NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

February 13

Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG

“I’m in recovery. Thanks for providing me with some ways to think about my spirituality within the context of my recovery experience. I like how you guys are talking about process and not perfection. In my home group we talk about progress and not perfection. I like how ‘process’ and’ progress’ are only one letter different – but I think both are important points for me to keep in mind. I’ve been sober for the longest stretch since I was 11 years old – 180 days. Pray for me. I’m praying for you and your community.”

Evidently this guy has tried to start fresh a number of times and “failed” repeatedly (if success is sobriety without relapse). What I love about this email is the encouragement we are receiving from each other. It helps when God’s word reminds us that “we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look.”
Who knows what tomorrow will bring for any of us?

Notice that in 2 Corinthians 5 Paul is encouraging us to become friends with God. He isn’t asking us to become perfect or stop making mistakes. Because God is already a friend to us, we can relax and learn how to be a friend to God without fear of judgment and condemnation.

Once we have take the third step in the 12-step journey, our old life is gone and a new life burgeons. Figuring how to live this new life will take practice. Sometimes our outsides won’t look as new as our insides have the potential to achieve, and that’s okay.

Let’s pray for each other. God’s at work. How can we enter into this work with him?


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