Romans 13:11-14 "Put on Christ." The Word of Grace Devotion with Pastor Joe Marquez.

5/11/2015

The Word of Grace Devotion for the Week of May 11, 2015

Put on Christ

Romans 13:11-14, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

Beloved, after first starting out as a believer on fire for Christ, many believers can place their relationship with Christ on automatic pilot. They are doing the right things i.e. going to church, reading their Bible, fellowshipping, but their relationship with Christ is not growing. They have become the victim of a rote relationship with Christ, which will ultimately place them in a rut and lead eventually to rot. The solution to coming out of this is Romans 13:11-14.

First of all, if our relationship with Christ is on sleep mode we need to, “awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” We do this because we “know the time.” We know that as each day passes we are closer and closer to the return of Jesus. We know that we are to be on high alert for the return of Christ and not on sleep mode. WE NEED TO WAKE UP!

Secondly we need to CAST OFF. We need to take off our sinfulness noted as dirty clothes, our “works of darkness,” later described as, “revelry and drunkenness,” “lewdness and lust,” and “strife and envy.”

Then we need to “PUT ON the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” We do this by diligently seeking the Lord through prayer and a daily reading of God’s Word.

Beloved, when we do these three things each day. When we WAKE UP, CAST OFF and then PUT ON the Lord Jesus Christ, our relationship with Christ will grow and it will light a fire in our hearts to love the Lord and His people.

Beloved, we “do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when wefirst believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand.”

Beloved, turn off the sleep mode, place your life into gear and instead of sleepwalking, began to walk on fire for the Lord Jesus Christ. WAKE UP, CAST OFF and PUT ON JESUS!

I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you!

In Jesus’ name,

Pastor Joe

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Senior Pastor
Joe Marquez

Beloved, we are soon to once again celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the human Son of man and the divine Son of God. He is one hundred percent human and one hundred percent God.

While there were many people instrumental in the birth of Christ, this morning we will look at His birth through the eyes of Joseph, His legal father. There is not too much known about the man who would care for Christ as He grew up. We know that Joseph was possibly a carpenter but most importantly we know that he was a righteous man who did the right thing.

When others would have ran away from a responsibility that was not even their own, Joseph stood steadfast and remained faithful to the end. We can learn much from his character and apply his attributes of faithfulness, purity, and perseverance to our own lives.

May you have a Blessed Christmas week and may Christ always be at the center of your lives!

P.S. Come back this evening as we look at the birth of Christ through the Gospel of Luke!