Tag Archives: christian living

January 17, 2024 · 5:46 AM

Stand In Victory

Everyone knows the story of David and Goliath from 1 Samuel 17. The Philistines were encroaching on Israel’s land and trying to take it. The armies were encamped on two mountain sides with a valley between them. For forty days Go,oath taunted the army of Israel. When David heard it, something stirred in him. He was willing to leave the mountain side and enter the valley to fight. Goliath laughed at him because he was small and young. In verse 45, David, full of confidence, said, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied“ (GNT). In order to win the battle in the physical realm, he understood it needed to be won in the spiritual realm first. He also knew it was God who gives victory.

In Matthew 4. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where He fasted for forty days. When he was weak physically, but strong spiritually, Satan came to attack Him. He told Him to turn the stones into bread if He really was the Son of God. Jesus didn’t need to prove who He was and replied with Scripture. Then Satan took Him to the top of the Temple and told Him to jump and let the angels catch Him. Again Jesus pushed back with the Word of God. Finally Satan showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and offered them to Him, but Jesus fought back with the what God had said and told Satan to leave. Jesus understood that victory came from God and used God’s Word to achieve it.

Isaiah 54:17 says, ”But no weapon will be able to hurt you; you will have an answer for all who accuse you. I will defend my servants and give them victory.” You can have confidence in whatever battle you’re facing today. No matter how loud and intimidating or manipulative the enemy’s voice is, God’s Word is stronger. Don’t try to win a spiritual battle with your physical strength or wit. Seek God first and He will give you wisdom in how to fight it and He will give you victory. Let Him defend every accusation against you. Remember the battle is the Lord’s. You still have to step onto the battlefield, and you still have to face your giant. However, you don’t have to be unarmed. Like David, we can have confidence our victory lies in the name of the Lord. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. Stand in victory today.

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January 16, 2024 · 5:30 AM

A Foundation Of Grace

Growing up on the Gulf Coast I’ve seen first hand the impact storms and hurricanes have had on homes and buildings. Hurricane Andrew hit the Bahamas and Florida in 1992 as a Category Five. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida destroying homes and buildings. It was also the most costly for about 25 years. Afterwards, people changed how they built their houses. One of the biggest construction changes made was to the load path of the structure. They began to build them so that when the high winds came, it directed the wind loads on the roof and walls down to the foundation. A strong foundation can help a building endure just about any storm when the load is directed to it. Without this change, storms could wipe outa building leaving the foundation in tact.

Paul endured many real storms in his life and metaphorical ones too. His life was built on the Word of God and had a load path that directed life’s stresses to his foundation. In 2 Corinthians 12 he mentions a thorn in his flesh that was a messenger from Satan to torment him. He asked God to take away this storm, but He didn’t. God wanted to teach Paul how to direct the tension to his foundation. Jesus said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (NLT). From then on, Paul began to be glad about his own weaknesses because it wasn’t up to him or his strength to withstand the storm. He learned how to trust God in his weakness by relying on the firm foundation of grace.

Proverbs 10:25 says, “When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation.” Have you been relying on your own strength to endure or have you been directing everything to your foundation? I’ve personally tried it both ways. In one instance, I lost everything but the foundation. However, when I let God rebuild my life, I learned to trust in Him and direct everything to the source of strength in my life. Having a form foundation or a life built on God’s Word doesn’t exempt you from storms. It simply helps you weather them. When the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy everything in your life, you can still be standing because your foundation is firm and you trust in God to help you endure. His strength is perfect and His grace is sufficient for whatever storm you’re facing.

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January 11, 2024 · 5:30 AM

Before You Start

I, like you, have a pretty busy day and week ahead of me. From the moment I woke up I started thinking of all the things I need to do to accomplish everything today. My mind races to find solutions to scheduling conflicts, deadlines, and how to be in two places at once. I’ve got a to-do list a mile long and a very short time to accomplish it. With all of that happening, do I have time for God?

It’s tough not to put God on a back burner on busy days. He’s the easiest one to “reschedule”, but He’s the last one I need to reschedule. “He’ll understand”, I reason in my mind. “I’ll read my Bible and pray later,” I tell myself. The truth is that I won’t have the time later either. If I don’t make Him a priority right now, I won’t make Him one later. If I don’t slow down now and take time to reflect on Him and His Word, I won’t do it.

God told David in Psalm 46:10, “Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God” (TPT). David was a king and I’m sure he had a lot on his plate too. He would cry out to God in times of need and celebration. He would throw those 911 prayers up to Heaven like you and I often do. “God, I have a lot to do today. Help me to get it all done”, is what we pray. God wants more than that. He wants us to stop, take a moment and spend some time with Him.

In the world we live in, it’s easy to mix up the temporary with the eternal. It’s easy to reverse their importance. Today, stop, breathe, meditate on His Word, and thank Him. Rest in His arms before you do anything else. Give Him more than a 911 prayer and truly thank Him for another day of life. Thank Him that you even have things on your schedule. Know that He is God and really that’s what matters more than anything else I’ll accomplish today.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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January 9, 2024 · 5:40 AM

Giving Up Everything

If you’re like most people, you’ve imagined what success would look like to you. Have you thought about what ridiculous success would look like though? That’s the kind of success where you wouldn’t have to worry about money if you had it. I’ve heard stories all of my life of people who were ridiculously successful and then gave it all up to go into ministry or to do something Jesus called them to. I read recently where musical artist Daddy Yankee became a Christian and walked away from his music career. He’s decided to use his platform to share the Gospel instead of the lyrics to his songs.

In Luke 5 Jesus was teaching people on the shore of Galilee while fishermen cleaned their nets. He asked one fisherman, Peter, if he could use his boat to teach from. After His message, Jesus asked Peter to go out a little deeper and then to let down his recently cleaned nets. Peter pushed back at first saying they had fished all night and caught nothing. However, having heard the message Jesus just taught, he agreed. Immediately there were so many fish in the nets that they signaled another boat to come help. The Bible says there were so many fish that both boats were filled to the point they were about to sink. Verse 11 says, ”After they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example]“ (AMP).

If you had the ridiculous success they had, could you walk away from it all to follow Him? What if you had just what you had now? Jesus doesn’t call everyone away from their jobs to follow Him, but He does ask you to be willing to give up everything to be His disciple. He asked Abraham to give up his only son. He asked the widow to give up the last of her oil. He also asked the rich, young ruler to give up everything, but he wasn’t willing to. It comes down to what do you value more: your success with earthly things or your relationship with Jesus. The question really exposes our heart when answered truthfully. More of us are like the rich young ruler than the widow. Ask God to help you give more of your life to Him and to value the relationship you have with Him more than your relationship with earthly things to the point where you’re willing to give up anything if He asked.

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January 8, 2024 · 5:39 AM

Melting Ice

When God’s promises seem slow or feel like they’re never going to come to pass, how do you respond? Do you keep doing what you’re doing to prepare for them or do you give up hope thinking they’re dead? I heard John Maxwell talk about something similar regarding melting ice. Imagine it’s 27 degrees out and you’re working on raising the temperature and it goes up to 28. The ice is still frozen, but you keep going and it gets to 29. Still nothing. You keep going and it grid to 30, then 31. It can feel like nothing is happening because the ice hasn’t changed at all and you’ve done everything you can. However, don’t give up because once it hits 32, all that has taken place begins to work suddenly.

In Ezekiel 37, God took Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones where God asked if they could live again. Instead of stating the obvious that the situation was hopeless, he replied that only God knew. God told him to prophesy to them to come together because God was going to make them live again. There was a great rattling in the valley as they came together into individual skeletons. Then muscles, joints and skin covered them. A great army stood there lifeless until God told him to prophesy to the four winds to breathe on them. Suddenly they came alive. God then said that Israel had given up on his promise to return them home from captivity saying all hope was lost. However, God wasn’t done. He was going to breathe life into His promise when all hope seemed lost.

I Corinthians 1:9 says, ”God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on]“ (AMP). The Bible is full of stories of people whom God’s promises seemed like they would never come. Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years for a son. Joseph was away from his family for over a decade before his dream came true. David remained a shepherd then ran for his life for over 15 years while being promised the kingdom before he became king. If it seems like everything is still or moving in the wrong direction, keep believing, keep working towards it and trust God. He is faithful to His promises even when it seems all hope is lost. 32 degrees is just around the corner.

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January 4, 2024 · 5:30 AM

Daily Disciplines

I’ve watched the movie “Greater” a couple of times. It’s the faith based story of Brandon Burlsworth who is considered the greatest walk-on in college football history. He had everything working against him, but he persisted. One coach told him since he didn’t have talent, he was going to have to work harder than anyone else. He was first to show up and last to leave. At one point, he got a new coach and the coach found him practicing his footwork when the practice field was closed. The coach asked him if his previous coaches let him do that. Brandon replied that they never knew he did it. The coach said, “Well, they say character is what you do when no one’s looking.” Brandon quickly replied, “Someone’s always looking.”

In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, he was reminding them that they were going to go through hard times. In chapter 6, let them know that how they respond matters. Verse 4 says, “Our work as God’s servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly… in hard times, tough times, bad times” (MSG). That phrase, “gets validated – or not – in the details” jumped off the page at me. In hard times, it’s more important than ever to focus on the details of our spiritual growth. We must continue to read and study God’s Word, spend time in prayer and fasting, share our faith and put into practice what we know. It’s those daily disciplines that help us to stay our post when times get tough.

Brandon Burlsworth was only able to achieve what he did because he continued with his daily disciplines no matter what. It’s easy to make excuses right now and to slack off on our relationship with Christ, but now is the time we need to go deeper in that relationship. People are watching how you and I respond to difficult times. Are we rising to the challenge or are we succumbing? We must stay at our post, stronger than ever, giving people hope and pointing them to the One who gives peace in troubled times. Our work – our faith – gets validated in the daily details and is exposed under pressure. I believe God is calling us into a deeper relationship with Him than ever before. The way to that relationship and spiritual maturity is in the details of your daily spiritual disciplines.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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January 2, 2024 · 8:26 AM

Setting Godly Goals

What would have to happen this year for you to consider it a successful year? Have you thought about that? What is your definition of success? Most of us immediately tie success to our jobs, but what about success in your relationships, spiritual growth or even with your family? You’ve probably got some ideas of things you’d like to accomplish in the different areas of your life, but unless you set proper goals with an actionable plan, those thoughts are really just dreams with very little hope of being fulfilled.

Proverbs 21:5 says, “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty” (NLT). The Bible is clear that we must make plans, set goals and do the work if we’re going to “build our wall” as pastor says. Planning means that we prayerfully sit down, think through processes and outcomes that we want to achieve. The results you get will be directly tied to the processes you have in your life. You must be faithful in the little details if you expect God to give you more. Shortcuts won’t get you to where God wants to take you. All His promises have processes that we must go through. He has goals and plans for your life. Do yours line up with His?

Set some God sized goals this year that can’t be achieved unless He intervenes. Put in place processes that will help you stay on track throughout the year. What needs to happen between now and the end of January for you to be on your way? Who do you need to talk to you about your plans and who can hold you accountable? Each of us have to push past the fear, turn a deaf ear to the “what if’s” and step out in faith. The key to reaching your goals in most cases is “Go. Set. Ready.” You will never feel like you’re ready or set enough. God always requires us to take the first step. What will yours be in each of the areas God wants to grow you this year?

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December 27, 2023 · 6:30 AM

Experiencing God’s Peace

What are the things you worry most about? It could be your finances, your future, your job or relationships. Worry and anxiety are usually caused by things, real or imagined, that pose a risk to the future we’ve imagined. How we respond to worry matters. Some people get in a loop with their thoughts replaying out the worst case scenario in their mind. Some carry the weight of it in the back somewhere causing it to knot up. Others carry the worry in the stomach to the point they get ulcers. However you carry it, worry is something that all of us have to deal with. It robs us of our peace, our sleep, our strength and our present. It’s hard to be in the moment when your mind is worried about the future.

In Matthew 8:18-22 a religious teacher offered to follow Jesus. That’s when Jesus reminded him that to follow him meant an uncertain future that may not include a place to lay his head at night. Then Jesus asked someone else to follow Him, but that person was worried about their inheritance and wanted to bury their father first. Jesus didn’t want anything to stand between a person and following him. He then got into a boat with the disciples and a storm arose quickly. Jesus was asleep in the boat in perfect peace, but the disciples were worried. The momentary storm took their eyes off of where Jesus was leading them so they called out to Him. He asked them why were they afraid and worried about the storm. He then rebuked it and there was a great calm.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (NLT). When we’re worried, we should let those worries direct us to Jesus instead of our fear. When we give it to Him and also have a heart of thanksgiving for everything He’s done, we will experience God’s peace. Either He is in control of our future or we are. If I assume control, worry sets in. If I’ve placed it in His hands, then His grace and strength will be sufficient for whatever I face. Trusting Him with our future is the only way to experience a peace that will guard our heart and mind.

Photo by Tim Bogdanov on Unsplash

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December 27, 2023 · 6:30 AM

Trusting The Truth

I have a friend who is both a pilot and a flight instructor. Being a trainer myself, I asked him about ways he helps people to remember things. He shared that two things he tries to teach pilots are to trust the instruments and also to go to the manual when there’s a problem. He said that many pilots have died because they trusted what they thought they saw instead of the instruments. They have special visors that block the pilots view of everything except the instruments to teach them to trust them. To teach them to go to the manual, he distracts them mid flight, then he shuts off the engines when their not looking. He lets them panic until they remember to go to the manual. Once they do that, they go through their checklist, find the problem and restart the engines. It’s a lesson they never forget.

Both of those are great lessons for us to remember as well. We can’t trust what we feel or even see with our eyes. Feelings lie to us and manipulate us. They’re there as warning signs, but if we constantly live by our feelings, we’ll have a miserable life. We live in an age where people believe truth is relative to the individual. What’s true for me may not be true for you. Living like that is like flying by what you see and not by the instruments. It’s dangerous. Jesus said He was the way, the truth and the life. He is the absolute truth that we must use to guide our lives with beyond our feelings. He told us that we’re going to have trouble and face things that will cause us to want to lose faith, but He also said that He has overcome the world and will give us peace. We get that peace when we trust Him more than what we feel or see.

We’ve also been given an instruction manual in the Bible. It is also absolute truth. When the engines of our life shut off and we start to nose dive, go to the manual God gave us. I love how Philippians 4:8 starts. It says, “Fix your thoughts on what is true” (NLT). Don’t let fear dictate your thoughts and actions. Compare everything to what is true. If it’s not true, don’t give it space in your head. What God says is more true than your situational feelings. Fix your mind on God’s absolute truth and not on your feelings. Fix your mind on the truth of God’s Word and not what others tell you is true. This takes discipline, but it gives you peace when everything seems to be falling apart. Jesus has not abandoned you or forgotten you. He’s right there in the cockpit of life with you reminding you to trust His instruments and His Word to get you through.

Photo by Matthew Smith 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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December 26, 2023 · 6:30 AM

Being Enough

What card do you play when you want to show your credibility? I know some people say what university they graduated in order to validate themselves. I know others who point to their position at their job. Some talk of their experience and others the people they’re connected with. We all have something we point to that we’re proud of, but what if that was taken away? Who would you be without it? Is the value you place on yourself based on that or in how other people treat you because of it? We all want to be valued in other people’s eyes in one way or another. However, many of the things we point to, won’t matter for eternity.

In Philippians 3 Paul is building his credibility with the readers about who he is so they’ll trust him instead of deceivers. He also goes a little overboard to make a point. He tells them he’s a Hebrew’s Hebrew born of the tribe of Benjamin. He then lets them know he was a strict Pharisee who knew the Law and lived it better than just about anyone. He was also one of the most zealous people in regards to the Law. So much so that he hunted down Christians and killed them. People knew who he was and how religious he was. He had all the credibility you needed and the accolades of people, but when he came to know Christ, his identity ceased to be in those things. He realized it was all superficial, self righteous pride and he wanted to teach us a lesson.

Philippians 3:8 says, ”Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ“ (NLT). Are you holding on to an identity that you’ve created or are you holding on to what Jesus considers as important? The more we let go of the things that this world values, the more we’re able to receive what God has for us. It’s time to be like Paul and throw those things that make us self righteous in the garbage. They may give you the approval of people which interferes with God’s approval. Your identity and your credibility comes from who you are in Christ and what He’s done for you. It’s time to quit trying to make others think you’re enough when God already says you’re enough.

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