ABIDE Devotionals

Abide – Good Morning

Steadfast Under Trial

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In 2 Timothy 4:7 NLT says, “7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.”

Paul’s three phrases, in the perfect tense, convey finality. Paul knew this was the end. He had called Timothy to “fight the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12); his own fight was over. The fight had been worthwhile, and he had fought well.

Paul’s race was finished, or at least the end was clearly in sight. It is important to note that Paul made no claim to having won the race; he was content with having finished it. Marathon runners know the exhilaration of finishing the grueling miles of that race – they are thankful just to cross the finish line. Completion is a significant accomplishment, revealing incredible endurance and determination.

I can relate to Marathon runners because I was one of them. I run Los Angeles Marathon 3 times. Yes, I thank God just to cross the finish line where my families, relatives and friends where they ‘re still waiting for me.

I have remained faithful means Paul had guarded and preserved the Gospel message. Paul had called Timothy to “guard what God has entrusted to you” (1 Timothy 6:20). Paul had remained faithful to the message that had been entrusted to him; this also had been entrusted to Timothy. Paul had never wavered in his faith and trusted that soon he would experience all the promises on which he had based his life and ministry.

In James 1:12 NLT says, “12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”

The Bible deepens the meaning of how God blesses the people to include a deep joy that comes from receiving God’s favor. As athletes persevere in training in order to improve their abilities and endurance for competition, so Christians persevere in spiritual training as they patiently endure testing that will bring maturity and completeness. Today’s trials will seem like training when we face tomorrow’s challenges. The way to get into God’s winner’s circle is to love Him and stay faithful even under pressure.

There is a finish line. There are successes along the way – spiritual progress has its mile markers. But the trials of this life are contained in this life. Someday the test will be over. The first chapter of James teaches us that God’s long-term goal for us is maturity and completeness, but His eternal goal for us is the crown of life, a rich expression of hope.

The believer who patiently endures by trusting God will have a life that, though not full of glory and honor, is still truly abundant, joyful, and victorious. Standing the tests of life gives believers even now a taste of eternity. Looking forward to that wonderful reward, and to the one who will present it to us, can be a source of strength and encouragement in times of trial (see also 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 4:7-8). Born-Again Christians can consider themselves truly blessed, no matter what their outward circumstances, because they have been promised the crown of life. Amen!

Abide – Good Night

Dwell in the Peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ

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In Colossians 3:15-17 NLT says, “15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

Putting on all the virtues, with love binding them together (Colossians 3:14), would lead to peace between individuals and among the members of the body of believers. The Colossian Christians should let the peace that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ rule in their hearts. To live in peace would not mean that suddenly all differences of opinion would be eliminated, but it would require that they work together despite their differences. This kind of tranquility and cooperation can’t come from mere human effort. It requires God’s help to arbitrate and enable people to get along.

The word rule comes from the language of athletics: Paul wanted the believers to let our Lord Jesus Christ’s peace be umpire or referee in their hearts. Peace would arbitrate, decide any argument, and thereby restrain any of the passions of the old nature that might threaten. Peace would settle any friction and strife so the believers could remain strong and unified.

When believers have an overriding attitude of thankfulness and when they have constant gratitude in their hearts for all that God has done for them in giving salvation and making them part of our Lord Jesus Christ’s body, then other virtues to which Paul called them would be much easier to live out. Being thankful would also make other relationships easier, as Paul explained in the following verses (Colossians 3:18–4:6). Amen!

The Gospel – The Good News

In John 3:16-17 NLT says, “16 “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.”

The message of The Good News – The Gospel comes to a focus in these verses. God’s love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws others in. Here God sets the pattern of true love, the basis for all love relationships – when we love someone dearly, we are willing to give freely to the point of self-sacrifice. God paid dearly with the life of His Son, the highest price He could pay. Our Lord Jesus Christ accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins, and then offered us the new life that He had bought for us. When we share the Good News with others, our love must be like our Lord Jesus Christ’s – willingly giving up our own comfort and security so that others might join us in receiving God’s unconditional love.

In John 14:6-7 NLT says, “6 Jesus told him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Me. 7 If you had really known Me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him!”

This is one of the most basic and important passages in Scripture. How can we know the way to God? Only through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Way because He is both God and man. By uniting our lives with His, we are united with God. Trust our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit to take you to our Father God, and all the benefits of being God’s child will be yours.

Home Fellowship Churches Services

We are glad to invite you all to join us in our Zoom Services; Leadership & Discipleship at 5 pm every 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month, and Sunday Service at 7 pm and Bible Study on Wednesday at 6 pm, and Praise & Worship/Karaoke on Friday at 7 pm Central Time (CT). Karaoke location TBA. Our neighborhood and home church is at https://bridge.church.

To Join our Zoom Meetings, just click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7354863381?pwd=aFJXV0g4S0NZcUNVeGtZZ0NsTHVZUT09

Meeting ID: 735 486 3381
Passcode: 718522

If you have any questions and/or concerns, please don’t hesitate to send them to:

Email: trinityblessings@homefellowshipchurches.org

Podcast Messages & Bible Studies Topic: Fruit of the Holy Spirit, God’s Promises for All Our Every Needs, Books of Leviticus, the Gospel Books (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John), Revelation and Romans, Pastor/Chaplain Elias’ books – “From the Words and Thoughts to the Swords and Battlegrounds”, and “From the Battlegrounds and Wars to the Overcoming and Victories” portions (to be published soon).

Love God, Love People, and Make Disciples,

Pastor/Chaplain Elias Aguilar Busuego Jr PhD DTM

Founding Pastor – Home Fellowship Churches – https://homefellowshipchurches.org

Chaplain – American Legion (AL) District 10 – Texas, AL Post 302 Hutto, TX, formerly at AL Post 447 Round Rock, TX

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Published by Elias A Busuego Jr PhD DTM

Elias A. Busuego, Jr., PhD, DTM is self-described as “proud of the only two women in my life – my wife and my daughter (with her husband and one grandson & one granddaughter). I am also proud of my three sons: John and his family (two sons & 1 daughter); Christopher and his family (with his wife and one grandson & one daughter); and Elias Jr. IV and his family (with his wife and one son & one daughter), who are all serving in the U.S. military.” The author states that he read the Bible back-to-back, and learned the history behind it, but did not understand its deeper spiritual perspective until he experienced of being Born-Again, born in spirit. Since he was Born-Again on March 17, 1972, he started understanding the Passage and/or Scripture on John 3:3-7 NLT. These are most of his favorite verses. In John 3:3-7 NLT says, “3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again? "Jesus replied, “I assure you; no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ In John 3:5 – This statement has perplexed and divided commentators for many centuries. Some traditions have taught that the water denotes physical birth (referring to the “water” of amniotic fluid or even semen) and Spirit to spiritual birth – in which case our Lord Jesus Christ would be saying that a person has to have two births: one physical and the second, spiritual. This view builds upon the preceding context when Nicodemus referred to physical birth. It also points to the parallel our Lord Jesus Christ makes in verse 6. According to this position, our Lord Jesus Christ would have been granting the Pharisee’s point in order to highlight the nature of the second birth as spiritual. Two strengths of this interpretation are that it avoids making the physical act of water baptism a necessity and that it avoids bringing almost a “third birth” idea into the discussion. If water doesn’t refer to natural birth, say its defenders, then our Lord Jesus Christ seems to be saying that a person must be born of their parents, born of water, and born of the Spirit. Other traditions have taught that the water refers to baptism and the Spirit to spiritual regeneration – thus, our Lord Jesus Christ would have been saying that a person must both be baptized and receive the Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of God. This view is at times influenced by the belief that the sacrament of baptism is itself a requirement for salvation. A parallel view makes water refer to baptism but places the emphasis on teaching two steps of baptism; one by water, the other by the Spirit. For support, these views point to the larger context in John where John the Baptist and water baptism are mentioned just preceding the events in Cana and following this encounter with Nicodemus. They also rely on the tendency of previous generations of Christians to equate the mention of water with baptism. But in the first seven chapters of John, water appears in some way (naturally or symbolically) in each chapter. To associate water and baptism too closely makes baptism a higher priority than the Scriptures give it. Here, for instance, if our Lord Jesus Christ was speaking of two completely separate acts, two baptisms, it is odd that the rest of the discussion between our Lord Jesus Christ and Nicodemus never again refers to the subject but revolves entirely around the work of God’s Spirit. Still other traditions have taught that our Lord Jesus’ reference to water is not physical in either the sense of birth or baptism. The term water is simply another description of the Spirit – or the Spirit’s activity of cleansing and giving life (see John 7:37-39). In John 3:6 – Humans can produce only more human beings; this answers Nicodemus’s question in verse 4. Only God the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. At the same time God puts His Spirit into us, we are given a new regenerated human spirit. It is God’s Spirit, not our effort, that makes us children of God (John 1:12). Our Lord Jesus’ description corrects human hopes that we might somehow inherit goodness from parents or earn it by good behavior, church background, or correct associations. At some point we must be able to answer the question: Have I been born of the Spirit? In John 3:7 – Our Lord Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus that evening has been heralded to all the world ever since. Both Jew and Gentile have heard the divine mandate: You must be born again. Without the new birth, one cannot see or enter into the Kingdom of God. In those words, millions have heard our Lord Jesus Christ speaking directly to their hearts and our hearts. Behind our Lord Jesus’ challenge is His invitation to each of us –” You must be born again; allow me to do that for you.” Since he was born again on March 17, 1972, he started also understanding his other favorite Passage on Romans 12:2 NLT. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” When Elias offered his entire self to God, a change happened in his relation to the world. As one of Born-Again Christians, he believes we are called to a different lifestyle than what the world offers with its behavior and customs, which are usually selfish and often corrupting (Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:14). He commented that Born-Again Christians are to live as citizens of a future world. There will be pressure to conform, to continue living according to the script written by the world, but Born-Again Christian believers are forbidden to give in to that pressure. But refusing to conform to this world’s values must go even deeper than the level of behavior and customs – it must go to the transforming of the way we think. In Elias testimonies as a Born-Again Christian believer, he emphasized that born-again is an experience and he experienced a complete transformation from the inside out. And the change must begin in the mind, where all thoughts and actions begin. Much of the work is done by God’s Spirit in us, and the tool most frequently used is God’s Word. As we memorize and meditate upon God’s Word, our way of thinking changes. Our minds become first informed, and then conformed to the pattern of God, the pattern for which we were originally designed. When we as Born-Again Christian believers have had our minds transformed and are becoming more like our Lord Jesus Christ, we will know what God wants and we will want to do it for it is good, pleasing to God, and perfect for us. It is from those gleanings that he was able to write this book.