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March 9, 2022 · 5:44 AM

Revealing God

Sometimes when I meet with church leaders, I’ll ask about problems they’re experiencing with staff. Because “ministry” can be very broad, often times staff members appear to be doing their own thing or nothing. I then get the staff together, have them stand up, close their eyes and point north. When I ask them to open their eyes, they see that nearly everyone is pointing in a different direction. I explain to the pastor or leader that when their is no clear direction, people tend to go in their own direction rather than in the same direction. This is true of any organization. The people need to know what direction to go in.

1 Samuel 3:1 says, “The word of the Lord was rare and precious in those days; visions [that is, new revelations of divine truth] were not widespread” (AMP). Because of that, people did their own thing. Even Eli, the priest, had sons who were supposed to be ministers doing despicable things. They would harass the women, take offerings to God from the people by force and disrupt people’s worship. When people don’t hear from the Lord or can’t see what God is doing, they tend to do their own thing like kids in a classroom when the teacher walks out.

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God].” You and I have had a revelation of God’s Word, the world hasn’t. Our lives should reveal God to other people. We like to quote the first part of this verse, but the second part reminds us that it’s not enough to just hear God’s Word on Sunday, or to even know it. In order to give others revelation of who He is, we must keep it. Living like Eli’s sons, while carrying His name, doesn’t reveal who He is. We’re living in a time where people need to see genuine, authentic Christianity that points north to the Father.

Photo by Åaker on Unsplash

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March 8, 2022 · 5:47 AM

Becoming God’s Masterpiece

I was flipping through some videos and came across one where there was a table on a sidewalk with a sign hanging on it. It said, “Read a secret, leave a secret.” One young lady reached in the fishbowl filled with papers and began reading what someone else shared. It was written by another lady. She wrote, ‘Ever since I was young, my dad would tell me that I would never find love because of who I am. My first serious boyfriend told me the same thing when he broke up with me. Now I’m afraid to date. I feel unwanted and unworthy of love.’” The girl reading the secret broke down in tears, looked in the camera and said, “I wish I knew who this was. I would be her friend and love her. Everyone deserves to know love.” It was a sad video to watch, but also a reality that so many people face.

In Matthew 13, Jesus is sharing several parables. He tells one where a person finds a treasure in a field. He then buries it again, sells all he has to purchase the field. He also tells one of the pearl of great price is found. The person who finds it, sells all they have and purchases the pearl. In each of these instances, I always thought we were the ones who found the great treasure of Jesus, but in context with the other parables, it’s actually the other way around. You and I are the great treasure and the pearl of great price. Jesus gave up everything to pay the price for our sin because He values us so greatly. As 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “You were bought with a price.”

The next time you hear those voices that tell you you’re worthless, unworthy or unloved, fight back those lies with the Word of God. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (NLT). Take out “we” and “us”, and replace it with “I” and “me”. You are a masterpiece created by God. You are worthy of Him giving up everything so that you can be with Him. You are recreated, a new creation even. You are called and have a purpose that only you can fulfill. The words and lies you hear are designed to prevent you from being who you were created to be. Rebuke those lies. Let go of them. They are not what God says about you. He knows you better than anyone and He says you are loved, you are worthy and you are worth more than you can imagine.

Photo by Isi Parente on Unsplash

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March 7, 2022 · 5:44 AM

Seeking More

One of a kid’s favorite games is hide and seek. Since we had some kids over recently, we encouraged them to play inside. The last one caught got to be it each time. On one occasion, the youngest player got to be it. After a few minutes of trying, she couldn’t find anyone. She was ready to quit. We encouraged her by setting a timer, offering hints and walking with her. She found no one. After the timer was up, we had her call out, “Marco!” The older kids responded, “Polo!” She began seeking again and was able to find them. I realized that each person has a different ability and threshold for seeking.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him” (TPT). Each of us are called to continually seek Him even after we’ve found Him. There are greater depths of Him to know beyond what we find on the surface at salvation. He’s not asking us just to find Him. We’re to know Him as well. We can’t just give up or stop seeking Him after salvation. We need to seek the different aspects of who He is because we’re going to need them as we go through life.

Psalm 105:4 says, “Seek more of his strength! Seek more of him! Let’s always be seeking the light of his face.” Seeking more of who God is should be a daily discipline for believers. Our personal revival starts with seeking these different aspects of who He is. When we go through dry times in our relationship with Him, the root cause in a lot of cases is that we have quit seeking Him. He wants to be found. He wants to reveal more if Himself to you, but you must move and seek Him. We have a promise in James 4:8 that says if we will draw close to Him, He will draw close to us. Seeking Him is the pathway to the closeness we’re looking for.

Photo by Eliecer Gallegos on Unsplash

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March 4, 2022 · 5:40 AM

Seek Justice

Trying to explain the things that have been going on in the world the last few years to a kid is tough for parents. They’ve got questions we don’t really have answers to or that they’re not able to comprehend yet. We’ve done our best to go to the Bible to look at the events through that lens. We look at what causes people to make certain decisions, why bad things happen and what our responsibility is. One of those responsibilities is to seek justice for those who don’t have a voice or are being oppressed. God is a God of justice, so we must live and act justly according to His Word. Our behavior and response should be influenced and born out of what God says rather than what others think. Above all, we must also pray for justice from God and for protection for the oppressed.

Here are some Bible verses on justice.

1. When justice is done, good people are happy, but evil people are brought to despair.

Proverbs 21:15 GNT

2. There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right.

Psalms 106:3 NLT

3. No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

Micah 6:8 GNT

4. Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all the misfits. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and destitute!

Proverbs 31:8-9 MSG

5. Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil and learn to do right. See that justice is done—help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows.

Isaiah 1:16-17 GNT

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

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March 3, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Faith’s Eyes

As Christians, one of the hardest things for any of us to do is to walk by faith and not by sight. I’ve read that 90% of all information we send to the brain is visual. So it’s only natural for our brain to trust what we see instead of what we don’t. I loved the scene from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” where he has to take a leap of faith off the cliff. He looks down and sees a huge drop that will kill him, but he steps off anyway. He drops about a foot and a hidden ledge catches him. More often than not, that’s how God Call’s us to live.

Abraham in the Bible is a person who believed what God said. His eyes were sending information to his brain that was contrary to what God was telling him. No one could get pregnant at Sarah’s age. In fact, Sarah laughed when she heard that she was going to conceive. It was impossible from their perspective, but they didn’t let that keep them from acting in faith. Less than a year later, Isaac was born. He was a constant reminder to them that God is able to do what He promises no matter what our eyes tell us.

Romans 4:18 says, “Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it” (TPT). Abraham was human just like us, but he chose which information to believe. I don’t know what impossibility hopeless odds you’re looking at today, but if God promised something other than what you see, choose to believe His Word. You may have to be like the man who told Jesus in Mark 9, “Lord I believe, but help my unbelief.” Learning To look through faith’s eyes is never easy, but it is the only way for believers. Trust God more than what you see.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

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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March 2, 2022 · 5:52 AM

Making A Trade

I’ve watched a few videos over the last couple of years where someone starts with a bobby-pin and makes a series of trades until they get a house. I think that’s both cool and interesting. There are websites and pages that are dedicated to trades. Ive heard of people going to swap meets as well to make trades. I’ve never been, but it sounds interesting. The idea that there’s someone out there who values something I have enough that they’re willing to trade something they own with me is intriguing. I’m always afraid I’m going to get the short end of the stick though. Fear keeps me from doing trades.

In Genesis 25, we read the story of Jacob and Esau. Esau was the first of the twins to be born, which was very important in those days. The first born received a double portion of their family’s inheritance because they were to become the new patriarch and would need to care for the wives and property of their father. The Bible tells us that Esau had been hunting and came home starving. His brother Jacob had made a stew. When his brother asked for some, Jacob proposed a trade. He offered a bowl of soup for Esau’s birthright. Esau accepted. He traded away his future, his monetary blessings, his material goods and spiritual blessings for a simple bowl of soup. What a terrible trade!

In Luke 14:33, Jesus proposed a trade to you and me. He said, “Likewise, unless you surrender all to me, giving up all you possess, you cannot be one of my disciples” (TPT). The trade He offers requires us to give up everything in exchange for being a disciple. Think about that. Have you traded everything to Him or have you held some things back? Each of us probably have some things we try to hold onto, but we must surrender everything and trade it to Him. Our future, our time, our money, our talents, our family, everything is what He requires for this trade. If we want to experience what being a true disciple of His is, we have to make that trade. The good news is that when we do make the trade, we get so much more in return, but it starts with an act of faith.

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March 1, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Surrendering Your Yoke

One of my favorite deficit learning activities to do with managers is to put them into two lines facing each other. I give them some simple instructions and ask them to work together to put a pool noodle on the floor. The instructions are easy to understand and follow and the objective is clear. However, when you get a group of people who like to give direction rather than take it, the noodle goes in the opposite direction. The more it does that, the more they get worked up. They blame each other, yell at each other and bicker. I’ve let it go on for up to twenty minutes before. To get the job done, they simply have to let one person lead and talk while they follow directions. Simple, but difficult.

Following Jesus Can feel the same way. The Bible is pretty clear and has great instructions for how we’re to live. However, we don’t like to be told what to do. We’d rather tell Jesus what to do than to listen to Him. We end up arguing with other believers, become mad at God and get burned out. It can be frustrating trying to follow what He says on,y to find ourselves going the opposite direction that we’re supposed to. We end up not only fighting our flesh, but God as well. It quickly gets frustrating and we become tired trying to perform a bunch of rituals or formulas that we think will help. The solution is simple, yet difficult for us to do. Submit ourselves to Him and His authority over our life.

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light” (GNT). The life and rest we’re looking for starts with coming to Jesus admitting you can’t do it on your own. Then you must surrender to His yoke, bending your will to His so you’re working together. After that we follow in His footsteps learning from Him rather than trying to teach Him about our life. When we do that, we find His burden is easy, His yoke is light and we move in the right direction.

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February 24, 2022 · 5:30 AM

An Elijah Moment

As I stood on top of Mount Carmel looking across the valley, I remembered the story of Elijah where the land hadn’t seen rain in three years. The now fertile valley was dry and bare then. King Ahab was looking for grass to save his horses from dying of starvation. Elijah, whom the king wanted dead, told him to gather all the prophets of Baal and to meet him on top of Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal made an altar and so did Elijah. They were to pray and ask for fire to ignite the altar. The god who answered would be the real god. After the prophets of Baal had prayed all day with no fire, Elijah poured water on his altar three times then called down fire from Heaven. It consumed the altar from top to bottom drying up all the water as well.

In 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah addressed them, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” (NLT) When I read that, I can’t help but internalize it. Our lives are a constant battle between our flesh and our spirit. We waver between wanting to give into the desires of the flesh and doing what God requires. As long as we go between them, we are miserable as Paul described in Romans 7. Also, according to James 1:8, it also makes us unstable in all our ways. That’s not the way that God wants us to live. In order to live His way, we need to have an Elijah moment in our lives where we force ourselves to choose the way God wants us to live.

Colossians 3:5 says, “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.” We need to put to death the things that we have put before God. Verse 10 tells us, “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” We all have this choice to make. Either we will continue to live unstable, idolatrous lives or we will put on the new nature that’s been given to us. It starts with calling down fire from Heaven into our lives consuming the things that are not of God. It’s a continuous process, but it starts with an Elijah moment.

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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February 23, 2022 · 5:56 AM

The Great Protector

In the last few weeks we’ve had some crazy things happen. Both of our cars have been in accidents to the point they have to be in the shop to get repaired. In between the accidents, we came home from dinner one night to find the center beam in our living room had fallen. In each of these cases, things could have been much worse than they were. A friend remarked, “Can you imagine if that beam had fallen a few days earlier at the birthday party?” Times like these can easily instill fear if we think about what could have happened. Instead, we have chosen to focus on the goodness of God in protecting us in each situation, preventing things from being worse.

When the Israelites left Egypt, they appeared defenseless. They had no walls or weapons really. They looked vulnerable as the wandered through the desert in between cities and countries. I’m sure there was the temptation to have fear as well. Moses kept his trust in the Lord though. He penned Psalm 91 during this time as a reassurance to himself and the people of God’s ability to protect. In the psalm, there are affirmations written by Moses and spoken by God that let them and us know how God is active in watching over us as a great protector. We don’t have to fear when bad things are happening.

In verse 15, God says, “I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will feel my presence in your time of trouble. I will deliver you and bring you honor” (TPT). He doesn’t put us in a bubble so that trouble won’t come near us. Instead, He invites us to call on Him when danger is all around us. He promises us that we will feel His presence so we will know He is near us walking with us in those times. It’s easy to look at the danger and to focus on it, but God calls us to trust Him instead. He is our great protector keeping things from being worse than they could be, drawing us closer to Him and elevating us through the process.

Photo by Todd Trapani on Unsplash

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February 22, 2022 · 5:53 AM

Living By God’s Code

When I was in my teens, I was introduced to what it meant to live by a code. I was taught that it was important to have a set of guiding principles by which to live your life. I didn’t know then how much they would shape my life and help me through making decisions. All these years later I still have the code memorized and think of the characteristics often. They are still the words I live by because they are so fundamental. These words apply to my mental, physical and spiritual life. They are: alert, clean, honest, courageous, loyal, courteous, obedient and spiritual. Each has its own saying that defines it and how I should live.

When the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt, they didn’t have a code to live by. After living in Egypt and slavery for so long, their guiding principles were what the Egyptians told them to do. So the first place God led them to was Mount Sinai to meet with them and to give them some principles to live by. Today, we call them the Ten Commandments. You can find them in Exodus 20. These commandments were a set of rules to live by to ensure that people did the right thing by God, themselves and others if only they would follow them. He further defined the Law through Leviticus, but these were the core ones to guide their lives.

Today, we have the entire Bible to show us how to live. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (NLT). The word “hidden” means to store up and treasure as your most valuable possession to the point that it governs your life. God’s Word is not just a mere set of morally good ideas and principles that we should just read. It’s inspired by God and is to be used for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). It is what we need to treasure above all other things in our heart because of the eternal impacts it has on us. When we value it and place it in a position in our life to govern our decisions, we will live the way God called us to. It is our Code for living.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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