Monthly Archives: December 2013

December 17, 2013 · 7:47 AM

Wonderful Counselor

This week, I’ll be breaking down Isaiah 9:6 piece by piece. It says, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (NLT)”. Today, we’ll look at Wonderful Counselor.

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I’ve tried to think back to all the times when I needed a counselor in my life. I had to have one in school when it came time to help me pick out classes to make sure I graduated. I had to have one when I got married to make sure that the proper foundation was laid for a lifelong marriage. I’ve used one in business to help me make decisions that would ensure the company was profitable. I’ve used them when someone close died to help work through the grieving process. I’ve used counselors any time I’ve had a huge decision to make and wasn’t sure what the right decision was.

I believe in Proverbs 15:22. It says, “Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed. (MSG)” In order to be successful, we need good counselors around us. We need people with different perspectives who can help us see the things that our own limited vision can’t see. The problem is that too many people see using counselors, for any reason, as a sign of weakness. They make life altering decisions without the help, guidance or input from others and this scripture tells us that that is a recipe for failure. God has no desire to see you fail. He wants you to succeed.

In order to help you succeed, He has set Himself up to be a counselor for us. He wants to be that person in our life that we go to for advice, to help us make the difficult decisions and to point us in the right direction. He wants each of us to have such a close relationship with Him that we can go to Him with anything. Who could be better at giving you advice on anything you’re facing than God Himself? He knows what your future holds and He wants you to succeed. Just like with the counselors I’ve used in the past, it only works if you listen.

God can speak to you directly if you let Him. He can speak through others to you. He can even speak to you through His Word, the Bible. There are many ways He can be your counselor, but it’s up to you to give Him the opportunity. It’s up to you to listen and then to follow that advice. Life is hard and full of difficult choices. God knows that and never intended for you to have to make them on your own. He has been and always will be available to you as the one you can turn to for guidance.

Whatever you’re facing today is no surprise to God. He knew you would be standing at this crossroad and knows what path you should take. Seek His guidance, ask for His advice and listen. When you follow His counsel, you are guaranteed success in the long run. You may have a few bumps in the road He takes you down, but they are intended for your good. You may not see immediate success, but it’s coming. Trust in what He tells you. Follow the path He points to and listen to His voice. It’s not a sign of weakness to seek the advice of the Wonderful Counselor, it’s wise.

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December 16, 2013 · 7:51 AM

A Son Is Given

This week, I’ll be breaking down Isaiah 9:6 piece by piece. It says, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (NLT)”. Today, we’ll look at the first part of that.

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I saw a Christmas play a few years ago where they told the story of Jesus’ birth as seen through the eyes of two angels. They were reading Heaven’s newspaper when they saw the headline that Jesus was going to earth. They were ecstatic thinking of what all it could mean. As they read on, they were suddenly confused. “Wait! It says here that He’s going down there as a baby,” said one of the angels. The other replied, “How will He fit into something so small?” The God who is bigger than the universe He created, came down and entered our world as a baby.

He didn’t just come as a baby, but He came as a boy. When you think of it culturally and in that time period, a boy brought honor to his family. It meant that their lineage would continue. Since Joseph was a descendant of King David, it meant the royal line would continue and provide hope to Israel that at some point one of David’s heirs would rule the nation again. Everyone knew the promises God had made to establish David’s throne forever. They had been waiting for centuries for the House of David to return to the throne. The government of that country would once again be on the shoulders of the king.

Not only was that part of it important, but the fact that He was a boy has other implications. When a boy grows up, he gets married and his spouse takes his name. God came to earth to win our hearts. He came to propose marriage to each of us. In that time period and culture, a dowry was needed to secure a bride. It was usually something very expensive that would cost the groom everything he had. He had to work for years just to afford the dowry of engagement. After that was paid, He would have to provide a paid off home so that they could live together without worry. She would give up her family name and take his. She would leave her father and mother and cleave to him.

What does that have to do with Jesus? Everything. He came to pay a price that was equal to your worth. He came to win you over with His love. His life was all about proving how much He loved you and me. He did miracles, signs and wonders in an effort to get our attention. He bled and died in order to pay the dowry for you to be engaged to Him. He gave up everything He had to come in the form of a child, lived His life trying to get our attention and paid that price just to ask if you would marry Him. When you accept His proposal, all of Heaven rejoices just as we would for one of our friends. You then take on His name, Christian, and leave the life you once lived.

John 14:2-3 says, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. (NLT)” He is following the culture and customs of that time in His proposal of marriage to you. Revelations says that we will be going to the wedding feast in Heaven one day. You and I are the bride of Christ if we accept His proposal. He’s coming back for us once He’s finished preparing it. I can’t wait to see it. If He made this world in 6 days, can imagine how incredible Heaven will be after 2,000 years? I can’t wait for the wedding, how about you?

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December 13, 2013 · 7:54 AM

Free From Shame

It’s Free Friday! What are you going to be free from today? The choice is yours to let it go. To celebrate Free Friday, I’m giving away a free copy of “The Shack: Reflections for Every Day of the Year” by William Paul Young. Keep reading to find out how.

Shame is defined by dictionary.com as “the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another.” There’s not a single person who ever lived, besides Jesus, who didn’t do one of those things. The problem with shame is that it can imprison us and keep us from moving forward even after we’ve been forgiven. It can dominate our thoughts and make us feel worthless. The sad part is that we don’t just have to do the action ourselves. Sometimes what someone else does to us can make us feel shame too.

If we’re not careful we can end up in a prison of shame through no fault of our own. An action that was done to us by someone we trusted can create those feelings of worthlessness, pain and embarrassment. If we’re not careful, those feelings of shame can turn into bitterness. Bitterness can then turn into hatred. Hatred can keep us from forgiving. If we can’t forgive even the worst offenses done to us, we ourselves can’t be forgiven by God. We have to learn to forgive the ones who have brought shame on us. When we forgive them, we release ourselves from the mental bondage we were held in.

I’m not saying the pain will go away. I still feel the pain years later, but I’m not held in a prison of hatred and shame anymore. Instead of being in bondage, I use that pain to speak to others who have been shamed by someone else. It is possible to forgive the unforgivable. It is possible to move forward after you’ve been seriously wronged. I know it’s a tough mental battle to get rid of the feelings of shame and to be able to find forgiveness for them and yourself. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s a process that takes time, but it starts with one choice, forgiveness, and only you can make that choice.

It took me years to get to that point. I held on to the pain and those thoughts weighed me down. They kept me from reaching my potential. They kept me from an intimate relationship with God. They affected every other relationship I had. Those thoughts are so harmful and are designed to isolate you from the people who do love you and truly care for you. You must make the choice to release yourself from something you’ve done or someone else for what they’ve done if you truly want to get rid of shame. You must find a way to forgive them if you want God to forgive you. Today, make the choice to start down the road of being free from shame.

If you’d like to win “The Shack: Reflections for Every Day of the Year” by William Paul Young which is collection of highlights from the book “The Shack”, you have three ways to enter today. The first way you can get your name in the drawing is by signing up to receive Devotions by Chris in your email. The second way is to go to www.facebook.com/devotionsbychris and like my page. The third way you can enter is by going to that Facebook page and liking one of today’s statuses. Anyone who does any of those three things today, December 7, 2013, will be entered. I’ll draw tomorrow morning and announce the winner on my Facebook page. If you win, send me a private message with the address you’d like the book shipped to.

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December 12, 2013 · 8:00 AM

Led Into The Desert

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Have you ever been to a desert? I used to live in Egypt and got to experience the Sahara firsthand. There was sand as far as you could see. The ground was covered with rocks. When the wind would blow, you’d get sand in your eyes. There were very few signs of life when you got out there in it. The desert part of Egypt wasn’t where you wanted to be for very long. That’s why a majority of Egyptians live in the Nile valley near the water source. I started to think about living in the desert when I read Hosea. Chapter 2 verse 14 caught my eye. God said, “I will lead her into the desert.”

He was talking about Israel at the time, but I believe it applies to you and I as well. He was talking of how Israel had strayed from Him. In order to win her back, He was going to lead her to the desert and speak tenderly to her. A desert is a place we usually don’t want to go to. When we are experiencing a spiritual drought, we often say that we’re in the desert. But here, God said He was going to lead them to the desert so He could speak to them. I think that He does that to get us away from all the distractions that keep us from hearing Him.

Our lives are so full of noise from meetings, technologies, TV’s, video games and music that it’s hard to hear God. He desperately wants our attention and to speak with us. To get our attention, sometimes He has to take us to the desert. Instead of listening for His voice, we whine and beg Him to get us out of that place. Instead of understanding there’s a purpose for being in the desert, we try to find our own way out of it. Instead of looking for Him, we complain to others about how hard our life is and how everything is going wrong. The thought never entered our minds that it was God who led us to the desert.

He wants to use those dry times in our lives to speak tenderly to us. When things are going wrong in your life, He wants you to look for Him as a shelter not as a complaint hotline. There is a lot to learn in the desert. Most importantly, there can be growth and the start of new life. In verse 15, God says, “I will return her vineyards to her.” What you’ve lost by going to the desert will be restored to you. It may not be exactly how you expect it. It will be better. What seems like the death of one life is really the birth of a new one. What you lost in the old one, will be restored in the new one. God leads us to the desert to destroy the things that hold us back and then restores the things that will renew our love for Him.

Maybe you’re in that desert today thinking God is punishing you. Maybe you’ve been complaining because of how tough things are. Maybe you’re at the point of giving up. If you’re there, consider that God has led you to this desert to remove what needed to be gone and to restore what He wants in your life. Yes, the removal part hurts. It’s a long, drawn out, painful process at times. Your day of restoration is coming. I want to leave you with the last words of verse 15. God said He would “transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.” Your restoration and transformation are on the way.

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December 11, 2013 · 7:54 AM

The Biggest Gift

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A big part of the stress of Christmas is buying gifts. How much should you spend? What do they want? Will I find parking at the mall? Will it be sold out? Will they love it? What if they return it? All these questions create stress in purchasing gifts. Multiply that by how many people are on your list and there in lies the level of your stress. Some people try to avoid all that stress by purchasing everything online. There’s also a stress with that. Will it look like the picture? Will it get here in time? How do you return it if you have to? There are so many things to worry about.

There’s a story in Luke 21 about a widow giving a gift. She might have been stressed too. As she stood in the temple and waited to bring her gift to God, several others made a show about their gifts. Verse one says that Jesus watched as the rich people dropped their gifts in the collection box. I’m sure she was watching too. As others dropped off their bags of money, she stood there with two little coins. She could have been wondering, “Is this enough? It’s nothing compared to the gifts they’re bringing in.” When the time seemed right, she went and gave her small gift to God.

Jesus was still watching when she did. He turned to the others around him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them.” Her tiny gift meant more to God than the extravagant gifts that others brought. Why? Because it was from her heart. She knew that it’s not the size of the gift or the amount of the gift that matters. She knew that even though she didn’t have much, what she had belonged to God. She gave Him what He had given her. Everything. She wasn’t content to give a fraction of what she had because God hadn’t given her a fraction of what He had. She gave everything she had.

When it comes to giving gifts, it’s not the price tag that matters. When it comes to giving to God, it’s not the amount that matters. What matters to God and others is if it came from the heart. Anyone can give from their surplus. Anyone can give a gift in order to gain the praise of people. It takes a special person to give a gift that matters. It takes a person who isn’t intimidated by the show that others make of their giving to step out and give a gift that matters. Jesus is watching and sees it all. He sees beyond the external side of giving gifts and looks into the heart. He doesn’t measure gifts by the amount, He measures them by the attitude.

This Christmas season, don’t stress over the things that really don’t matter. You should live your life to please an audience of one. Giving gifts is meant to be a joyous occasion. Since the very beginning, God has been a giver. If you look at how God gives and what He looks for in givers, it’s not about excess. He’s never been impressed by that. He is always impressed with those who give from their hearts and who give their all. Don’t be ashamed that your gifts may not be as extravagant as what other people give. Give anyway. The smallest gift is often the biggest gift to God.

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December 10, 2013 · 7:45 AM

Change = Growth

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I once heard the story of a newly wed couple who were hosting all of their family in their home for the first time. The young lady was so excited to be cooking for her mom and grandmother. While she was preparing the meal, her husband noticed she cut off about a third of the roast and put it away before starting. Her husband asked her why she did that. She replied, “I don’t know. That’s how my mom always did it.” They found the mom and asked her why they cut off a third of the roast. She replied, “I don’t know. That’s how my mom always did it.” All of them went to where the grandmother was and asked her why she cut off a third of the roast. She replied, “Because I never had a pot big enough for an entire roast.”

For over 40 years, the next two generations had been doing what was previously done just because it had always been done that way. They didn’t even know why. How many things do we do in life without knowing why and just because that’s how it’s always been done? How much have we wasted because we were so resistant to change that we never questioned the way we do things? That’s really what the problem is. We don’t like change so we never question why things are done a certain way.

When life gets flipped upside down, we get unexpected surprises, job changes, life changes or whatever, we fight them. We don’t do it because we’re opposed to that particular thing. We do it because we’re opposed to change. We like to know what tomorrow will bring. There’s security in doing things the way we’ve always done them. We know exactly what we’ll get because we’re only doing what we’ve always done. The problem is that things change. Times change. Life changes. We can be open to what God is trying to do or we can fight Him and try to hold onto our routine of doing life how we’ve always done it.

God isn’t opposed to change. In fact, He’s all for it. In Isaiah 43:18-19, God said, “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new.” God understands that change is how we grow. He wants to do something brand new in our lives, but we’re too busy going over the past and how things have always been. God said to get your mind out if the past and into the present. He understands that change is a part of creation. He just wants us to be willing to go through that change so He can do something new in your life.

What changes has God been trying to make in your life, but you’ve been to caught up in the past to allow Him to do it? Why have you really been opposed to the changes He wants to make in your life? Change is His way of keeping you close to Him. When you get caught up in doing things the way you’ve always done them, you remove yourself from a life of walking by faith. Instead, you are walking by routine. God wants to challenge you and to grow you. He can only do that through change. He can only get you to walk by faith if He can get you out of the past. What can you do today to embrace the change God wants to do in your life?

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December 9, 2013 · 7:48 AM

From Bitter To Blessed

Each of us have things go wrong in life. Each of us have those periods where it seems nothing can go right. It can get to the point of ridiculousness that all you can do is laugh at how bad things have gotten. There’s also that temptation to just give up because no matter what you do, you fail. In those periods of life our response matters. They can create good things in you like perseverance, patience, endurance, strength or they can bring out the worst like selfishness, resentfulness, anger or bitterness. Our reaction is our choice.

In the book of Ruth, we see the story of Naomi who was Ruth’s mother in law. She had been going through a rough time. Due to circumstances, she had to move her family away from their home. Some time after they arrived in their new country, her husband died and left her to raise two boys. They grew up and married. After ten years of marriage, neither of her sons were able to produce an heir and both of them died. She was left with two daughters in law to care for and no means to do it. She decided to return to her homeland, but knew there wasn’t enough to sustain all of them. She encouraged her daughters in law to stay behind in their land and to remarry. One stayed and one clung to her side and wouldn’t leave.

When they arrived back in her hometown, the people were excited to see her. They asked, “Is that really you, Naomi?” Her response was, “Don’t call me Naomi; call me Bitter… I left here full of life, and God has brought me back with nothing but the clothes on my back. Why would you call me Naomi? God certainly doesn’t.” She allowed her circumstances to make her bitter. She was so bitter that she asked them to call her Bitter as her name. She felt like God had abandoned her and that He didn’t even know her name. She felt alone and hurt. I wonder what would have happened to her if Ruth hadn’t made the trip back with her.

The good news is that Ruth saw the bitterness and struggles in her mother in law and refused to leave her. She became a support person for her. It wasn’t long after they arrived back in Naomi’s hometown that Ruth met Boaz. After they were married, God gave them a son. Chapter 4:14 of Ruth says, “The town women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be God! He didn’t leave you without family to carry on your life.” Naomi loved that baby so much that the neighborhood women started calling him “Naomi’s boy”. His real name was Obed. He would become the grandfather of King David and also part of the lineage of Jesus.

Whatever your circumstances are today, you have a choice to make. Will people call you “Bitter” or will they call you “Blessed”? While Naomi went through a time of bitterness, ultimately everything had to happen that way so that a line of future kings could be born and ultimately our savior. I don’t know what difficulties you’re facing in the present, but I know that God can use them to create an amazing future. Difficult times and periods of life are not without purpose. God has a plan for you and the future of your family. This rough patch is simply getting you into position to change you from bitter to blessed.

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December 6, 2013 · 7:51 AM

Free From Worry

It’s Free Friday! What are you going to be free from today? The choice is yours to let it go. To celebrate Free Friday, I’m giving away a free copy of Lindsey Clifford’s book “Just Jesus: His Living Words”. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

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For a lot of people, Christmas is their favorite time of year. They love the spirit of it, the joy, the parties, the experience and fun. For others, it is the most depressing time of year. With all that Christmas brings, it also brings added stress and worry to their lives. Instead of being able to enjoy the season, they struggle with managing their schedule, paying bills and being able to buy presents for everyone on their list. They allow worry to come in and take over their mind. If that describes you, then today is your day to be free.

Worrying is not part of God’s plan for you. He doesn’t want you to stress out over things you can’t control. He didn’t design your mind or body to function with all that self induced heaviness. The Bible has a lot to say about worrying. In Matthew 6:34, Jesus said, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” He was very clear that we need to let go of the “what ifs” that keep us up at night and to trust God.

I’ve learned in my own life that worry is toxic to your well being. Nothing good comes from worrying. All it does is cloud your mind and sap your energy. It will consume you, your thoughts and your sleep. God doesn’t want you to live like that. He wants you to release those worries to Him. I Peter 5:7 says, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares for you.” Worrying has never changed the outcome of a situation, but God has. If your reply to this message or others is, “Well someone has to worry about it,” you’re right. Someone does. God. Let Him worry about it.

So what should you do instead? In Philippians 4:6, Paul tells us, “Don’t worry or fret. Instead of worrying, pray.” Prayer is how you free yourself from worry. You hand the reigns of what’s bothering you over to God. You take yourself out of the driver’s seat and let God take over. If you are consumed with thoughts and worry, you haven’t let God take control of the situation. What’s worse is you haven’t trusted Him with it. You think you can handle it better than He can. It’s time to right the order of things and hand your cares and worries off to Him. It’s time to be free of the worries that have bound you up and kept you from enjoying life. Today is your day to be free.

If you’d like to win Lindsey Clifford’s book “Just Jesus” which is collection and organization of all of Jesus’ words here on earth, you have three ways to enter today. The first way you can get your name in the drawing is by signing up to receive Devotions by Chris in your email. The second way is to go to www.facebook.com/devotionsbychris and like my page. The third way you can enter is by going to that Facebook page and liking one of today’s statuses. Anyone who does any of those three things today, December 6, 2013, will be entered. I’ll draw tomorrow morning and announce the winner on my Facebook page. If you win, send me a private message with the address you’d like the book shipped to.

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December 5, 2013 · 7:53 AM

Grateful For The Gift

I can’t believe Christmas is almost here. Every day, when I drive by the mall, I can’t help but notice how many people are there. Other retail stores are packed as well. Everyone is looking for gifts, but they want a good deal. They want to give a good gift, but they don’t want it to cost them a lot. I understand being frugal and wanting to get a good deal, but as I thought about it, the gift God gave cost Him everything. It wasn’t cheap though we often treat it that way. He gave us the gift of Emmanuel.

The most famous scripture, John 3:16, says, “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son.” He loved us so much that He gave us His most prized possession. He sent His Son here to be God wrapped in flesh, to feel our pain, to breathe our air, to walk our paths, to know our feelings and to understand our ways. He wanted to show us love by giving us the gift that cost Him everything. At just the right time, He humbled Himself and was born as a human. Philippians 2 says that “He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human.”

Not only did it cost Him His deity, it later cost Him His life. He laid down His life so that we could have life. His sacrifice opened the door for you and I to find forgiveness for our sins. It made a way for us to get to Heaven. When I think about that gift and what it cost Him, there’s no gift that I can give that would ever compare. The only thing I can do to show my gratitude for such a gift is to offer my life to Him. I’ve got to be mindful every day of the sacrifice He made for me. It can’t just be at Christmas when I think about the gift of His Son. It’s got to be an every day thing.

I heard a quote years ago and I can’t find who said it, but it’s powerful. It says, “Blessed are those who can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.” That’s how I want to be all throughout the year and my life. I want to always remember what God did for you and me. I want to be so grateful that I never forget what it cost Him to show me love. I don’t want Him to have to constantly remind me of the price He paid. I’d rather be the one who constantly says to Him, “Look at what you did for me. I’ll never forget it.”I believe a life of gratitude will never take gifts for granted.

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December 4, 2013 · 7:50 AM

Retaliate With Love

Over the Thanksgiving break, I watched the video of the “Duck Dynasty” Robertson family giving their testimony on IAmSecond.org. Phil Robertson shared a story of reading Matthew 5:44 shortly after becoming a Christian. He couldn’t understand the logic in what Jesus was saying when He said, “Bless those that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” He shared a story of how “river rats” were stealing his fish. He trusted God, gave them the fish they were trying to steal and they quit stealing from him.

I read another article on yahoo.com recently where a young lady was pick pocketed in the grocery store. She had a strange feeling about a man who had followed her around the store. When he quit following her, she noticed her wallet was missing. She found him a few aisles over and decided to confront him. She said, “I think you have something of mine. I’m going to give you a choice. You can either give me my wallet and I’ll forgive you right now,and I’ll even take you to the front and pay for your groceries” or we can get the authorities involved. That’s not how I would have handled it, but it’s the way God says to.

The man broke down and cried. He was desperate to feed his family and didn’t know what else to do. Instead of retaliating like most of us would have, she paid for groceries for his family. In The Message, it quotes Jesus in Matthew 5:44 as saying, “I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.” That’s hard to do. It’s unnatural to let someone who hurts you to bring out the best in you. Normally we retaliate evil for evil and allow their bad deed to give us an excuse to do something back. God says we aren’t to behave that way. He says we’re to do good to them and to show them His love.

If you skip down to verse 48 of the same chapter, Jesus finishes by saying, “In a word, what I’m saying is, ‘Grow up.’ You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” Those last few words get me every time. “The way God lives toward you” is how He wants me to live toward others. Each of us have wronged God and hurt Him. Each of us will continue to do so until we die. We’re imperfect. How we treat Him doesn’t change how He lives toward us. He still loves us no matter what we’ve done to Him. That’s how He he is telling us to be towards others who wrong us.

I’m sure, like me, you can think of the people who have wronged you or hurt you. I’m also sure you would like nothing more than to hurt them back or see them get paybacks. Paying back evil for evil or good for good is what’s expected. If you really want to do something memorable and life changing, do something good for them. If you want to live generously and graciously like God asked us to live, do the opposite of what your human nature wants you to do and repay them with love for pain they caused you. I know it’s easier said than done, but I can tell you it works and you’ll be happier for it.

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