devotion

The Bondage of Little Things

December 27, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

A. W. Tozer once prayed, “Save and deliver us, we pray Thee, from the bondage of little things.” What a wise prayer. It is often not the big things that keep us from God, but the thousand little things. In the same prayer, Pastor Tozer confessed we can break one, two, even ten of the little habits and comforts keeping us from surrendering to the Lordship of Christ,

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but we are powerless to break the thousand little things that twist together and bind us. When we let little things that are not of God accumulate in our life, we find they become strong chains restricting us and keeping us from complete surrender to our King.

The Mary Test

December 23, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

In a recent message looking at the birth story of Jesus, my pastor posed an interesting question: “Could you pass the Mary test?” When the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary, most scholars think she was between twelve and fifteen years of age. Even in the current era of moral decline, that’s very early for a young woman to consider being pregnant.

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Can you imagine the fear she must have felt at the prospect of being a mother when she was barely in her teens? I don’t think Mary was naïve. I believe at that moment she fully understood the weight of what was being asked of her. And yet, look at the beautiful response of Mary in Luke 1:38. She said, “I am the Lord’s slave. May it be done to me according to your word.”

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Do You Love Me More Than These?

July 5, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

Many of us know the story of Jesus restoring Peter to fellowship with Him. We find the story in John 21:15-19, and much has been written and taught about this passage. The first question Jesus asked Peter was, “Do you love me more than these?” He may have been asking whether Peter loved Him more than the other disciples did, or perhaps if Peter loved Jesus more than he did his fellow disciples.

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Another option is Jesus may have been asking Peter if He loved the nourishment of God over bodily nourishment (they were eating breakfast after a night of hard fishing). While people teach the first two more often, I’d like to focus on the third option. I think “Do you love me more than these?” is a good question for us all to ask every day.

The End of Nominal Christianity

January 11, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

As we watch the moral decline of Western society and the growing indifference or outright hostility toward followers of Jesus, one bright spot in all of this is the end of nominal Christianity. For years, many in the West have been Christ-followers in name only. These are people who like the idea of Jesus, but not the surrender of their lives to Him.

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They go to church every weekend and proudly profess their faith in Jesus, particularly when it is socially expedient. There is a certain panache to being able to claim the moral high ground by proclamation of one’s faith. But surrender their lifestyle to live according to the commands of Jesus and the Bible? Well, that always seems to fall into some sort of “gray area” for these so-called and nominal Christians.

Courage and Surrender

January 7, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

Beatrice Stockli was a Swiss missionary to Mali. She first visited the country in1998 as part of a mission’s team and ended up staying and ministering to the people there for many years. In April 2012, she was kidnapped by Islamist insurgents. After ten days of captivity, she was released and returned home to Switzerland for a brief time. And then, against counsel and the wishes of her family, Beatrice returned to Mali to continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus to people who did not know Him.

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In June 2016, she was again kidnapped by a radical Muslim group called Jama’at Nasr al-Islam. At some point in her captivity, Beatrice was killed by her captors. She died living out the mission of Christ. Hers was a life of courage and surrender. As we complain about the state of our lives, I wonder who among us possesses the courage and devotion to live a life as committed to Christ as Beatrice and so many other Christian martyrs have?