Monthly Devotion - July 2025
BECOMING HIS INCREASINGLY SINCERE & PURE DISCIPLES
" Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace.” (2 Corinthians 1:12 NIV)
The 32nd anniversary of the Indonesian Mission Church in Frankfurt, June
8, 2025, had the topic “Growing in Grace,” taken from Acts 4:33.
And if we continue to grow in His grace, then, as written in 2 Corinthians
1:12, by the power of His grace, we too can continue to build relationships
governed by sincerity and purity. In these months, we will reflect extensively
on our calling as disciples of Christ. The Apostle Paul and his companions
boasted that their consciences testified to them that their lives in this
world, especially in their relationships with the Corinthian church, were
governed by the sincerity and purity of God, not by worldly wisdom, but
by the power of God's grace.
Paul's foundation for joy and boasting was sincerity (integrity) and purity.
The Apostle Paul had already determined that throughout his life of faith,
he would remain faithful to God, refusing to be conformed to the world
and persevering in holiness until God called him home to the Father's
House (Romans 12:1-2). In the eternity to come, our greatest joy will
be the realization that we have lived our lives in "sincerity and
purity" for Christ, our Savior. God also desires that we, as His
disciples, succeed in building sincere and pure relationships in this
life at the end of time. Being a sincere and pure disciple means following
Jesus with a pure and honest heart, without ulterior motives, and striving
to be like Him in all things. This involves surrendering ourselves completely
to God's will and living according to His teachings.
In these end times, let us continue to be transformed into the image of
Christ with ever-increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). In Psalm 26:8,
David says, "Lord, I love the house where you live,
the place where your glory dwells" and for
this reason, David distances himself from worldly desires (verses 9-10).
In verse 11a, he says, "But I live in integrity." And as His
disciples, we are also called to continue to rejoice in the various trials
God permits, and the purpose of all of them is to prove the genuineness
of our faith, which is far more precious than perishable gold (1 Peter
1:6-7). So, as His disciples, all of us, by the power of grace, can be
transformed into an ever-increasing glory of God if we continue to build
relationships that are dominated by sincerity and purity. God desires
that every one of His disciples will succeed in possessing this sincerity
and purity.
There are still disciples of God whose lives are not yet controlled by
sincerity and purity, so that their lives are not in accordance with God's
will. We all need to be transformed into a sincere and pure disciple so
that we can be conformed to His image. And in human form, Christ sincerely
and purely gave Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8). In these months we will learn and
deepen our calling as sincere and pure disciples of Christ. We can have
sincerity and purity if we live in the power of His grace. God bless us
all. Amen!
By Pastor Silwanus Obadja M.Th.
...Monthly
Devotion - August 2025