Key Connections: Idolizing Comfort and more…

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Here are my favorite quotes from key Christian articles around the web. Check out the article on how an idolizing comfort may be affecting our spiritual life. Or read the tips on how to spend more time in Scripture!

Three Things Every Christian with Influence Should Know (Colin Smith, Unlocking the Bible)

If God calls you to be an inside influencer, expect to be misunderstood. When other Christians don’t understand your influence, remember you’re not accountable to them. You’re accountable to God… Don’t think, “Something must be wrong with me.”

How Idolizing Comfort Can Lull Us into Spiritual Sleep (Lydia Brownback, Crossway)

In all of the little choices we make throughout a day, what are we after? We’re after comfort. We want to feel good, we want to feel at peace, we want to feel at rest, and we want to have these little indulgences to look forward to to get us through the monotony and mundane and to give us a little excitement. The little pleasures of life can erode discipleship and become an idol. It’s like we can’t have a good day without these comforts.

Hope is Not in Our Resolutions (Jessica Head, Women Encouraged)

We are now able to rest in what He has done on our behalf to reconcile us back to the Father. No longer do we have to strive to obtain our own salvation (which we could never do, regardless). No longer do we have to look to the world for approval or validation — we have the blessing of being adopted into the family of God by saving faith in Christ. Our identity is now rooted in being God’s child.

Prayer and Intimacy with God (Charlie Handren, Servants of Grace)

As I mentioned at the beginning of this devotional, perhaps more than anything, our prayer life reveals the true state of our relationship with God. Because this is so, I want to encourage to spend time with Jesus, to meditate on his words in Matthew 6:5-8 and to take whatever steps he leads you to take to grow in the way he wants you to grow. Don’t hurry. Take your time. Believe that Jesus wants to speak to you and guide you in his ways. Open your heart to his wisdom. And as you learn to follow him, know that he will lead you higher and deeper into his eternal joy.

6 Ways to Spend More Time in Scripture (Aaron Earls, Facts & Trends)

4. POST IT AROUND YOU

If we are finding ways to get as much Scripture into our lives as possible, why not take a page from Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and write God’s words “on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates”?

This can be in the form of permanent decorations in your home that incorporate Scripture, but it could also be a sticky note on your computer at work or short verse written on your bathroom mirror.