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Life Pursuit

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Life Pursuit ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! From our Pastors We believe God is going to do some amazing things in 2017 at Crossing Place Church. That’s why our Dream Team wrote this devotional. We are taking the month of January to study our core values and read through the Gospel of Matthew – and as always, we’re committing the first 21 days of the year to prayer and fasting. We’re asking God to move us in line with His plan. We’re asking him to stamp our hearts with love for Him and for each other. But most of all, we are asking Him to help us focus more intently on our mission of connecting people and impacting lives. We’re asking you to take this journey with us. Spend a few moments each day reading the suggested passage and the devotion. Decide to fast and pray. His plan is our Life’s Pursuit! Den & Bonnie Hussey Lead Pastors ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Jesus First Week No. 1 // Days 1 - 7 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Day 1: Matthew 1:18-25 By:!Bonnie!Hussey! ! Let’s!spend!some!time!this!week!considering!the!first!core!value!of!Crossing!Place! Church.!!It!is!“Jesus!First”.!!That!is!such!a!simple!statement,!but!it!is!one!of!the! most!important!things!we!can!do.!So,!why!should!Jesus!be!first!in!our!life?! ! The!heart!of!God!can!be!summarized!like!this!KK!God!wants!to!have!a!relationship! with!us.!!It’s!the!reason!He!created!us.!The!only!consideration!is!He!does!not! make!us!have!a!relationship!with!Him.!!He!created!us!with!a!free!will.!In!the! Garden!of!Eden,!Adam!chose!to!exercise!his!free!will.!!He!chose!to!sin,!and!that! decision!separated!both!him!and!us!from!God.!!Sin!caused!a!great!divide!between! God!and!man,!but!thankfully!God!wasn’t!done.!!From!the!beginning!He!had!a!plan! to!restore!his!broken!relationship!with!man.!!That!plan!came!to!earth!in!the!form! of!a!real!baby!with!real!skin!!We!read!this!in!Matthew!1!today…! ! “And%she%will%have%a%son,%and%you%are%to%name%him%Jesus,%for%he%will%% save%his%people%from%their%sins.”%(Matthew!1:21)% ! God!is!so!serious!about!having!a!relationship!with!us!that!he!sent!his!one!and!only! son!to!be!born,!live,!die,!and!be!resurrected!from!the!grave!so!he!could!be! connected!to!us!!Here’s!the!big!idea!for!today:!God!did!not!make!him!come.!Jesus! willingly!came.!!He!is!our!bridge!to!God.!!Jesus!wants!to!have!a!relationship!with! us.!!Focus!on!this!thought!today!KK!Jesus!chose!us.!!Jesus!loves!us.!!Why!do!we!put! Jesus!first?!!Because!he!put!us!first!!!As!Romans!5:8!says,!“While!we!were!still! sinning!Jesus!died!for!us.”!!He!put!us!first.! ! Let’s!choose!to!make!Jesus!priority!in!our!lives!today.!Talk!to!Him.!Read!His!word.! Tell!other!people!about!Him.!!That’s!how!we!show!others!that!Jesus!really!is!first!! ! YOUR THOUGHTS:!___________________________! ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________! Day 2: Matthew 3:1-12 By:!Jamie!Gaspar! ! “Repent,!for!the!kingdom!of!heaven!has!come!near.”!John!the!Baptist!came! preaching!the!message!of!the!Kingdom.!Unlike!earthly!kingdoms,!there!is!no!birth!into! this!realm!without!first!hearing!the!call!to!salvation,!renouncing!one’s!sin!and!turning! one’s!heart!and!life!toward!Christ!the!Savior.!(Acts!3:19)! ! John!declares!the!kingdom!is!at!hand!and!drawing!near.!Contrary!to!our!first! impressions,!his!main!message!wasn’t!“You’re!a!sinner,!you!need!to!repent,”!but! rather!“The!Messiah!is!coming!”! ! God!has!sovereign!rule!–!He!is!King!of!the!Heavens.!Being!kind!and!faithful,!he!sent!a! head!start!message!through!John!the!Baptist!of!His!soonKcoming!King!who!would! overthrow!the!power!and!rule!of!all!evil,!both!human!and!spiritual.!Yes,!the!kingdom! was!near!because!the!King!was!here!! ! John’s!purpose!was!to!prepare!hearts!for!Jesus.!His!mission!was!to!build!a!road,!to! make!way!for!the!arrival!of!a!Savior!and!King.!How!exciting!is!this!!As!believers!and! followers!of!Christ,!we!also!have!the!great!privilege!of!using!our!positions!to!prepare! and!make!ready!for!the!coming!of!our!King.!Living!in!a!continual!state!of!putting!our! King!first!in!our!own!lives!gives!us!this!path!of!victory.!Jesus!first.!It’s!that!simple.! ! “He%is%ready%to%separate%the%chaff%from%the%wheat%with%his%winnowing%fork.%% Then%he%will%clean%up%the%threshing%area,%gathering%the%wheat%into%his%barn%but%% burning%the%chaff%with%never@ending%fire.”%(Matthew!3:12)! ! And!here!it!is!!Our!Jesus!will!separate!and!save!His!children!in!the!end.!In!a!time! where!things!seem!so!out!of!control,!we!have!hope!–!hope!in!our!majestic!King!who!is! completely!in!control.!We!are!to!uphold!the!message!of!the!Kingdom!daily!and! prepare!the!way!for!our!King!as!He!is!also!preparing!a!place!for!us!! ! YOUR THOUGHTS:!___________________________! ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________! Day 3: Matthew 3:13-17 By:!Susan!Eremia! ! When!I!was!first!asked!to!write!this!devotional,!my!initial!thought!was,!“Why!me?”! Similarly,!I!soon!remembered!John!the!Baptist!said!the!same!thing!when!Jesus!asked!John! to!baptize!him.! ! “Then%Jesus%went%from%Galilee%to%the%Jordan%River%to%be%baptized%by%John.%But%John%tried%to% talk%him%out%of%it.%‘I%am%the%one%who%needs%to%be%baptized%by%you,’%he%said,%% ‘so%why%are%you%coming%to%me?’”%(Matthew!3:13K14)! ! Jesus!was!the!Son!of!God,!so!why!pick!someone!like!John!the!Baptist?!But!then!again!–! why!pick!any!of!us?! ! Here’s!my!oneKminute!testimony!–!I!used!to!be!a!broken!person,!but!I!chose!to!put!Jesus! first.!I!learned!to!follow!God’s!voice!and!was!also!water!baptized.!Many!wonderful!things! began!to!happen!in!my!life.!I!can!speak!from!experience!that!when!you!put!Jesus!first,! miracles!happen!–!whether!small!or!big,!subtle!or!obvious,!they!do!happen.!When!we! keep!our!eyes!on!Jesus!and!follow!his!will,!it!keeps!our!eyes!open!to!what!He’s!doing!in! our!life.!! ! Jesus!was!water!baptized!to!be!obedient!to!the!Father.!Being!both!fully!God!and!fully! man,!He!didn’t!opt!out!or!find!a!different!avenue!–!He!leveled!with!people!for!generations! to!come!by!exemplifying!how!to!live!a!life!that!is!pleasing!to!God.!Obedience!is!an! overflow!of!the!love!we!have!for!Him.!As!simple!as!it!is,!getting!baptized!was!an!outward! sign!of!my!love!for!Jesus!and!my!commitment!to!Him.!Since!then,!I’ve!strived!to!live!life! putting!Jesus!first.!! ! Every!morning!I!ask!God!how!I!can!be!of!service!to!the!people!that!cross!my!path.!I!ask!to! be!an!example!of!His!love.!We!are!his!messengers,!and!I!want!to!be!a!positive,!loving,! forgiving!and!encouraging!example!of!His!message!–!the!Gospel!that!is!alive!and!at!work.! When!we!put!Jesus!first,!anything!is!possible.!Continue!in!faith,!believing!He!is!for!you!and! not!against!you.! ! YOUR THOUGHTS:!___________________________! ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________! Day 4: Matthew 4:1-11 By:!Joe!Pasqua ! In!this!passage!we!find!Jesus!is!led!by!the!Holy!Spirit!into!the!wilderness!after!40!days!of! fasting!and!prayer,!where!he!is!then!tempted!by!the!devil.!Interestingly,!this!wellKknown! event!occurs!immediately!after!Jesus!is!baptized!in!water!by!John!the!Baptist!–!publicly! professing!his!faith!in!God!the!Father.!Could!it!possibly!be!that!like!Jesus,!temptations! come!against!us!soon!after!our!own!public!professions!of!faith?! ! Jesus!is!hungry,!thirsty,!mentally!tired!and!physically!exhausted.!He!is!weak!and! vulnerable.!Notice,!this!is!when!the!devil!comes!and!tempts.!His!first!attempt!is!to! convince!Jesus!to!turn!stones!into!bread.!Jesus!replies!that!His!strength!comes!from!the! Lord!and!not!from!anything!physical.!Time!for!attempt!No.!2.!! ! The!devil!appeals!Jesus!to!demonstrate!his!deity!and!power!by!throwing!himself!off!the! temple’s!peak!so!angels!will!have!to!protect!him!from!harm.!Jesus!resists!the!idea!and! refuses!to!tempt!God.!The!third!time!the!tempter!offers!Jesus!the!entire!world!–!if!He! would!only!bow!at!Satan’s!feet.!Jesus!rebukes!the!devil!by!reminding!him!that!only!God! shall!be!worshipped.! ! Jesus!put!God!first!while!remaining!obedient!and!faithful!in!all!three!temptations.!Relying! on!Scripture!–!our!absolute!truth!and!weapon!against!this!world!–!sent!the!devil!running,! for!it!is!the!unfailing!Word!about!the!One!we!worship.!Our!Savior!set!the!standard!for!us! in!how!to!put!the!Father!first.!In!the!same!way,!we!as!God’s!people!are!to!put!Jesus!first.! What!encouragement!and!hope!we!have!in!following!Jesus’!example.! ! ! “Therefore,%God%elevated%him%to%the%place%of%highest%honor%and%gave%him%the%name%above% all%other%names,%that%at%the%name%of%Jesus%every%knee%should%bow,%in%heaven%and%on%earth% and%under%the%earth,%and%every%tongue%declare%that%Jesus%Christ%is%Lord,% %to%the%glory%of%God%the%Father.”%(Philippians!2:9K11)% ! ! ! YOUR THOUGHTS:!___________________________! ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________! Day 5: Matthew 4:12-17 By:!Rachel!Carline! ! In!today’s!passage,!we!learn!that!when!Jesus!heard!of!John’s!arrest!he!left!Judea!
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