Card Devotions

[The Guardian]

Hey guys, this is something that God put on my heart a few weeks ago and I am finally getting around to doing it. I am going to try my best to do a card devotion every week. Redemption is more than just a game as it is based on something very real--the redemption that we have in Christ. Our redemption in Christ should be a part of our everyday lives so I would like to take a closer look on the meaning behind some of the cards.

I would like to keep this thread only for things people would like to share on the devotion. If you have a card you would like to see used in a devotion, please PM them to me--I may not do it right away, but I will try to get any and all requests.

[The Guardian]

Card Devotion #1

Card: Not Alone
Verse: Matthew 13:41

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity.

I started with this card because "Not Alone" is my favorite card title in Redemption. It is simple yet when one thinks about it, there is so much power in that phrase. If we are in Christ, we are never alone no matter how much we mess up, or how lonely we feel. Last year was a very difficult year for me. I went through some tough times and made some poor decisions. Even as I despaired during the bad times, I knew that God still loved me despite my mistakes. A major part of all that was a loneliness that I often felt, which I knew was a lie of the enemy but allowed myself to believe much of the time. The verse says that the Son of man (Jesus) will send forth his angels to gather everything in God's kingdom that does not belong there and cast it out. How great it is that as God's children, we do belong in God's kingdom, but all of our mistakes and imperfections do not. Those things will be weeded out as God gathers His chosen people. Even before this happens though, He is still watching over us in every part of our lives. No matter what trial we face, what mistakes we make or what lies the enemy uses, there is hope. There is hope because no matter what, we are...Not Alone.

[The Guardian]

Well, I decided I couldn't wait a whole week to do another one, because I had already decided which card I was going to do, and it fits very well with the first devotion. Tonight at "The Gathering" (a bi-weekly fellowship/worship time for young adults at my church) I shared a part of my testimony including some of the things I shared in the first devotion.

Card Devotion #2

Card: Blood of the Lamb
Verse: Revelation 12:11

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

This has long been one of my favorite Bible verses because it states quite clearly how we are able to overcome Satan. It is through the redeeming blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, as well as the word of our testimonies that Satan is ultimately defeated. Testimonies are powerful things. In a court of law, testimonies have the power to condemn or vindicate a person. In the spiritual battle that we face, our testimonies have the power to overcome Satan and his demons. A testimony does not need to be dramatic or involve a near-death experience in order to have power. God is glorified just as much by the testimony of someone who grew up in a loving Christian home as He is by the testimony of someone who used to be in the occult or an atheist or came from a broken home where God was never mentioned. Whether a person commits their life to God at a young age or on their death bed, the testimonies of both have great power! Furthermore, we are called to be living testimonies. What does that mean? I believe it means that we are to live our lives in such a way that people cannot help but notice there is something very different and very good about we as Christians. A testimony of actions is greater than a testimony of words because we can say whatever we want, but our actions will truly define who we are. Let us be defined in Christ!

Wow, I didn't even get to the last part of the verse, might have to come back to this one.

[wk4c]

So true, espescially the part about your testimony not having to be exciting to touch someone.  Keep them coming, man

[gospelsinger717]

to go further with the last part, "and they loved not their lives unto the death" , we as Christians should all feel the same way, this world is like a land of bondage to those who are lost, but we are the redeemed!! at the same time we still struggle with Satan and his tricks, which makes us hate or (love not) our lives until death, heaven is the perfect place, where we will receive true victory through the only true lamb, Christ Jesus.

[The Guardian]

I was away from the forum for a few months, but I was inspired by a recent event in my life to start these up again. The problem is...there's no card for the passage I want!!!  What does that mean? Yep, you guessed it (maybe, unless you guessed wrong...) a card devotion/card creation contest combo!

Here is the passage for the devotion:
Matthew 25:31-40 (NIV)

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Last Thursday started out like most other Thursdays for me. The few days before then I had been looking forward to the weekly night of playing Ultimate with a group of friends. It's a great time and tons of fun. So Thursday morning as I'm checking e-mail and such, I read a message from Ben, the leader of the young adult group I am involved in at my church. He's also my close friend and mentor. Anyway, he sent me and a couple of the other guys in the group a message about a young man who was in the hospital dying of cancer. The young man's name was Justin and he was 24... I was stunned. Ben explained he was looking for a few guys to come with him to visit Justin, pray for him and encourage him. As I sat there thinking about how often I take my health for granted, I knew as badly as I wanted to play Ultimate with my friends, I would not feel right about passing up this opportunity. I went, and it was a really cool experience. Justin has had a tough life the past few years dealing with leukemia and will now have to have a bone marrow transplant simply to have a chance at surviving. He is about as upbeat you can get for someone in his situation though, and I truly believe he was blessed by the five of us who went to see him.

[The Guardian]

I'm not posting this as a "Yay, look at Justin (me)...he's a great guy for doing that." I certainly wanted to play Ultimate that night, (which is selfish, but that is the human nature without God), but the more I thought it over, I knew God wanted me to visit this guy and I knew He would take away the disappointment of not getting to do what I had planned. It was also good because it's not something I do everyday, so it was kind of out of my comfort zone, but that is what God wants for us. To make steps in our walk with Him by trusting Him with our lives and the decisions we make. I've reflected a lot on this passage, and I now want you to make a card for it.

The card name will be "Unto the Least" and I think it makes the most sense for it to be a good enhancement. Other than that you are free to do whatever you like. The one tip I will offer is that I would like it to be similar in style to Primary Objective where you are forced to give up something for a greater lasting reward. Send entries to me via PM and I will pick the winner 2 weeks from now (couple days after Nationals is over). If you would like, you can submit 2 entries. The prize will be a pack of TexP. 

Hope you enjoyed this, and I will be posting another one sometime soon!

[The Guardian]

So this is a little longer than I planned, but God has been doing some cool things in my life--in particular increasing my desire to read His word, so I want to take advantage of this place we have to share.

Today's card is Kingdoms of the World--yes, it's an evil card but the devotion is more to do with the story. From Luke 4

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

 9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:

   “‘He will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

 12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

I read this passage last night and it was encouraging to realize that Jesus was tempted just as we are. Imagine (hard as it is) being given the opportunity to be the most powerful person in the world. Kind of a crazy thought, right? Even now it's hard to comprehend what that would look like. This was the temptation put before Jesus yet he stood firm in the word of His Father and resisted the devil. One thought that came to my mind was "Well, it would be easy for me to resist temptation too, if the devil was the one standing right in front of me giving me the opportunity" but then I realized that's basically what happens every day, and too often I mess up and give in. We might not fall for the temptation of worshiping the devil, but how often do we give into the temptation of worshiping things other than God? Everything in this world that is not of God or does not point towards God is something that is used by the enemy. Sometimes these can be "good" things or things that seem harmless, but anything that takes away from or inhibits our relationship with God is something the enemy uses against us. The Word says to "set your eyes on things above" yet so often we fall for the world's counterfeit alternative. A friend of mine uses the analogy that it's like accepting a crap-filled Twinkie from the world when God is offering you a seven-course gourmet meal. Which one would you want when you're hungry?

Jesus was given perhaps the greatest temptation any man could face--the opportunity to be all-powerful in this world. But Jesus knew who He was in His Father, and that this world will eventually pass away. The opportunity to be the most powerful person on earth is just like all the other cheap alternatives the devil offers--temporary and worthless in the light of eternity.

I would challenge you to examine your life and think about what cheap alternatives (crap-filled Twinkies) you are accepting in place of the great things that God has for you!

Peace and blessings,
Justin

[punkrat777]

Love this stuff! Keep em coming!

[irapaul]

Great interpretation of the scripture, keep it up Justin, you are anointed!