Author: Kristen Kansiewicz, LMHC

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1 Timothy 3:1-5

“This is a trustworthy saying: ‘If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position.’ So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?”

Leading the church is hard work, but it is also a position of great honor. Spiritually speaking, when God appoints leaders to the church, he is entrusting the care of his people into their hands. It’s no surprise that there are some pretty important qualifications. You’ve got to have integrity inside and out, be faithful to your spouse, live wisely, be a skilled teacher, and enjoy having guests. Most of us are probably checking out already. But wait, there’s more! No heavy drinking, no violence, no major family drama, and no desire for big money. That certainly doesn’t sound like most people, and it’s not even what most leaders are like in our society.

Why is church leadership so important? Why are leaders required to go beyond the norm? Turn on the news and you’ll get your answer: people get hurt when leaders mess up. And when those leaders are in the church, people walk away from God. Since relationship with his people is what God wants most, he is beyond angry when spiritual leaders get in the way.

Here’s your freedom for today: God wants to protect you.

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Here’s your freedom for today: God wants to protect you. Leaders may have failed you, and perhaps you’ve walked away from church as a result. As we can see from these verses, God is angry too. He set up standards to protect you, and there are serious consequences for those who take on leadership positions without meeting the qualifications. On the other hand, those who do lead well will be greatly honored and rewarded. If you are an aspiring leader, take a look at this description and identify the areas in which you need to grow to become ready. Pray and ask how God might use you to build up his church.

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Luke 24

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 24 before reading the devotional below.

In the biggest mic drop of all time, Jesus heads back up to heaven in a supernatural fashion. As we finish the book of Luke, we hear the story of the post-dead Jesus. He fulfilled the words he had spoken and gave a permanent hope to his followers that we continue to access today. If he’s dead, then everything he ever did or said was false. But if he’s alive, then suddenly his message comes with a proof and a guarantee. He is able to make good on his word.

Two words jumped out at me as I read today’s chapter: “But” and “disbelief.” The chapter starts with “But…” It captures that horror and despair that we talked about in yesterday’s post. Here we are, enveloped in a story gone horribly wrong, when one tiny little word changes everything. “But very early Sunday morning…” You know those women had barely slept and were waiting for the first hint of light in order to declare the end of the Sabbath and rush back to the body of Jesus. Because of their faithfulness, women are the first to receive the good news (and the first called to preach it to the men).

Because of their faithfulness, women are the first to receive the good news (and the first called to preach it to the men).

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And what did the men think of the women’s first attempt to spread the good news? Disbelief. Nonsense. Sometimes the very people we need to listen to the most are the ones we dismiss as crazy. In all fairness, they stood in disbelief when Jesus himself came to tell them the good news. Their faith, unlike the women’s, required extra proof. Jesus met each one where they were at in order to give them the faith they would need to establish the early church.

Here’s your freedom for today: regardless of the size of your faith, God will equip you with what you need for the mission.

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Here’s your freedom for today: regardless of the size of your faith, God will equip you with what you need for the mission. If your heart accepts the message without seeing any physical evidence (as it was with the women at the tomb), God will send you out to go preach it to the world. If you need a little extra proof, God will give it to you and then send you out to go preach it to the world. Our hearts and minds all work at different speeds and God will give you what you need in order to develop trust in the message. And as he proves himself over and over in your life, you will gain confidence and boldness to share your story with others.

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Luke 23

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 23 before reading the devotional below. 

When everything starts going horribly wrong and people start wrongly accusing you of things, keep your mouth shut. This is Jesus’ example and I wish I were better at this. As I read Luke 23, I imagined what might have happened if Jesus had argued back with Pilate or the crowd. We already know from his engagement with the Pharisees that he was more than able to silence a crowd with a solid argument. So what would have happened if he had laid into them one more time?

My guess: he would have won. And so he chose to “lose” for the moment. Pilate didn’t want anything to do with prosecuting his case. He passed the buck to Herod Antipas as fast as he could. Herod wanted to see Jesus perform his “tricks,” but Jesus wasn’t going to entertain. Herod was just as quick to toss the matter back to Pilate and the two of them bonded over their desire to get rid of this situation in whatever way possible. Give the crowd what they want? We don’t get it, but if it gets us home in time for dinner then might as well.

As Jesus is executed and placed in a tomb, only the women hang around to make sure they know what happens to him. And can you even imagine as your world is seemingly collapsing around you and your leader is dead having to stop doing everything because the Sabbath begins? I would find a whole bunch of reasons to work on the Sabbath that day. Rest? Hardly. I can’t sit still for 3 seconds when I have a problem to solve. And yet these women, who had just witnessed the horrific and gruesome death of a person they had come to believe was God himself, continue to worship in the way they always had.

Here’s your freedom for today: intense situations often require restraint, silence and rest.

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Here’s your freedom for today: intense situations often require restraint, silence and rest. Jesus maintained intense restraint in order to avoid winning the argument so that he could proceed with his mission. He remained silent and accepted the events as they unfolded. The women chose to demonstrate restraint and rest when everything in them was probably screaming in horror. We can find great healing and solace in the midst of hardship when we stop trying to make it better and quietly rest in the love of God who is ahead of us working out the victory.

We can find great healing and solace in the midst of hardship when we stop trying to make it better and quietly rest in the love of God who is ahead of us working out the victory.

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Luke 22

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 22 before reading the devotional below.

I write down many of my prayers. Sometimes God writes back. Sometimes I think God writes back but it’s just me. How can I tell the difference? I line it up with Scripture.

Not too long ago I wrote down these words, feeling prompted by the Holy Spirit in response to a prayer I had written: “What you fear is bad news is sometimes the best news of all. The painful road is the most rewarding.” And I have no trouble believing that the Spirit spoke that to me because it is a summary of the life of Jesus and especially Luke 22.

When one of your closest friends gets inhabited by a demon, you are about to get arrested and killed, you’re sweating blood from over-praying, and another one of your closest friends is about to deny he ever knew you, it’s a pretty bad-news day. Just awful. Jesus somehow kept his head on straight to walk into the worst of situations in order to save us. He looked at bad news differently than we often do. He saw it as the gateway to the victory that would fulfill his mission.

Here’s your freedom for today: your circumstances do not reflect the progress of your spiritual battle.

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Here’s your freedom for today: your circumstances do not reflect the progress of your spiritual battle. Sometimes bad news is the best news. When God is up to something, Satan is ready to disrupt it. But he cannot win if we keep our focus on our mission. What is your mission today? What is one way you can look past your circumstance to see that God is making progress as he fights the battle for you?

Write down a prayer today and see if God writes back. If you think he says something, write down the verse or verses in the Bible that support the words you wrote.