TSP DAILY DEVOTIONAL
THE ENDGAME
25TH FEBRUARY 2020
Dr. Phil Ransom-Bello
KEY SCRIPTURE/MEMORY VERSE: 1 Timothy 1:5 (NLT)
The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.
I always tell the story of the time I travelled with my dad for a conference. As a result of bad weather, flights got cancelled and we had to make our journey by road. It was a really long journey so we stopped over in one city and planned to continue to the next city in the morning. Before we turned in, my dad instructed that I should be ready by 6am.
By 5:30am the next morning, I was ready. I got to his room and knocked but didn’t get any response and because of how long and tiring our journey was, I imagined that he was probably tired so I relaxed.
At a few minutes before 6am, my dad was ready and when I came out at about 15 minutes past 6am, he was waiting outside.
He asked why I wasn’t ready at the scheduled time and before I could explain, he corrected me quite sternly.
In all sincerity, his words got to me because I was comparing the weight of the correction to the fact that I was actually ready and had good intentions of allowing him get some more rest. So those words got to me.
But scripture says he who the father loves, He corrects. (Hebrews 12:6)
I realized that If I was going to be more diligent on his level, I needed to receive that chastening and not feel as though my intentions were right and his correction wasn’t fair or right. The truth is, even though I listened at the door and didn’t get a response, I should still have been ready. So he was right.
In the end, I accepted the correction with meekness and apologized. I threw away my genuine excuses and reasons.
Do you remember a few days ago when we established that love places a demand for growth and will always call you to step up to your true identity?
You must understand that discipline and correction is for your own good. Don’t be the kind of believer who runs from correction. The spirit of love yields to correction.
Our text today drives home the importance of this. Here, Paul tells Timothy that the purpose of instruction and by extension, correction is to produce believers who are filled with love.
In other words, the endgame is to groom you to express love genuinely in a way that is reflective of who you are in Christ. The moment you got saved, you received a new heart, a new nature and because of this, the source of your love is genuine and pure.
You can love genuinely.
Allow love’s goal be fully achieved in you.
REFLECTION
How do I respond to correction? Am I open to love’s grooming?
DECLARATION
-I am born of love.
-I am filled with love.
-I yield to love’s grooming. Love has been perfected in me.
-I receive correction with meekness.
-Because I have a new nature, I give love from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith.
-There is no pretense. I love genuinely, sincerely and well. This is my nature.
-Today, testimonies abound for me because the Gospel works.
HEARING BY THE WORD
(Recommended Listening)
Listen to LOVE ~ The Series 4 >> Dr. Phil by The StandPoint Church on #SoundCloud
