Category Archives: Uncategorized

October 27, 2023 · 5:26 AM

Living A New Life

When I was in my early teens I heard a preacher ask, lIf you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you?” I started thinking about how I talked, who I hung out with, where I went, what I did and my spiritual disciplines. I remember putting my life on trial that night and deciding to make sure my life matched my faith. When we accept Jesus, we accept a life that is lived differently than we lived before. Our life should no longer be to please ourselves, but Him. Our old life passes away and we are given new life, a fresh start. Growth in the new life requires that we pray, read our Bible, love others, renew our mind and be led by the Holy Spirit rather than our flesh. Paul constantly wrote about this new life to the churches. He called them and us to live a life that pleases God. It’s a life that would get you convicted for being a Christian if you were ever put on trial for it.

Here are some Bible verses on living a new life.

1. We pray that you would walk in the ways of true righteousness, pleasing God in every good thing you do. Then you’ll become fruit-bearing branches, yielding to his life, and maturing in the rich experience of knowing God in his fullness!

Colossians 1:10 TPT

2. For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

2 Peter 1:3 AMP

3. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Colossians 1:10 NLT

4. For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness [to be dedicated, and set apart by behavior that pleases Him, whether in public or in private].

1 Thessalonians 4:7 AMP

5. We encouraged you, we comforted you, and we kept urging you to live the kind of life that pleases God, who calls you to share in his own Kingdom and glory.

1 Thessalonians 2:12 GNT

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October 26, 2023 · 5:30 AM

The Best Path

When I was younger and I wanted to take a trip, I would break out my Rand McNally map and plot a course. I would take the map with me so I could follow along or use it if I got lost. Today, most of us use an app with GPS to get us where we’re going. We plug in an address and off we go blindly following wherever it leads. There have been times when I questioned where it was taking me and I thought I knew better. I was wrong. Even now, I question it, but I’ve learned to give it the benefit of the doubt because it sees what’s coming ahead and knows what path to take.

After David was anointed king, I’m sure he thought he knew the path God was going to take to get him to the palace. It wasn’t that long until the king called and invited him to the palace without knowing David would be the next king. Then the path took an unexpected turn. David was on the run and had to leave the country God said he would rule over. He found himself living in caves instead of in the luxury of palaces. He didn’t question God’s path to get him there even though it was a different path than he would have chosen.

From the cave, he penned this in Psalms 142:3, “When my spirit was overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness], You knew my path” (AMP). No matter how dark that cave was, he trusted that God knew his path. That’s something we can all learn from. Sometimes God’s path will lead you through some dark times, but even though you walk through the valley of the shadow, God will be with you. He uses those times to develop us, to prove His faithfulness and to have us bring light into the darkness. Don’t turn from the path God is leading you down. He knows what’s ahead and is taking you on the best path for your future.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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October 25, 2023 · 5:41 AM

Living Free

There was a worker at the LA Zoo who tells the story of some red tailed hawks they received from the police. They had been brought in cages and told to take care of them until the trial. As time went by, he would see those hawks in cages and it would break his heart. He didn’t know when or if the trial would ever take place. He felt the bigger crime was keeping these birds locked up in cages. Finally he decided to unlock the cages and let the birds out even if it cost him his job. Once the birds were out, they just stood there on the table. He shewed them and tried to scare them into flying, but nothing worked. They had gotten used to the prison of cages and refused to fly away even though he had set them free. He finally gave up and let them back in their cages.

In the book of Exodus we read how the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years. Even though they were numerous, they had adjusted to life in the prison of Egypt. God sent Moses to liberate them and to take them to the Promised Land. On the way there, they kept complaining how things were easier in Egypt. They began to resent their freedom and question God. They started fantasizing about life in Egypt because it was what they knew. They preferred predictability over purpose. They were hoping that freedom brought convenience, but found that it took work. Their complaints reached God who had set them free. He provided food and water for them, but still they complained. With this attitude they could never fight the battles needed to dispel the nations living in the place God was leading them. Instead of taking them back to Egypt, He kept them in the desert until a generation came that was willing to fight for the freedom and promises of God.

Galatians 5:1 says, “It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed]” (AMP). It’s easy to look at the hawks and the children of Israel and think they should have just spread their wings and enjoyed their freedom. It’s another thing to look in the mirror and see if you are still standing by your cage wanting back in. If God has set you free, it’s time to fly. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to cost you discipline, time and effort. God has broken open the doors that held you in and has a place of promise for you. Are you reminiscing about the predictability of the past? Have you been fantasizing about how easy it was before? Those are the lies of the enemy trying to draw you back in and to make you ineffective in a desert land. It’s time to stand firm, armor up and take the land of freedom that God has set before you.

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October 24, 2023 · 5:42 AM

Blessing Your Enemy

My son said he and his friends had been discussing a question and he wanted to ask us too. He said, “Would you rather be trapped in a room with someone you love or hate?” Before we could answer, he started sharing some of his friend’s answers. He then looked at my wife and asked for her answer. She told him it didn’t matter to her because she would just sleep most of the time.” He laughed, looked at me and said, lI know it wouldn’t matter to you either. You’re so extroverted, you’d make the person who hated you your friend!” I told him that I would bless them until they had no choice but to like me. We had a good laugh as I continued to ponder the question.

In 2 Kings 6, the Arameans were at war with Israel. The prophet Elisha knew when and where they were going to attack and would tell Israel’s king. He would then change their strategy to be prepared. After this happened several times, the king of Aram got mad and thought he had a spy. They to,d him it was Elisha who was revealing their location, so he decided to go after him. He surrounded Elisha with his entire army, then Elisha asked God to make the entire army blind. He then led them to the king of Israel and asked God to open their eyes. They saw they were doomed as the king of Israel asked if he could kill them all. Elisha told him not to and to feed them instead. Verse 23 says that the king of Israel made them a great feast then sent them on their way. The Arameans stayed away from Israel after that because of the kindness shown to them

In Luke 6, Jesus was giving the Sermon on the Mount teaching people what God really wanted. In verses 27-28 He said, “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies and do something wonderful for them in return for their hatred. When someone curses you, bless that person in return. When others mistreat and harass you, accept it as your mission to pray for them” (TPT). God’s way is different than our way. We tend to retaliate or get even with someone who hates us. God’s way is to love them and to pray for them. It’s hard to hate someone you’re asking God to bless. It’s also hard to hate someone who is blessing you. Remember that hate is not from God. Love is. How we act shows who our father is according to Jesus. How have you been responding to the people who hate you, your beliefs or actions? Try praying for them first. Then ask God to show you how to bless them in such a way that they have no choice but turn turn away from hate.

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October 23, 2023 · 5:46 AM

Returning To The Shepherd

A sheep’s greatest need is not food and water. Their greatest need is a shepherd. They cannot survive without one. They naturally flock together, but without a shepherd they tend to get distracted at times and wander from the heard. They’re also a defenseless breed. Without a shepherd to protect them, they are easy targets for predators. Also sheep must be sheared at least once a year. Without a shepherd doing that, their wool will get matted up and become too heavy to bear. They will either succumb to the weight of it or get sick from the diseases that wil be acquired from the matted wool. The last reason why sheep can’t survive without a shepherd is because they wouldn’t be able to find pasture or water for themselves. Without a shepherd they would eventually starve to death.

In Mark 6, Jesus and the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee. Verse 34 says, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things” (ESV). Jesus saw the people and knew they couldn’t survive without a shepherd and needed spiritual food. After teaching them, the disciples saw they were hungry and asked the Good Shepherd to send them away to find their own food. Jesus, who was trying to teach the disciples how to shepherd people, told them to feed these sheep. They replied they didn’t have enough money to feed them all and they only had five loves of bread an two fish. In the Good Shepherd’s hands, that was enough to care for a flock of five thousand. These sheep need their shepherd to provide spiritual and physical food.

Zachariah 1:3 says, “Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.” Have you wandered away from the flock and the Shepherd? We all do it at times. We get distracted by the cares of this world and we sometime put a greater priority on earthly things. You need the Good Shepherd if you’re going to survive. You need the flock of your local church as well with God’s under shepherd. You can’t survive on bread alone. I know because I’ve tried it before. God is calling to each of us, searching for us to bring us back into His flock. We need His loving care so we are not weighed down by the cares of this world. We need to return to Him so we can find lie down in green pastures and rest beside streams of water. Our natural place is with Him. If you’ve been separated for whatever reason, call out to Him today and return. He is a loving shepherd who won’t be mad at you. Instead, He has compassion for you each time He sees you and wants to be your shepherd.

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October 20, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Unfailing Love

One of the hardest things for us to understand is God’s love. There is nothing you can do to earn God’s love or to make Him love you more. There’s nothing you can do to make Him love you less than He does right now. In fact, Romans 8 tells us that there’s nothing in all of creation that can separate us from His love. It truly is unfailing. You are loved by your creator just the way you are. He sees your fears, your imperfections and your past, and He loves you still. Every day you wake up under the banner of His love for you. Don’t let this imperfect world full of imperfect people blind you to His unfailing love. It will rescue you, support you, pursue you and redeem you. Live your life today and everyday knowing that you are loved and let that love change you and your world.

Here are some Bible verses on God’s unfailing love.

1. Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love.

Psalms 6:4 NLT

2. I cried out, “I am slipping!” but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.

Psalms 94:18 NLT

3. Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.

Psalms 23:6 AMP

4. The Lord loves seeing justice on the earth. Anywhere and everywhere you can find his faithful, unfailing love!

Psalms 33:5 TPT

5. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!

Psalms 63:3 NLT

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October 19, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Intimate Conversations

Whenever I travel for work, it’s important to stay in contact with my wife. Sometimes when we end up talking I’m at the airport or I’m at dinner or while I’m with coworkers. It’s hard to have good conversations in those places. It’s often noisy, people are trying to get my attention or I’m trying to find where I’m going so I’m somewhat distracted. The best conversations are when I’m away from all the noise in the quiet of my hotel room. Only then can we truly have interruption free conversations where it doesn’t have to be quick snippets.

Luke 5:16 says, “As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer” (MSG). Having intimate conversations with His father while He was here was important to Him. People were constantly vying for His attention and needing a miracle. He just wanted to have a quiet, uninterrupted conversation. Many times He had those quick conversations in front of people, but very often we read where Jesus went to a desolate place to pray. If it was important for Him to do that, how much more important for us?

At one point, Jesus told us to go into our closet to pray. I don’t know that He meant that literally. I think what He was saying was that we need to find a quiet place where we can have some uninterrupted prayer time. We can’t always go to an out of the way place to pray, but we can find space to get alone with Him. It may be a closet or it could be before everyone wakes up or after they go to bed, but we each need to find time to get alone with God so we can have intimate conversations with Him. I believe the quality of our relationship with Him hinges on it.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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October 18, 2023 · 5:43 AM

God Values You

I’ve been with people in the darkest moment of their life. Each time I get the call when they say they’ve reached their limit and life isn’t worth living, I begin to pray to ask God what to say. I ask Him to fight for their life through me. Because of that, I’ve been in some tough battles to keep them alive. The lies that the enemy is telling them are so loud in their mind and so believable that they can’t hear me at times. I remind them that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, but God brings abundant life. I remind them how much they’re loved by Him. I stay with them as long as it takes for them to get a breakthrough which can sometimes be a while. God doesn’t want anyone to perish. He loves and values each life.

When you think of a shepherd, do you have the image of a peaceful, quiet person roaming the hillside with their staff? That’s how I picture it, but honestly, they’re warriors who fight for their sheep like God does. Look in 1 Samuel 17 where David has heard Goliath threaten God’s flock. He’s ready to go fight a guy twice his size and who has been a warrior since he was young. Saul had the same image of a shepherd that I do and didn’t want to let him fight. “But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and attacked it and rescued the lamb from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I seized it by its whiskers and struck and killed it’” (1 Samuel 17:24-24 AMP). A shepherd loves and values the life of each sheep and doesn’t want any to perish.

Exodus 14:14 says, “The Lord will fight for you while you [only need to] keep silent and remain calm.” God will fight the enemy of your would because He is a good shepherd. He values you and your life. The voices that tell you otherwise are not from God. He is your shepherd who wants to lead you to restore your soul in His green pastures. He wants to renew your strength and to guide you to His paths. Even when you pass through the darkest valleys of life under the shadow of death, He will guide, protect and fight for you with His rod and His staff. He will prepare a feast for you in the presence of the enemy of your soul and give you the blessings of goodness and mercy to follow you the rest of your life. He won’t sit idly by when it comes to your soul because you are valued and prized. He will leave the 99 to fight for you because He is a warrior who loves you.

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October 17, 2023 · 5:39 AM

Complete Faith

I grew up hearing the stories of George Mueller. He was a man of faith who lived in the early 1800’s and cared for over 10,000 orphans in his lifetime. One morning the head mistress of the 300 children in the orphanage told him that the kids were dressed for school, but they didn’t have anything for breakfast or any money to purchase it. George told the kids to sit at the tables and they put out their place settings. He then thanked the Lord for providing food. Just then the local baker knocked on the door. He said he couldn’t sleep and thought the kids could use some bread. He baked all night and brought it to them. As soon as he left, there was another knock at the door. A milkman said his cart broke down just outside and he needed to get rid of the milk before it went bad. George kept a prayer journal and in it had over 50,000 times when God answered his prayers.

In Joshua 3, the Israelites had left the desert and were ready to enter the Promised Land. After a three day fast, the people consecrated themselves before entering. While Joshua was praying, God said, “Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there’” (NLT). In order for them to be able cross the Jordan, they had to step into the mud and the water. When the priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant, stepped into the water, God then stopped the river so they could pass through on dry ground. When everyone had crossed, the priests stepped out of the middle of the river and it began to flow again.

James 2 tells us how our faith and actions are interlinked. He used Abraham putting Isaac on the altar trusting God to provide as an example. In verse 22 it says, “You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.” In almost every example I can find, people acted in faith before God answered their prayer. Not only did they ask God to provide or to help, they sat the kids down to eat, they stepped into a raging river and they tied up their son and raised the knife. Faith and action are interlinked. What is the step of faith God wants for from you for the prayers you’re asking Him for to be answered? Don’t just pray and believe. Act! Let your actions make your faith complete.

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October 16, 2023 · 5:47 AM

Seeking God’s Plan

We recent,y had a guest speaker at church who is also a professor at a Christian college. He told the story of how one of his classes asked him, “What do you think Christians struggle with most?” He then posed it to the audience and fielded responses. Some said loving others, obedience, overcoming temptation, etc. All the usual suspects were called out. He then said he asked his class for two days to ponder the question. As he thought about it, there wasn’t an answer for Christians as a whole because Christianity is made up of unique individuals with their own propensities and struggles. As I’ve thought about my own personal answer to that question, I’ve also thought about us as a whole and how we are good about praising God, but then forgetting what He’s done in the past, as well as, making decisions without involving Him or seeking His plan for us.

In 1 Samuel 13 King Saul been king for a couple of years and had seen God miraculously deliver him and the army in battle. In this instance, he had attacked a garrison of the Philistine army and then called the warriors to him for battle. While the arrived, he waited for Samuel to arrive to sacrifice and to seek God’s guidance and blessing. He began to see the Philistine army arrive in force and panicked. He made the sacrifice himself and the kingdom was taken from him. He acted much like israel did when leaving Egypt. They had seen God’s hand deliver them with the plagues, yet they forgot and began to doubt God at the Red Sea. Psalm 106:12-13 says, “Then Israel believed in [the validity of] His words; They sang His praise. But they quickly forgot His works; They did not [patiently] wait for His counsel and purpose [to be revealed regarding them]” (AMP). In each of these instances the consequences of forgetting and acting without waiting on God had dire consequences.

Proverbs 19:21 says, “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail” (NLT). Is this something you struggle with too? The consequences are too dire for us to continue trying to execute our own plan without seeking what God’s plan is. There’s too much at stake when we forget what He’s done in the past for us. James 1:5 tells us He will give us wisdom if we seek Him for it. In Matthew 6 Jesus told us to seek God’s kingdom first then everything else will fall into place. Let’s work on keeping our eyes and hearts focused on God even when our current circumstances want to make us doubt and forget what He’s done for us in the past. Let’s ask Him what His plan is for us and then give Him the freedom to execute it because His plan and purpose for us is what’s going to succeed. You probably won’t overcome your struggle overnight, but you can focus on getting a little bit better each day.

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