Sometimes it’s easy to know what the right thing to do is, but it’s very difficult to do it. In my own life, I’ve found that I’ve passed on doing the right thing because my pride got in the way. Other times I didn’t do the right thing because my flesh wanted it and I gave in. In any of those cases, I can tell you that it’s created a mess. I’ve found that when I get into a habit of choosing the wrong thing, my life becomes a mess and it takes a while to make things right.
One of things I like to tell my son is, “You know the great thing about a mess? They can always be cleaned up.” No matter how much of a mess our life can be, it can always be cleaned up. It can take years sometimes, but once we determine to add God to the equation, miracles happen. I believe that miracles are the incubators for miracles. When things look so bad that there’s no way out, He can make a way.
The person who wrote Psalm 119 was a person who made some messes in his life and didn’t want to make any more. In verse 31 they prayed, “Lord, don’t allow me to make a mess of my life, for I cling to your commands and follow them as closely as I can” (TPT). They understood that it takes prayer, knowing God’s Word and following it no matter what to keep from creating messes. If you’ve made a mess already, it can be cleaned up with God’s help and choosing to do the right thing going forward. If you want to prevent future messes, continue to follow God’s Word. It has all the instructions you need.
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.
I always loved it when basketball season was starting in high school. What I hated was going through conditioning for it. Coach would have us start off with stretches. We would then have to run about a mile. Once everyone was back in the gym, we began to do exercises that strengthened our core. Our legs would get wobbly around that time, but then we had to start doing drills. If you messed up, you had to take a lap around the three acre property. To wrap up practice we would run the lines, or horses as we called them. The next day, we would do it all again. Our bones ached. It hurt our muscles to go upstairs for classes. Coach would remind us, “We may not be the tallest or the fastest team, but we will be the best conditioned team.” He was right. We ran the legs off every other team straight to the State Championship.
Conditioning has a purpose with the end in mind. It hurt going through those times, especially not knowing if it was going to pay off. In 1 Samuel 30, David and his men were on the run from Saul. They were considered fugitives. They had to move out of the country and live with one of Israel’s enemies. When Israel rose up to fight that country, David and his men went to fight on behalf of the enemy. They weren’t trusted, so they were sent back to the town of Ziklag where they had been staying. As they arrived, they saw smoke rising into the sky. Another enemy came in while they were at the battle front, burned their town and captured their wives and kids. David’s men began to talk of killing him. It was a dark day for David, but it was all part of God’s conditioning for him to become king.
David kept his eyes on God instead of his circumstances. Verses 6-7 say, “David strengthened himself with trust in his GOD. He ordered Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the Ephod so I can consult God” (MSG). David understood that sometimes God’s plan takes us through painful circumstances. It often leads us to places we don’t understand. Like David, it’s important in those seasons when everything seems to be falling apart and our closest friends are turning on us, that we strengthen ourselves in our relationship with God, and that we consult with Him. Conditioning is often very painful, but there’s a reason and a season for it. We must go through that period in order to be prepared to endure what’s ahead. God’s plan and purpose for you are good. Don’t quit when things look bleak. Trust Him more and those times of conditioning will pay off.
One of the things I talk to people about pretty often is dreams versus goals. All of us have dreams whether it’s a nicer house, car, job, vacation, etc. We love to dream because it’s easy. It requires nothing of us to think of what could be. What we don’t like doing is setting a goal, planning, sacrificing and working towards it. That requires focus and determination through distractions and disappointments, but it’s the only way to turn dreams into reality. I have several highly motivated friends who are wired to be goal oriented. They write them down, put them where they can see them, talk about those goals and think of ways to accomplish them. It’s hard to have a conversation with them without their goals coming up. They’re always on their mind. They don’t just dream. They do.
When I read Colossians 3:2, it reminds me of my goal oriented friends. It says, “Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]” (AMP). When we have our mind set on something and we habitually think about it, we can’t help but move towards it. God is wanting us to not just have our mind set on things here, but to also be consumed with heavenly things. How often do you think of heavenly things throughout your day? How often do you consider what it would look like if His Kingdom were to come and His will were to be done on earth as it is in Heaven? We need to be thinking of those heavenly things first and seeking them for our world constantly.
We quote Matthew 6:31, but do we really hear what it’s saying? Read it again. Jesus said, “But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.” We need to be thinking of His Kingdom first instead of our own. It is the most important thing. We like the last part of that verse where all these things will be given to us, but the price for that is to be constantly keeping our mind habitually focused on the things above (His Kingdom). God has no problem with us working on our own goals and living the life He created us to live. However, that needs to come secondary to His Kingdom. We need to be living and thinking with eternity in mind and focused on the things God desires.
When my wife and I first got married, I didn’t trust her intuition. She would say, “I don’t think we should go there.” When I asked her why we shouldn’t, she couldn’t give an answer and would just say she had a feeling. If I really wanted to, then I would make the decision and we would go anyway. Something would happen, and she would be right. Other times, she would come home, talk about an issue she had somewhere, and I would tell her how to solve it. It turned out that most of the time, she just needed to vent or process the situation and didn’t need me to solve it. Over time, I’ve learned to be a better husband in these two areas. I’ve learned to trust her intuition and stay quiet (sometimes). We’re both thankful I’m not the same as when we first got married. I’ve matured in several areas and I’ve still got room to grow.
If growth and maturity are expected in spousal relationships, why would we think it would be any different in our relationship with Jesus? You shouldn’t be in the same place you were when you first believed. Growth and maturity are expected. As you spend time in prayer and reading the Bible, your faith and trust in God should grow. With that growth comes behavioral change on your part. Maturity shows up in different ways in us. Instead of complaining or asking God to remove us from His growth and character development processes, we begin to ask Him for the grace to endure them and for Him to create well developed fruit in our lives through them.instead of ignoring the promptings of the Holy Spirit to say something to someone, we push past the fear and trust what He says. Each of us have room to grow, and that maturity happens when we trust God more tomorrow than we do today.
Here are some Bible verses on maturing in our faith.
1. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above. All of us who are spiritually mature should have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you.
Philippians 3:14-15 GNT
2. So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.
Hebrews 6:1 NLT
3. So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
2 Peter 1:5-9 MSG
4. But the spiritual man [the spiritually mature Christian] judges all things [questions, examines and applies what the Holy Spirit reveals], yet is himself judged by no one [the unbeliever cannot judge and understand the believer’s spiritual nature].
1 Corinthians 2:15 AMP
5. When your lives bear abundant fruit, you demonstrate that you are my mature disciples who glorify my Father!
One of the things that I’ve taught for years is that habits, behaviors and attitude are all learned behaviors. You have the ability to change them with enough dedication and thought process changes. In the late 1980’s, Stephen Covey wrote a book called, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. It sold so many copies in the first 11 years that it was named the most influential book of the 20th century. It taught people principles they could change personally to move from dependence to independence, and it also taught how to become a better team player as well. Many people attribute their success in business and in life to this self help book.
Unfortunately, many people approach the Bible as a self help book. They look at it as a book of do’s and don’t’s that will make you a better Christian in order to get into Heaven. We’ve been conditioned to think that if we will just act right, say the right things and spread love then we will be good Christians. The problem with that thinking is that it’s all behavior based Christianity. Romans 7 address that. If we try to live our Christian lives based on behaviors, then we’re going to be miserable. Jesus didn’t die to make you a better person. He died to give you new life. The changes in our life are a result of our love for Him, not our will power. The root of behavior based Christianity is that we are trying to integrate Christ into our lives instead of integrating our lives into Him.
In John 15:4, Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me” (NLT). Fruit isn’t produced on your own trying to be a good Christian. Fruit is produced through the new life Jesus gives us when we are fully grafted into Him. When we surrender our lives to Him, we are letting Him integrate us as branches into Himself as the Vine. Life changing power comes from that surrender and integration. It doesn’t come through will power. You are saved by grace, through faith, not by your good behavior or works (Ephesians 2:8). It’s not your habits that make you a Christian, it’s your heart. Man looks on the outward things, but God looks at your heart. Romans 8 addresses living surrendered to Christ in contrast to trying to do things on your own in Romans 7. We each need to make sure our lives are grafted into Christ where true life and fruitful living are.
I’ll be in Washington, D.C. tomorrow to join with thousands of others who will be praying for our nation. Jonathan Cahn will be hosting a prayer event called “The Return” from 9-5 EST. It’s a group of people who are gathering to humble ourselves, to pray, to ask for repentance and to ask for our nation to return to God. Franklin Graham will be hosting “Prayer March 2020” from 12-2 EST. It’s a 1.8 mile march with seven stops and seven prayer focuses. Both are simulcast so you can join from wherever you are. I will also be going live on my Devotions By Chris Facebook page at each of the seven stops. You can join me by liking my page here.
This is not about politics. I do not see the hope for our nation embodied in a person or a party. Our hope is in Jesus and in the Church standing up for what’s right. Throughout the Bible, when the people of God were in trouble, the leaders would go to the capital, humble themselves and pray. The nation as a whole needed to seek God’s forgiveness and i believe that’s what we need today in our country and in our world. As believers, we need to be constantly praying for these seven areas that we will be praying for tomorrow. Will you join me in prayer this weekend and daily going forward? We need God to bring salvation, healing and an outpouring of His love on us.
Here are some Bible verses that I will be praying at each stop tomorrow.
1. Lincoln Memorial: Humbling ourselves in repentance and asking God to forgive our sins and to heal our land.
If My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 AMP
2. WWII Memorial: Our military, police and other law enforcement, firefighters, and their families. Security and peace for the nation.
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9 NLT
3. Washington Monument: Salvation of the lost. Renewed strength in our families. Frontline medical workers and solutions to the coronavirus pandemic. An end to abortion.
Children born to a young couple will one day rise to protect and provide for their parents. Happy will be the couple who has many of them! A household full of children will not bring shame on your name but victory when you face your enemies, for your offspring will have influence and honor to prevail on your behalf!
Psalms 127:4-5 TPT
4. The White House: The president, the vice president and their families. All those who work in the White House and in the executive branch of our government.
Now therefore, O kings, act wisely; Be instructed and take warning, O leaders (judges, rulers) of the earth. Worship the LORD and serve Him with reverence [with awe-inspired fear and submissive wonder]; Rejoice [yet do so] with trembling.
Psalms 2:10-11 AMP
5. National Museum of African American History and Culture: Compassion and kindness toward one another. Respect and reconciliation between races. Healing in communities torn by violence and injustice.
Beloved children, our love can’t be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds.
1 John 3:18 TPT
6. National Archives: Religious freedom. Boldness for churches to stand firm with the Word of God and to preach Jesus Christ in a troubled world.
And now they’re at it again! Take care of their threats and give your servants fearless confidence in preaching your Message, as you stretch out your hand to us in healings and miracles and wonders done in the name of your holy servant Jesus.
Acts 4:29-30 MSG
7. U.S. Capitol Building: Our Congress and other leaders at the national, state and local levels. The Supreme Court and judges across the nation.
Most of all, I’m writing to encourage you to pray with gratitude to God. Pray for all men with all forms of prayers and requests as you intercede with intense passion. And pray for every political leader and representative, so that we would be able to live tranquil, undisturbed lives, as we worship the awe-inspiring God with pure hearts. It is pleasing to our Savior-God to pray for them.
When I was 20 years old, I was on staff at a church. My boss wanted our team to read a book on Prayer and discuss it as we went. I had been raised in church all of my life, been to prayer meetings and prayed publicly often, but I had never been taught how to pray. A better way to say it is that I had never been given a model of prayer. I just winged it each time. I had a lot of passion, but it often lacked direction. In this book, and with our discussions, I was taught the ACTS model of praying. In this model, you start with adoration, then move into confession of sins. After that you give thanks for the things God has done in your life, and will do. Finally, you end with supplication for your needs and the needs of others. Before using that model, my prayer time had simply been supplications for what I needed at the moment. While that’s good, it’s not really communicating and connecting to God.
Prayer is not just an avenue to ask God for things. It’s a way to experience His presence, to hear His voice and to know He is God. It’s a way for us to take the focus off of our immediate needs and to put it on the One whose name is above every other name or need we have. Prayer is a two way conversation with God where we spend time in silence listening for His voice. It’s not about the method, the ritual or getting the words right. It’s about posturing our heart before God, humbling ourselves by recognizing there are things we cannot do, and only He can. God’s desire to walk with us daily has remained the same since the Garden of Eden. He desires a deep connection with you that’s only attained through one on one prayer and conversation. Quick prayers throughout the day are nice, but the intimacy that He desires with us in the relationship only happens when you spend quality time with Him.
Here are some Bible verses on prayer.
1. Confess and acknowledge how you have offended one another and then pray for one another to be instantly healed, for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!
James (Jacob) 5:16 TPT
2. With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.
Ephesians 6:18 AMP
3. The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.
1 Timothy 2:1-3 MSG
4. For this reason I tell you: When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for.
Mark 11:24 GNT
5. Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
I love days like today. All across social media there will be posts remembering the attacks of September 11. People I’ll tell you that they remember where they were, how the felt and what they thought. After the attacks, you began to see people write, “Never forget.” Were nearly 20 years removed from that day, and here we are holding true to that promise to remember the lives lost, the nation coming together and how we pushed through. That’s why we want to remember isn’t it? We need to remind ourselves that we can make it through anything that comes our way. We did it in the past, so we can still do it today. It’s good to remember days like September 11th, but it’s also good to remember the things of God.
All throughout Scripture, we are told to remember things. The Israelites put up 12 stones where they crossed the Jordan River to remember the Lord’s goodness and how He brought them out of Egypt. They never wanted to forget and they wanted to let their kids know too. When we forget what God has done, we begin to devalue the role He plays in our lives. I recommend creating something to help you remember what He brought you out of, delivered you from or healed you of. Our minds tend to forget things unless we keep remembering them. When we bring things back up, it tells the brain this is important so it stores it where you can access it. As you you remember September 11th today, take time to remember what God has done for you too. He’s been faithful in the past, and He will be faithful in the future.
Here are some Bible verses on remembering.
1. Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given.
1 Chronicles 16:11-12 NLT
2. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate and thoughtfully focus on You in the night watches, For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings [where I am always protected] I sing for joy.
Psalms 63:6-7 AMP
3. Remember to stay alert and hold firmly to all that you believe. Be mighty and full of courage. Let love and kindness be the motivation behind all that you do.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 TPT
4. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.
Proverbs 3:5-6 GNT
5. I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed. I remember it all—oh, how well I remember— the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
GOD ’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with GOD (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.
From the time my son was born, he has been allergic to milk, gluten and eggs. The problem was that we didn’t know it. For years he would hold his ears in the bathroom because a flushing toilet made him scream. At restaurants, we had to eat while watching for if the servers were gathering to sing happy birthday because that would make him cry and scream. Then a couple of years ago, my wife’s uncle asked if we liked living that way. Assuring him we didn’t, he asked for our son, laid hands on him and prayed for healing. After the prayer, my son asked if he was healed. We asked him if he thought he was. He said yes. We then asked for a glass of milk. He drank the milk and proclaimed he was healed. Either we expected God to heal him or we didn’t. Giving him milk said we trusted God for the healing.
Faith is about expectations. What do you expect God to do? Do you expect to hear from God? Are you expecting the miracle you need? I’ve always heard that expectations determine outcomes. When Jesus healed people, He would ask them to go show themselves to the priest. When Namaan needed healing, he had to dip seven times. On the sixth he still had leprosy, but he dipped the seventh. We need to pray with expectation. We need to read God’s Word with expectation. We need to go to church with expectation. Our faith produces little because we’re expecting little. Change your expectations and you will change your life.
By the way, we had my son get an allergy test that showed he was off the charts allergic to milk, gluten and eggs. After we prayed and gave him milk, we took him to be tested again. All three showed up at zero allergies.
Here are some Bible verses on expecting from God.
1. Be strong and let your hearts take courage, All you who wait for and confidently expect the LORD.
Psalms 31:24 AMP
2. Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up. Expect GOD to get here soon.
Psalm 31:24 MSG
3. Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:1 GW
4. Wait for and confidently expect the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the LORD.
Psalms 27:14 AMP
5. Then Jesus put his hands over their eyes and said, “You will have what your faith expects!”
One of the things I don’t like to reveal about myself is how little I need to study in order to memorize things. In school, I didn’t have to stay up all night before a test. I simply needed to read my notes once and I was good. Sometimes I could go to someone in my class, ask for the flash cards they made and read them from my locker to the class in order to do well on the test. The ones who have to sit, read and pore over facts hated that studying came easy to me so I began to hide it. I still have to study things if I’m going to put them in my brain, but it just requires a lot less effort than it does for other people. The other thing is that once I’ve memorized it, I usually don’t forget it.
Part of our Christian growth is to study God’s Word. Each one of us must take time to dig in, memorize it, break it down and learn it. The methods you used in school will be helpful to you in studying what God has said. You have to look at things in context, understand the culture, know the writer and look at the different ways the words were used in their original language. Studying takes effort and time no matter who you are. Over and over in Scripture we are told to study the Bible so we will have better understanding, be better teachers, be more mature in our faith, experience growth and ultimately have success in life. How much studying have you been doing lately? We live in the Information Age. So much is available to us to study God’s Word. Don’t just read God’s Word, study it to show yourself approved who can rightly divide the word of truth.
Here are some Bible verses on studying God’s Word.
1. I’m asking GOD for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet.
Psalm 27:4 MSG
2. If you point out these instructions to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished [through study] on the words of the faith and of the good [Christian] doctrine which you have closely followed.
1 Timothy 4:6 AMP
3. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
Joshua 1:8 NLT
4. “Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 AMP
5. I study your instructions; I examine your teachings.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 