. Jesus taught us in Matthew 18, 19, and 20. Again, I say to |
| 0:44.2 | you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my |
| 0:49.8 | father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them. |
| 0:57.4 | We can learn aspects of God's heart through others that we simply can't learn alone. |
| 1:03.9 | In relationship with others, we learn about God's heart for unity, grace, humility, and |
| 1:09.4 | love in new and powerful ways. In fellowship, we encounter people with various gifts, perspectives, |
| 1:17.0 | and past experiences that are all different than our own. In a community, we discover God's |
| 1:22.9 | heart to use others for the building up, healing, and sharpening of ourselves. James 513-16 |
| 1:30.4 | says, |
| 1:31.4 | Is anyone among you suffering? Let them pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let them sing praise. |
| 1:37.3 | Is anyone among you sick? Let them call for the elders of the church and let them pray |
| 1:42.0 | over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save |
| 1:48.1 | the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will |
| 1:53.4 | be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you |
| 1:58.6 | may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. God longs |
| 2:05.6 | for you to give yourself fully to the community around you. He longs to use you for the healing |
| 2:11.5 | and building up of others, and he longs for you to embrace humility and receive help and |
... |
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