Tag Archives: christian living

June 23, 2015 · 7:37 AM

He Is Near

  
If you’ve ever had a baby who slept in a different room than you, you’ve probably used a monitor of some kind. My son is four and we still use one with him. If something happens in the night, he can call out to us and we will head to His room to help him. Even though he can’t see us, he knows that we are close enough to hear him. He has faith that when he needs something, if he calls out to us, we will come meet that need. It’s not so different for us as believers. Our Heavenly Father monitors us and hears us when we call out for help.

Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth. (AMP)” There are times in life when we can’t see God or feel his presence. We may be walking through one of the darkest times of our life, but God has not abandoned us just because we can’t see Him. He is there watching over us, listening to our hearts as we make our way. Often, we try to do it on our own. We want to prove we are strong enough to handle anything, but we don’t have to.

God is waiting for us to call out to Him in our time of need. In Matthew 14, after Jesus fed 5,000 with the five loaves and two fish, Jesus sent the disciples across the Sea of Galilee by themselves. Verse 24 says, “Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land. (NLT” It was about three o’clock in the morning. It was pitch black and they found themselves in a storm scared to death. You’ve got to know they cried out to God for help in their time of need. They couldn’t see Jesus because of the rain and darkness, but He never lost sight of them.

Verse 25 says that Jesus came walking toward them on the water. Then He spoke the words that He speaks to you and I today, “Don’t be afraid. Take courage. I am here! (NLT)” Just like when my son calls out in the night and I call back to him, so Jesus does with us. His voice reassures us we are going to be ok even if we can’t see Him. We can take courage because He will never leave you or forsake you. He won’t let you face the unknown alone. He is near to those who call on Him.

I’m not sure what you will face today or have been facing, but I do know that you are not alone. In your darkness, in your storm of the unknown, Jesus is walking on water calling out to you, “Don’t be afraid. Take courage. I am here.” He sees you even when you can’t see Him. He is working for your good through all of turmoil, through all of the uncertainties and problems. His voice is louder than the storm you’re in. His spirit can give you peace no matter what you’re up against. All you have to do is call out to Him and know that He is near. He won’t let you face this alone.

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June 18, 2015 · 6:00 AM

Times Of Transition

Transitions in life are hard. They mean that one part of your life’s story is over and a new one is about to begin. They are the space between where faith is tested and fear fights to creep in. They are a temporary no man’s land that we have to walk through in order to grow. As we walk through them, it’s hard to see what’s coming next. The territory is so unknown to us that we put our attention and focus on the transition rather than on where we’re being transitioned to. We question God’s providence in our situation during these times.

I remember one of the first lessons I learned working in a child care center was with transitions. Kids hated transitions as much as adults. I learned that if I told them we were going to be making a change in direction in a few minutes, it would give them time to finish what they were doing and to prepare mentally for what was coming next. Now, when I talk to sales reps, I talk to them about transitions in the sale. It’s important for the buyer to know where they are in the sale and what’s coming next. I even encourage them to share with the buyer the why behind the transition.

As I’ve thought about all of that, I started wishing God would give us the warnings about transitions approaching in our lives and the why’s behind them. As I prayed about it, God reminded me how many times Jesus told the disciples what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem and why. They never heard a word of it and were shocked in the Garden of Gethsemane. They entered a time of transition between having Jesus walk with them daily and having the Holy Spirit coming as their guide. Like us, they were confused, frightened and wondered where God was in the transition.

God speaks to each of us daily. He says things we ignore or don’t want to hear so we block Him out. We use our selective hearing when He speaks of things that scare us. The disciples heard Jesus tell them about the transition, but they weren’t listening. Even when we know a transition is coming, it’s still natural to be scared. We’re afraid of change. The last few years have taught me that change is necessary for growth. When we fight it, we fight growing, we fight the future God has for us and we fight God’s will. Our times of transition help prepare us for the change. They grow our faith and trust in God’s plan for our life. It’s something we can only see when we take the time to look back.

Imagine if Peter and the others had stayed locked up in their house and never went to the upper room. Out of 500 people whom Jesus told to go and wait, only 120 made it through the transition. They were tough enough to stick it out and trusted that God had something more on the other side of the transition. As He did for them, so He does for you. God has something greater for you on the other side of this time of transition. It may take longer than you expected, but hang on. The reward will be worth it. The growth you will experience will be like no other time in your life. Don’t give up in the time of transition. Hold strong to your faith and trust God to see you through. 

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June 17, 2015 · 5:45 AM

Jesus Moonwalking

Since I am on vacation this week with my family, I’m reposting some of my favorite devotions from the past.

A friend showed me a video this week of two teams of guys doing a drill of passing basketballs. The video asked how many times a certain group passed the ball. I watched intently and counted in my head as they passed the ball. At the end of the video it asked, “How many did you count?” My answer was right. I took a deep breath, held my chin up a little bit and bowed out my chest as if I was something. Then the video asked, “Did you see the moonwalking bear?”

What bear? There were two teams of guys passing balls. There was no bear. Then the video rewinds and highlights a guy in a bear costume start from the right side of the screen and moon-walked through the players to the left side of the screen. The guys had to move in order to pass around him, but I never saw him when I initially watched it. I also replayed the video from the beginning just to make sure they didn’t try to pull a fast one on me. He was there the whole time.

I was reading John chapter one this morning and came across verse 10. Speaking about Jesus, it says, “He came into the world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him.” You’re thinking, “I recognize Him”, but really we have the advantage of the tape rewind like I did later in that video. Would we have recognized Him in that time when He came in the flesh? Would we have readily received Him? Or would we have been so busy counting the laws we were supposed to be obeying that we missed Jesus moonwalking through our world.

What about today’s world? Do you see Jesus in your world today? He’s there all around us. He’s the homeless person on the corner who’s hungry. He’s the single mother who doesn’t have enough money to pay the bills. He’s the person who has been beat down by this world and doesn’t think they can go on another day. He’s the child who has been orphaned and is in need of love. He’s in the cubicle next to you. In the house next door. Standing in front of you in line. He’s moonwalking through our lives and we don’t see Him most of the time because we aren’t really looking for Him.

Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me.” How many times have I overlooked someone or ignored them? It wasn’t intentional. I was just busy going about my day doing what I do. I wasn’t looking for those opportunities. According to verse 45, that won’t be an acceptable excuse. Jesus said, “Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me – you failed to do it to me.”

I don’t want to miss Jesus moonwalking through my life today. I pray that God opens my eyes so I can see Him where I didn’t expect Him. I pray that God gives me the courage to help the people that are overlooked and ignored when I see them. I’m hoping today that you’ll make that your prayer too. Jesus is all around us everyday, but we don’t see Him because we aren’t looking for Him that way. Yet, He told us in His Word that’s what He’d look like in our world. Keep your eyes open today and let me know where you see Him moonwalking.  

To watch the Moonwalking Bear video, click here.

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June 16, 2015 · 5:55 AM

The Poor Kid At The Table

Since I am on vacation this week with my family, I’m reposting some of my favorite devotions from the past.

Yesterday, I went to lunch with several coworkers from different departments in the company. When they suggested an expensive place to eat, I hesitated at first. They said, “What’s the matter?” Then one remembered and said, “Oh yeah. Your department doesn’t budget for food like ours does.” I replied, “I have to think about dinner. I don’t want to spend my per diem on lunch.” Someone replied, “Come on, poor kid. We’ll figure something out.”
I haven’t been the “poor boy” at the table since I was a kid. All these emotions came running back to me. I remembered what it was like to be at the mercy of whoever had invited me to eat. I had to see what they were thinking of ordering so I could order something less expensive. There were a lot of lessons I learned being the poor kid at the table. Lessons that helped shape who I am today.

One thing it taught me was humility. When you’re the one who is depending on someone else, you learn all about humility. You don’t get what you want, you get what they allow you to have. It’s when we can afford to get what we want that we forget about humility. We forget how to depend on someone else. We forget how to depend on God. We tell Him, “I can do this,” and we save Him for bigger things in our life. We start to treat Him like a genie.

God never wanted to be a genie and He doesn’t want us to save Him for the big things in our lives. He wants us to know what it’s like to trust Him for everything. He wants us to know what it truly means to walk by faith. The problem is that walking by faith is scary after you’ve adjusted to a life of walking by sight. It’s at that point that we only look to God in the dark hours of our life. He wants to be there with you in the light and the dark, the good and the bad.

Another thing being the poor kid at the table taught me was appreciation. I learned to appreciate what I had. I wasn’t going to get anything new for a while. I had to appreciate and take care of anything new that I got. My mom would say, “Those have to last you until Christmas. That’s when we can get you new ones.” Those words would ring in my ear as I had to make decisions. Other kids got new stuff when theirs broke. They didn’t appreciate what they had. God wants us to be appreciative for everything He’s given us and not to be always wanting something we don’t have.

God gives each of us what we need when we need it. We don’t always get what we want. He said that when we’re faithful over the little things He’s given us, He’ll give us more. We have to learn to be humble enough to recognize that the little He has given us is enough. We also have to learn to appreciate it and take care of it by being faithful with it. When we learn to do those things, He knows we’re ready for more.  

There’s always another level for Him to take us to. Have we learned to be happy being the poor kid at the table so He can take us there? Or are we resentful that we’re in this position and are constantly trying to get to that next level on our own strength? I’ve tried it both ways. Yesterday reminded me that it’s ok to be the poor kid at the table. All I have is from God anyway. When I learn to accept what He gives, I’m really the rich one.

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June 11, 2015 · 7:19 AM

Quit Playing It Safe

I once had a boss whose favorite question to ask in an interview was, “Tell me a time when you took a risk. Did it pay off or not?” I asked him about it one time and he said, “I don’t want people working for me who are afraid to take risks. I’d rather have someone on my team who has taken a risk and failed miserably than someone who was too scared to even take a risk in the first place. At least the person who took a risk learned something. The one who has never taken a risk will never change his results because he’s too scared to try something new.”

He helped me to understand that taking risks is a Godly trait. Each time you or I step out in faith, it’s a risk. Will God step out and move on my behalf or will I fall on my face? We don’t know, but God asks us to do it anyway. I’ve seen God ask someone to take a huge risk and then allow them to fail. It sounds weird at first, but God needed them in a place of failure to be able to grow them beyond what the risk could have ever offered. His reward for their risk was delayed.

When you risk it all for God’s sake, you put yourself in a place that is totally dependent on God. Your risk speaks volumes to God. It says, “I’m not satisfied with what I’m producing for you. I want to do more for the Kingdom and I’m willing to risk what I have for a chance to offer you more.” It’s in those moments that your faith grows and produces more than it ever has. If you fall on your face, you let God know you’re not going to play it safe. If He catches you, the rewards are eternal.

There’s a difference in taking a risk and making a calculated move. If you’ve got a 90% chance of success, that’s not really much of a risk. It’s a calculated decision made to look like faith. God is looking for those who are willing to go all in and risk it all for His Kingdom. In Matthew 25, he gave three different people three different amounts of talents. To the one who risked nothing because he was afraid, the master said, “That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? (MSG)”

Later on He said, “Get rid of this play-it-safe who won’t go out on a limb. (MSG)” God gets angry when we live life with the goal of arriving in Heaven safely with no bumps or bruises. He put the desire for risk in each one of us. We can either take a risk or allow fear to cause us to play it safe. If you know the parable I’m referring to, the ones who risked it all stayed with the master, but the one who risked nothing was cast into darkness. God calls us to live by faith, not by sight. What risks have you taken for His sake? What is He asking you to risk right now?

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June 9, 2015 · 7:48 AM

Your Words Matter

When I was the general manager of a store, I had to handle upset customers almost every day. I learned that my response to their anger could either diffuse the situation or escalate it. Many times I said the wrong thing or used the wrong tone and it was like pouring gas on a fire. One person got so upset with me that they came behind the counter, out their finger in my face and said, “You better call 9-1-1, you’re going to need them!” It was a scary moment, but as I looked back, my response is what triggered that emotion in them.

Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. (NLT)” How we respond to others who are upset matters. Since the inventions of email, text messaging and social media, we have begun to say things to other people we never would have 15 years ago. We feel emboldened to say whatever comes to mind because we aren’t right in front of that person and in many cases we barely know them if at all. We escalate situations by our unfiltered, typed words instead of being worried if our conversation is leading them toward the cross or away from it.

I cringe as I read Christian’s comments on social media regarding the things of the world. I see escalated conversations by those who write with their emotions instead of having eternity in mind. Colossians 4:5-6 tells us, “Live wisely among those who are unbelievers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. (NLT)” The word gracious here means pleasant and winsome. We are to win others to the cross with our words not push them away.

Your words matter whether spoken or written. You have the opportunity to deflect an anger from those in the world or to dump fire on their anger. The world will never agree with the message of the cross because it stands opposed to the human way of life. It has been under attack for over 2,000 years and will continue to be under attack until the Lord returns. Jesus should be our model of how to respond. When the Romans crucified Jesus, his response wasn’t to argue with them. It was to forgive them. His response to an angry crowd who were killing him was, “Father forgive them.” He won over one guard who killed Him by how He responded. 

I keep that in mind any time there is a flare up on social media between the world and the Church. If I don’t have the right response, I keep my comments to myself. Proverbs 17:28 says, “Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps his mouth shut.” If what I have to say doesn’t lead someone to the cross and instead pushes them away from it, I’d rather not say anything. We are to live wisely in a world of unbelievers. Our conversation should lead them to salvation. People are watching what you post and how you live. Are your words leading others to the cross or away from it? Your words matter.

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June 8, 2015 · 5:48 AM

Your New Season (Video)

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

Philippians 3:12-13

If you are having trouble viewing this video, click here.

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June 4, 2015 · 7:39 AM

Producing Good Fruit

How long has it been since you looked at the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5? To me, they’re a measuring stick of where I am in my growth. I have to ask myself, “Is my life producing these fruits?” Paul told us that a life controlled by God’s Spirit would produce those fruits. If I’m not producing them, then I’m not being controlled by God. In that same chapter, he also described the fruits of the flesh. These describe what a life that is not controlled by the Spirit looks like. It’s important to look in the mirror often to see what your spiritual life looks like.

Each morning as I get ready for the day, I stop and look in the mirror to fix my hair and to make sure I look presentable before going out in public. The same thing should happen for us as believers. We should look at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word to see what we look like. If we don’t like what we see, we need to make adjustments just like we would to our physical appearance. If you had bags under your eyes you could either cover them with make up (this doesn’t solve the problem) or get more rest.

Too many times when we look in our spiritual mirror and see something that doesn’t look right in our lives, we try to cover it up. We want to appear to others as having it together when really the problem is one of the heart. David tried to cover up his sin with Bathsheba. He didn’t want others to know he had committed adultery, so he brought her husband home from the war. When he wouldn’t sleep with his wife, David sent him back to be killed so he could marry her and make it look like they got pregnant on their wedding night. He went to a lot of trouble trying to cover up the physical actions of a spiritual problem.

David had quit being led by the Spirit and was being led by his fleshly desires. He reaped the fruit of that choice. Since he wouldn’t look I hope a spiritual mirror, the prophet of God came and held it up. When he did, David recognized the spiritual problem. Instead of continuing to try to cover it, he dealt with the spiritual problem. In Psalm 51:10 he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. (NLT)” He realized he needed s change of heart to change his ways.

We are not so different from David. We have fruit we are not proud of and we try to cover it up. You may not have a prophet come knock on your door to call you out like he did, but the problem still has to be dealt with. If you look at the fruit in your life and know you need to change, don’t try to cover the problem up. Deal with it at the source. Pray like David did that God would give you a clean heart, that He would put a right spirit in you and that you would live a life that is led by His Spirit. When you do that, you will produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  

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June 3, 2015 · 6:48 AM

Your Greatest Strength

This morning, I’m remembering an old song by Steven Curtis Chapman called “His Strength Is Perfect”. It says, “His strength is perfect when our strength is gone. He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on.” Those lyrics still speak to me nearly 30 years later. All my life, when I have found myself on the floor crying out, “God, I can’t do it any more,” I’ve felt His peace and strength come over me. He had been waiting for me to quit trying to do the impossible without Him. He knows I’m a strong willed, stubborn person who has to get to that point sometimes before I remember the truth that His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

In II Kings 4, there was a widow who owed the debts her husband had created. She had done everything in her power to pay them off. She had sold everything she owned to pay it and it hadn’t been enough. The creditors were coming to take her kids as slaves in order to pay the debt. When she was out if her options, she went to Elisha the prophet. He asked what she had at home and she said, “Nothing at all except a small jar of olive oil.” He told her to get as many jars from her neighbors as she could, to fill them with oil from the small jar and then to sell the oil. The miracle came when she was ready to admit her inability to do anything.

In Mark 5:25-34, we read of a woman who had an terrible bleeding problem. She suffered from it for 12 years and had spent everything she had trying to get better. The doctors couldn’t help her, she was out of money and out of options. Then she heard Jesus was in town. She knew that He could do what she and the doctors couldn’t. She thought, “If I just touch the hem of His garment, I will get well.” She had come to the point where she realized that her own strength, her own ideas and her money couldn’t heal her, only Jesus could. She crawled through a crowd on her hands and knees to draw power from the One whose strength is perfect and she was healed.

In our own lives we spend a lot of money, time and effort trying to accomplish God’s will for our lives. We think that God has somehow chosen us to do what He’s called us to do because of our gifts or talents. God doesn’t need your abilities to accomplish His will. He needs your willingness to rely on Him. If you could do it in your own strength, it wouldn’t be a miracle. If you could make it happen, He wouldn’t get glory. That’s why the things He calls us to are greater than ourselves and our ability.

Don’t grow tired trying to manufacture the miracle. Don’t grow weary trying to perform the impossible. Your greatest strength is your weakness. In II Corinthians 12:9, God spoke to Paul and said, “My power is greatest when you are weak.” The Amplified version says His power is most effective in your weakness. God doesn’t need you to be strong. He needs you to be humble enough to admit you can’t do it on your own. When you come to that place, you open the door for miracles. 

To listen to “His Strength Is Perfect,” click here. 

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June 2, 2015 · 7:10 AM

Being Led By Obedience

Recently I attended the commencement ceremonies for my alma matter and a friend of mine had been asked to be the keynote speaker. He talked to them about how the Bible says they should dress for success in life. In one of his points, he made the comment, “Be led by obedience to God, not by opportunity.” I stopped and wondered how many times I had confused opportunity with the will of God. It’s natural to think when a great opportunity presents itself that it’s from God. More often than not, those times are tests of our faith to see if we are going to be obedient to what God wants or to do what’s expedient for ourselves.

If you know anything about the story of David in the Bible, you know that after he was anointed King, Saul began to hunt him down to kill him in order to preserve his royal lineage. In I Samuel 24, Saul was hunting David and went into a cave to relieve himself. What he didn’t know was that David and his men were hiding in that very cave. The opportunity presented itself to David to be able to take Saul’s life and assume the throne. It appeared that God had given him the opportunity to fulfill the promise He had made to him.

David’s men saw it as such and spoke to him about it in verse 4. They said, “Now’s your opportunity! Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do as you wish.” His men were led by opportunity instead of obedience and they gave him bad advice. I’m sure they were tired of living in caves and were ready to live in palaces. They saw this as their opportunity to get out of poverty. They knew David had been anointed the next King so this must have been God’s way of making it happen.

David took their suggestion that this was God’s will instead of seeking it out himself. He made a split decision that he regretted. He snuck up next to Saul and couldn’t kill him. Instead, he cut off a piece of his robe. He heard the quiet voice of God in his spirit over the overwhelming voices of his advisors. He chose to obey God instead by not killing him. His conscious bothered him for even cutting Saul’s robe. In verse 6 he said, “I shouldn’t attack the Lords anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.” He knew the scriptures had said, “Don’t touch God’s anointed.” 

The Word of God should overrule any opportunity that presents itself. God will not ask you to do something that is contrary to the Bible. He may allow opportunities to arise in your life, but He will not ask you to chose them over obedience to what He’s already said. It takes wisdom, patience and courage to do what God says even if opportunities present themselves as God’s will for you. Always take time to seek out God’s voice over man’s when opportunity knocks. Don’t just assume it is God giving you what you want. Be led by obedience not by opportunity.
 

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