Devotions by Chris Hendrix

The Romans began their occupation of Israel around 60 years before Jesus was born. They divided the country into administrative districts. Their intent was to overthrow the way israel had been set up since Solomon was king. This realignment was put in place to destabilize the nation and to be able to put down public resistance. They also used this system to try to instill their culture on Israel, but that was much more difficult than they realized. They then tried brut force and dominate power on the people’s day to day lives in order to change them. It’s no wonder that the people of Israel were looking for a political messiah to fight Rome and deliver them once again from oppression.

Luke starts off his Gospel with the birth of John the Baptist and then Mary’s pregnancy. In chapter two, he shifts to the north of Jesus. He tells us that there was no room in the inn and that Jesus was laying in a manger. He also tells us about how there were shepherds in a field nearby watching their flocks by night. That’s when an angel appeared, and in verses 10-11 he said, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. For this day in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (the Messiah)” (AMP). The word for Savior here also means deliverer. The Messiah did come to deliver them (and us), but it wasn’t from Rome or a political power. He came to deliver us from the things that bind us and imprison us spiritually and emotionally.

In Luke 4, Jesus was beginning His ministry and went to the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth. He stood in front of everyone, opened the scroll of Isaiah and began reading, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah), Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy), to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” His power to deliver you is still at work today. Whether it is an oppression, a sin, a habit or an addiction, He wants to release you and set you free. He is a Savior who delivers His people so that they can walk in freedom. The thing that holds you captive may have tried to destabilize your life and hold you down, but He has come to give you life and freedom.

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I don’t get frustrated often. When I do, it’s usually because my plans are being messed up. Sometimes it’s because of traffic, sometimes because others aren’t on the same page as I am and sometimes it’s because of random things happening that keep me from doing what I’ve planned to do. While I’m getting upset at the situation or other people, my wife is good about reminding me that God may be behind the scenes working. She’ll ask, “Could it be that God is protecting us from something?” That’s my gentle reminder to take a breath and quit trying to get us back on schedule or to force the plans to happen despite everything conspiring against me to prevent them.

In Matthew 1, Joseph had plans to marry Mary and for their lives. Those plans were interrupted when Mary told him she was pregnant. The Bible says Joseph always did what was right and made plans to protect Mary from public humiliation and possible stoning. While he was making these plans, he was interrupted by an angel confirming Mary’s story. The angel told him she would have a son and they were to name Him Jesus because He would save us from our sins. Then in verse 22 the angel concluded by quoting Isaiah, “A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel” (which means, “God is with us”)” (GNT). Joseph then accepted God’s plan and married her.

As I think about the phrase, “God is with us,” I think about the time the God was transitioning Joshua and the Israelites from the wilderness to the Promised Land. There was uncertainty, walled cities and giants ahead that I’m sure he didn’t feel prepared for. In Joshua 1:9 God said, “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (NLT). I don’t know what plans of yours have been interrupted, changed or thwarted, but I know God is with you. Don’t be afraid or discouraged about the uncertainty of the future. God has never left you, nor will He forsake you. Though we may not understand His plan, we can know that He is with us as we navigate the changes. Be strong and courageous as you face the unknown when your plans get interrupted. You can know that He will work everything out for your good.

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One of the first changes I had to make early on when I started this site was to change my definition of success. A few months after starting I went to a writer’s conference. The number one question people asked was, “How many subscribers do you have?” I was embarrassed to tell them 35. I had heard them sharing how they had several thousand. The next question that I would get asked was, “How many clicks do you get a day?” On a good day I would get about ten. After that conference I became obsessed with the stat numbers and would allow them to ruin my day. I not only began to measure my success by the numbers, I even began to measure my worth. It wasn’t until my wife gently reminded me that it wasn’t about the numbers. If God reached one person that day, it was successful.

In 1 Samuel 14, Saul had been recently anointed king of Israel. He immediately began fighting the Philistines. The account says that his army didn’t have swords so they created makeshift weapons. It also mentions several times how many fighting men he had. At one point Saul was camped under a pomegranate tree while trying to figure out how to get through a pass that was defended by the Philistines. His son Jonathan asked his own armor bearer to walk with him. In verse 6, Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Let’s cross over to the camp of those heathen Philistines. Maybe the Lord will help us; if he does, nothing can keep him from giving us the victory, no matter how few of us there are” (GNT). Jonathan understood that success wasn’t in his hands or in numbers. It was given and determined by God. He and the armor bearer fought the Philistine army and won a great battle that day through the Lord’s help.

What’s an area of your life where you either feel like a failure or that you don’t measure up? Are you measuring that area by comparing your success to someone else’s or by God’s definition? Chances are you’re looking at some form of numbers (bank account, sales, friends, likes, followers etc..) to determine that. I once heard someone say, “We measure what’s important to us, but are we measuring what’s important to God?” How we look at things matters and the enemy will twist our definition of success to make us feel down, unworthy, unsuccessful, un-you name it. In God’s economy, things work differently. Instead of asking Him to move whatever number you’re measuring, ask Him to move your perspective to see His idea of success. Ask Him to help you to be content with how He deems it a success. Once you change that, lots of things in your life will change and you’ll be satisfied knowing what matters to Him, matters to you.

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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.

There are two stories of David that have always stood out to me. The first one is in 2 Samuel 23. David was hiding out in a cave. The Philistines had overtaken Bethlehem and were occupying it. There was also a regiment of the army between where David was and Bethlehem. David said that he craved water from Bethlehem and he wished someone would get him some. Three of his mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and went into Bethlehem to get David some of that water. They fought their way back and brought it to him. He then refused to drink. Because it was so costly by the men risking their lives for it, David poured it out as an offering to God in an act of worship.

In the next chapter is the story of David taking a census. For whatever reason it was against God’s will and David knew it, but did it anyway. The Lord gave David three choices for his punishment. David chose a three day plague from God, but knew the Lord could show mercy during it. After 3 days of the plague, David looked out and saw an angel about to attack Jerusalem. He repented as God stayed the angel’s hand. David decided to build an altar and give God an offering at the threshing floor where the angel stood. The man who owned it offered it to David for free, but David said he couldn’t give God an offering that cost him nothing. He gave the offering and God forgave him. This man after God’s own heart understood what it meant to give God an offering.

We almost always think of an offering as money, but I believe there’s more than money that God asks for as an offering from us. In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (ESV). To deny yourself here means to give an offering as David did in the cave. In Romans 12:1, Paul then wrote, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” This act of worship of offering yourself up as a living sacrifice is giving God an offering that costs you everything. God gave us the offering of His son to pay for our sins. In response to this great act of mercy, our offering shouldn’t cost us nothing. How much of yourself are you truly giving Him in response? It’s time we take up our cross daily and honor Him with an offering of our life.

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Recently I told a classroom of students that I had hid something in the room and the first person to find it could have it. As they started to get up, someone asked what it was. I told them I had hidden a piece of gum in the room. Almost everyone sat back down. Only one or two started looking. I asked everyone why they weren’t excited and looking around. They blew me off. After a couple of minutes of trying to get them to engage, I said, “Oh yeah! I also hid $20 in here. Whoever finds that gets to keep it.” Chairs went flying as they rushed to get up. They began looking under every chair, on decorations, behind pictures and in every place you could imagine. When someone found the gum, they knew it was real and searched harder until, they found the money.

In Luke 2, we find the only story from Jesus’ childhood. He was 12 years old and the family was visiting Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. After the feast, they started traveling back to Nazareth in a large group. After a long day of traveling, they started looking for Jesus and couldn’t find Him. They returned to Jerusalem to look for Him searching frantically everywhere they had been. They couldn’t find Him anywhere. They finally found Him in the Temple and Mary said, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Listen, Your father and I have been [greatly distressed and] anxiously looking for You” (AMP). Jesus calmly replied, “Why did you have to look for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” We don’t know how that conversation ended, but the message was intended for all of us too.

In Jeremiah 29:13 God says, “Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” God not on,y wants us to seek and search for Him, He wants to be found. He is looking for us to use the same intensity of a parent who has lost a child in a city or like a teenager looking for a $20 bill. Neither of them gave up until He was found. My message to you is the same to the teens. You will only seek God to the degree that you value Him. How hard are you seeking Him now? How hard are you fighting with your schedule to spend time with Him? You will find Him when you search for Him with all of your heart and treat your relationship with Him as such.

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One of the best things about the Christmas season is Christmas lights. We love going through neighborhoods and looking at them. As we were driving around this week, we saw some houses that would challenge Clark Griswald’s. My wife noted how it only takes one person with that many lights on it to challenge all their neighbors to up their game. The more lights a house had, the more their neighbors nearby participated. Light is very much like that. It’s beautiful and it’s contagious. People want to see light, be around light and also have light. It’s no wonder Jesus said we are the light of the world and that we are to let our light shine before people. We are to be like a city of lights that people can see and when they see our light, they will give glory to God. Don’t hide your light this season. There are people walking in darkness who need the light of Jesus to shine in their life through you.

Here are some Bible verses on carrying God’s light:

1. Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.

John 12:36 NLT

2. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16 AMP

3. For God, who said, “Let brilliant light shine out of darkness,” is the one who has cascaded his light into us—the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6 TPT

4. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.

Luke 11:36 ESV

5. You yourselves used to be in the darkness, but since you have become the Lord’s people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light, for it is the light that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth.

Ephesians 5:8-9 GNT

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Each year on President’s Day, the pastor of the Church I grew up in would take the men on a day of prayer and fasting. I remember when I was finally old enough to go and got to go on my first trip. Several men from the church had a deer lease not far from town, and that’s where we went. Our day was very structured. There were times of teaching, we would go get alone in the woods to pray or contemplate, return to discuss and then hear another teaching. On this particular trip, the teachings were about hearing God’s voice. On one of the prayer times, we were instructed to go into the woods, speak a few words of prayer and then listen. That was the first time I heard God speak. I wasn’t sure it was Him until we came back to share and several others had heard the same thing.

I like how my current pastor describes hearing God’s voice. The next time you’re in an auditorium, listen for the air conditioner. When it gets quiet in there, you can hear it. The sound is there all the time, but it’s only when you’re quiet enough and listening for it that you hear it. Too many times, we miss hearing God’s voice because we’re too loud and our lives are filled with peripheral noise. There’s a reason God said in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” When are we ever still anymore? When do we ever go to where it’s quiet and there aren’t any distractions? We’ve grown accustomed to noise so much that our minds crave it. We turn on the radio when we get in the car. We turn on the TV when we walk in the house. We create our own noise without even thinking, and we’re doing it at the expense of hearing God’s voice.

Psalm 81:13-14 says, “O that my people would once and for all listen to me and walk faithfully in my footsteps, following my ways. Then and only then will I conquer your every foe and tell every one of them, ‘You must go!’” (TPT) God is constantly speaking to each of us. He’s not silent, but He is quiet. He’s begging us to once and for all stop and listen so we can go where He’s called us and to follow where He’s leading. In John 10:27 Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (NLT). How can you know His voice or even follow it if you aren’t listening? It’s time to find a place away from the noise in our lives, to put down our phones and to listen to what God is saying. He’s speaking to you this very moment. Are you listening?

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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.