Weekly Devo

We must be sure to have a good reputation for we represent God. Every moment of your life should be spent showing Christ to the world. When we live right that will always happen. Those of good reputations were sought to serve the church. (Acts 6:3) Those who have a good testimony are sought to lead the church. (I Tim. 3:1, 7) Why? The church is the body of Christ. They represent Christ to all. Would you follow someone who did not have a godly good reputation? Neither would I. There is power and influence with such a reputation. That reputation is to be used to glorify God and do His work.

Faith allows us to have a good report. (Heb. 11:1-2, 39) Faith is the reason we live the lives Christ desires. Faith is the reason you are reading this right now. Our faith in the Lord God is what drives us. The actions we take and choices we make based on our faith give us an honorable name among all. That is the test, isn’t it? That we have a good name, reputation, among all. Even the enemies of the cross can speak well of us. (Acts 22:12) Ananias didn’t go out of his way to be a people pleaser. His faith is what gave him his name. Let us live such a life of faith that we have a good reputation among all. For Jesus said “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.” (Matt. 5:16)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

We see reputations being destroyed and made every day in this country. Some new things, like social media, have made it harder to have a good reputation. Some new things, like social media, have made it easier. We live our lives in glass houses more now than ever. The only problem is we have taken down all the mirrors. We must check ourselves and evaluate our reputation. We need to make sure we have a good report among all we meet. Don’t fret. A good report is easy to have if you devote yourself to the Lord. Let us seek to be like Demetrius. John said he had a good testimony. (3 John 12)                               

Think on what is lovely. Let God direct your mind to what is truly lovely in this world. At the very least that tree, flower, and blade of grass that He made and you saw today is lovely. Let Him influence your thoughts every day until you think on what God considers lovely. Then dwell on those things. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. (Col. 3:16) There will be an overflow of lovely thoughts pour from your mind. Think about how encouraging to others that would be. Think lovely thoughts.

The world would consider our lovely thoughts absurd. They may never see the loveliness in them. We consider the death of our brothers and sisters in Christ as lovely, because God does. (Psalms 116:15) We can see the loveliness in it. The lovely part of it is they are no longer fighting this war and await their reward. We can also think of the good life and good deeds they had. (I Samuel 1:26) Paul, like we should also, had lovely thoughts of the brethren that partook in the grace of God. Paul had them in his heart. (Phil. 1:7) There is nothing lovelier than thinking on the partakers of the grace of God. We can think of things like someone being a true servant of the Lord. (Romans 16:1-2) Worshiping God is a lovely thought. (Psalms 122:1) The life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ on our behalf is a lovely thought we get to bask in every Lord’s day. (I Cor. 11:24-26)