Tag Archives: christian living

March 10, 2015 · 7:18 AM

Renovating Your Life



Ever since we moved into our house, my wife wanted to renovate the living room. She hated it because it was dark and out dated. I fought her on the renovations because I liked the room and also because I knew what renovations would entail. I knew that once we started, it wouldn’t end with a simple paint job and floor change. Once we began, it would set off a chain of change for the foreseeable future and I wasn’t ready to do that. With the help of friends, she finally convinced me to let go of my fear and embrace the renovation. I saw in the process how God wants to renovate our lives.

God desires for each of us to undergo the process of renovation in our lives. He wants to take out old ways of thinking and replace them with the mind of Christ. He wants to remove the hard parts of our hearts and put in a heart of flesh. He wants to give us fresh insight into His Word, but we have to be willing to submit to the renovations. We have to quit fighting God on the changes He wants to make and allow Him to do His work. Psalm 51 is all about renovating David’s life. In verse 10, he surrendered and prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.” The first step of renovating your life is submission to God’s will and design.

The next part is counting the cost. In my living room, I allowed the cost to keep us from renovating. It was more than I was willing to pay because the outcome was unsure. Once I let go of the purse strings, the work began. The same is true in our personal renovation. We have to understand that there is a price to pay in renovating and we have to let go of the fear that keeps us from releasing God to do in our lives what He wants to do. It may cost us time, relationships, location or money, but in the end, we will receive more than we lost. Renovations in our lives increase our ability and usability. 

The last thing I learned is that you have to be patient in the process. It wasn’t long into ours that my wife said, “We’ve made a mistake. We shouldn’t do any more. What if we keep going and lose a lot more money?” She was right. In the middle of the process, we lost sight of the vision. We questioned the renovation and almost gave up. We decided to see it through and love the outcome. In the Message, Philippians 1:6 says, “there is no doubt in my mind that God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish.” It might get messy and you might lose sight of what God is doing in your life, but be patient. God will complete the work in you and it will be more amazing than you can imagine and worth the cost.

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March 9, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Loving Others (Video)

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

I John 4:7-12

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March 6, 2015 · 5:30 AM

10 Scriptures On Practice



1.   You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the LORD. (Leviticus 22:31 NLT)

2.   LET LOVE for your fellow believers continue and be a fixed practice with you [never let it fail]. (Hebrews 13:1 AMP)

3.   Practice God’s law—get a reputation for wisdom; hang out with a loose crowd—embarrass your family. (Proverbs 28:7 MSG)

4.   Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice. (James 1:22 GNT)

5.   Little children, let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity). (1 John 3:18 AMP)

6.   Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. (Romans 12:9-10 MSG)

7.   Put into practice what you learned and received from me, both from my words and from my actions. And the God who gives us peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9 GNT)

8.   When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. (Romans 12:13 NLT)

9.   Till I come, devote yourself to [public and private] reading, to exhortation (preaching and personal appeals), and to teaching and instilling doctrine…Practice and cultivate and meditate upon these duties; throw yourself wholly into them [as your ministry], so that your progress may be evident to everybody. (1 Timothy 4:13, 15 AMP)

10.   Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8-9 MSG)

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March 5, 2015 · 7:21 AM

Encouragement For The Discouraged

Getting discouraged is something we all face in life over and over again. It can come from not getting the job we wanted, being rejected by someone, unanswered prayers or unmet expectations. It’s a mind game really. Our thoughts after a disappointment determine how we feel and how we feel determines how we behave. The more we behave in a disappointed manor, the more our thoughts takes us down the hole towards depression. Those thoughts lead to worse feelings which translate into worse behavior. It’s a downward spiral that’s hard to get out of. I’ve been caught in it before and here’s how I found my way out.

The first thing is to recognize the negative thoughts when they come in and to stop them. II Corinthians 10:5 tell us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. The Message says, “Fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the life shaped by Christ.” We can’t let destructive thinking roam free in our minds. We have to capture those thoughts, emotions and impulses that affect how we feel and bring them into captivity. To overcome discouragement, we have to quit dwelling on those thoughts and replace them with the promises of God.

The next thing we need to do is refocus our attention on God. David felt very discouraged after having been anointed king of Israel because instead of taking the throne, he was hiding in caves being pursued by the man he was replacing. He spent a lot of lonely nights wondering where God was and why He wasn’t fulfilling His promise. David called out to his inner man and challenged himself. In Psalm 43:5 he said, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again!” You choose where to put your hope. If it’s in yourself or someone else, you’ll be disappointed. If it’s in God, you will not be.

Finally, surround yourself with people who will lift your spirits and stay away from those who will take you further down the hole. In II Corinthians 7, Paul was being persecuted and was feeling discouraged. He was going down the depression hole when God sent him Titus. In verse 7 he wrote, “But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.” To me, nothing helps pull me out of the darkness of discouragement that fellow believers bearing light. We are meant to help each other by bearing each other’s burdens. If you can’t find someone in your circle who can bring that light, pray that the God who encourages the discouraged would send someone your way to encourage you.

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March 3, 2015 · 7:35 AM

Knowing The Will Of God

Whether it’s to change jobs, buy a car, move, decide on where the kids will go to school or stay put, we want to know the will of God. Somehow, it seems elusive or we are afraid to make the wrong decision, so we don’t do anything. Other times, we feel like we know what God wants us to do, then we step out and do it only to fall flat on our face. Most believers want to know the will of God for their decisions, but struggle with knowing His will. Romans 12:2 says, “,,,But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)”

The first thing we have to do in order to know the will of God is to allow Him to transform our minds by changing how we think. The Amplified version says we are to be changed by the entire renewal of our mind, by its new ideals and new attitude. The first question to ask is, “Have I let God have control of my mind in order to transform me?” If we don’t allow Him to change us by the transformation of our mind, it will be very difficult to know the will of God. Surrender of our inner voice is key here.

If you haven’t allowed God to transform your mind or you are in the process of doing that and you still want to know, you can use Gideon’s method to know God’s will. In Judges 6:36-40, Gideon wanted to be sure God called him to save Israel. As he prayed, he laird a wool mat outside and said, “If dew is on this fleece only and the floor is dry, then I will know.” It happened. In case it was a fluke, he did it the second night only opposite, the dew was on the floor and the fleece was dry. If you want to be sure what God’s will is, ask for Him to show you in a way that you will know it is something only He can do. When I buy a car, I ask for it to be below a certain price, a certain interest rate over a certain period of time. If two out of three are met, I don’t do it.

Another way to know God’s will is found in Colossians 3:15. It says, “The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make…(GNT)” When all else fails, ask for peace. If there is peace, let it guide you into the decision. If there is no peace, let it take you away. I often pray, “God, if this is your will, I pray that you would give me peace. If it isn’t your will, give me unrest and uneasiness.” Another scripture tells us that God gives peace that passes understanding. God’s will is often frightening to us, but we can have His peace in knowing that’s what He wants from us. Let His peace be your guide. 

My final thought on finding the will of God is this: Let His will overpower yours. When God says, “No” when we were hoping for a “Yes”, it’s ok. It simply means there is another avenue or path that we can’t see or God may want us to walk down the hard path to build our faith. When it comes to God’s will, His “No” is as good as His “Yes” because it is His will. You may not like it or understand it, but when you let it overpower your will, you will find that peace you’ve been looking for. You will know that you are in God’s will no matter how bad things might get. Having that assurance will help you to carry out His will in your life no matter how the enemy attacks you. Knowing the will of God can be tough, but it can be done.

What are things you do to help you know the will of God?

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March 2, 2015 · 5:02 AM

Fixer Upper (Video)

For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

Jeremiah 29:11

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February 25, 2015 · 7:00 AM

This Hope We Have



I was recently at the viewing for a friend I’d known for over 20 years. As I went around hugging necks and catching up on where everyone was in life, I decided to stop and take a moment. I sat down on one of the pews and watched the crowd as they interacted. There were a group of young men standing near the coffin silently staring at the body. I then noticed there were huddles throughout the sanctuary around the family members left behind. They were hugging and offering condolences. Then there was everyone else affected by this person’s life. They weren’t stationary like the others. They moved around making their way up front and then around and that’s when I noticed something out of the ordinary.

There were smiles on their faces. I checked another roaming group and they were smiling as well. I gazed back to the family huddles to look at their demeanor and it was the same. The atmosphere was not one of sadness, but of joy. It was then that I was reminded of I Thessalonians 4:13. Paul wrote, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.”   Here was living proof of this scripture. I was in a crowd of people smiling and enjoying themselves, while mourning the loss of a friend, because we have hope beyond the grave.

Yes, it hurts to lose someone who impacted our lives and there’s a big, gaping void in us that only they could fill. But we don’t have to carry on like those who have no hope. We don’t see this as the end of life, but rather that person’s birth into eternal life. Their spirit has been set free from the cocoon of the human body and they have been released into the heavens. We know that one day we will cross from death to life as well and be reunited with them and a host of others who knew Jesus as their savior. That’s how we can smile in midst of such a great loss. It seems foreign to those who have no hope, but it’s natural to those of us who do.

I Thessalonians 4 concludes with these words, “Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words.” We have comfort in sorrow and courage in despair because our loss is Heaven’s gain and we know that we will be reunited. Hope is a powerful force that can light up our darkness and give us strength to smile in the pain. It keeps us from the pit of despair and points us to better days. I’ll finish this post with the words from I Corinthians 13:12-13 that I think are fitting. “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. (MSG)”

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February 23, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Get Off The Loop (Video)

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

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February 20, 2015 · 6:55 AM

10 Scriptures On Mercy

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1. Mercy to the needy is a loan to GOD, and GOD pays back those loans in full. (Proverbs 19:17 MSG)

2. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. (Lamentations 3:23 NLT)

3. So be merciful (sympathetic, tender, responsive, and compassionate) even as your Father is [all these]. (Luke 6:36 AMP)

4. But God’s mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5 GNT)

5. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7 NLT)

6. But GOD ’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you. He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you. GOD takes the time to do everything right—everything. Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones. (Isaiah 30:18 MSG)

7. The merciful, kind, and generous man benefits himself [for his deeds return to bless him], but he who is cruel and callous [to the wants of others] brings on himself retribution. (Proverbs 11:17 AMP)

8. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. (James 2:13 NLT)

9. Light shines in the darkness for good people, for those who are merciful, kind, and just. (Psalm 112:4 GNT)

10. Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. (James 3:17-18 MSG)

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February 19, 2015 · 8:01 AM

The Marvelous Light

Each morning as I drive to work, I have the privilege of watching the sun rise. I watch as the sky goes from black to purple to blue. As the sky becomes a lighter blue, the clouds change from a deep red to orange then yellow and a stark white. As I watch God pain the sunrise each day, I’m reminded of His goodness and love. To me, it’s like God is writing, “I love you” across the sky. There are some days where I watch in awe and think He’s just showing off.

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When I’ve watched some of the most spectacular sunrises, Psalm 19 has come to mind. Verse one says, “How clearly the sky reveals God’s glory! How plainly it shows what He has done! (GNT)” When I read this chapter, I imagine David sitting on a hillside marveling in one the sunrises where God was showing off. I see him overcome, as I often am, at the goodness of God as He watches. When the sun finally peeks through the brilliant colors I hear it reminding me that God’s mercies are new.

In the next few verses in that chapter, David tells how the sky speaks without a word, yet its message goes throughout the world. He wrote, “God made a home in the heavens for the sun. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.” It reminds him, and us, that the instructions of the Lord are perfect and revive the soul. As the sun brings life to everything on the earth, God’s word brings life to us. It chases the darkness out of our lives and fills us with His perfect light.

Darkness can only abide where there is no light. It can only linger where light isn’t let in. When hard times come and we are under attack, our human nature wants us to go into a bunker for protection. It wants us to hide, but somewhere in that hiding, we usually run from the light and our lives become dark. God wants to pierce that darkness with His marvelous light. I Peter 2:9 says, “But you (this means you) are a chosen race, a Royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, God’s own purchased, special people that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfect ions of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (AMP)”

God reminds us who we are in that verse. We aren’t the type who hide in the shadows. We are children of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We are royal priests who are called to take light into the dark places. God purchased us with the blood of Jesus and He calls us to walk in His light. The sun coming up each morning is our reminder that God’s desire for you is to come out of the darkness and to burst forth with brilliant colors so the world will see what great things He has done in your life. It is the metaphor of what He wants to do in your life, but you have to hear His call and come out of that darkness in order to walk in that light.

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