Tag Archives: christian living

November 11, 2025 · 5:55 AM

Armor Up

As a person who is on social media, I’ve noticed there’s less and less originality. People copy what others are doing and follow trends. In 2020 Nathan Apocodaca went viral for drinking cranberry juice while skating down the road. Thousand of people tried to recreate his video doing the same thing with the same music. It’s clear the world rewards imitation. Trends tell us what to wear, what to do and where to go. As people follow along, they’re slowly being lulled into culture and away from the discipline of critical thinking. The more we get pulled in, the less we also spend time in prayer, the Bible and spending time with God. We consume a diet of what’s popular rather than truth that creates a slow fade away from following God’s Kingdom principles.

Daniel experienced this in the Bible. He was taken from his own land and culture into Babylon, a city built on pride, indulgence and idolatry. The goal wasn’t just to relocate the Israelites, it was to indoctrinate them into a new culture away from God. Daniel was given a new name, a new diet, a new education and a new language. However Daniel pushed back on the culture change. He resisted with clarity, courage and conviction. Verse 8 says, “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile (taint, dishonor) himself” (AMP). He didn’t go along with culture and increased his time of prayer to help him combat the temptation to be pulled into a culture that was trying to redefine him and his people.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 says, “But since we belong to the day, we must stay alert and clearheaded by placing the breastplate of faith and love over our hearts, and a helmet of the hope of salvation over our thoughts” (TPT). Paul was writing to an audience that was also in a culture that was trying to redefine their beliefs and thinking. The way we combat it is to armor up. We must protect our heart and our mind in today’s culture. Jesus taught us where our treasure is (what we value), is where our heart is. Combine that with the fact that our thoughts control our actions, we must be vigilant and make up our minds the way Daniel did to not redefine our beliefs in a culture that is trying to pull us away from God. You can start right now by asking God to cover your heart and mind with the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation.

Photo by Andriy Boechko on Unsplash

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November 5, 2025 · 5:53 AM

The Cost Of Discipleship

In one of my small groups we are talking about personal growth so we can become better husbands and fathers. The first question I ask is, “Are you committed to growth?” We then look for two areas to grow in over the next few weeks. Most of us want growth, but we don’t want to make changes in order to achieve it. We often have to let go of habits that are holding us back. We have to weigh what is more important to us: the things we are holding on to or the growth we want to see. It’s usually something that’s comfortable to us or makes our life comfortable that holds us back and causes us to fight change and growth.

In Luke 18, a rich, young ruler approached Jesus and asked what he needed to do to inherit the Kingdom of God. Jesus recited some Old Testament commandments, and the guy said he had followed them all his life. “‘Ah,’ Jesus said, ‘there’s still one thing you’re missing in your life.’ ‘What is that?’ asked the man. ‘You must go and sell everything you own and give all the proceeds to the poor so you will have eternal treasures. Then come and follow me’” (TPT). Jesus was testing him to show him what was competing for first place in his life. He wanted what Jesus offered, but he wasn’t willing to make Jesus number one in his life. The man walked away sad because he wasn’t willing to let go of comfort for discipleship.

In Mark 8:34 Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]” (AMP). What are you holding on to that’s holding you back? Are you committed to being a disciple of Christ? Then we must make sure He is number one in our life and be willing to make whatever changes He asks us to. Discipleship is about conforming your life to His way of living. It’s not conforming His teachings to your way of life. The cost of discipleship is high and that’s why many walk away sad just like the rich young ruler.

Photo by Krane Sheng on Unsplash

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November 4, 2025 · 5:47 AM

Feedback And Correction

One of the things I have to remind myself and others is that feedback and correction are gifts. In one of my previous jobs, after I had completed an assignment, I had to stand in front of my peers to receive feedback and correction. They would say what I did well, what I didn’t do well and what I should do differently next time. Some who stood up there were thankful for it and incorporated the feedback and correction. There were others though who tried to defend what their intentions were or why they chose to do it a certain way. Some would even attack the person trying to help them. How we receive feedback and correction says a lot about who we are.

In 2 Samuel 12, David had sinned by having an affair and then having her husband killed. He thought he had gotten away with it, but God saw what he had done. The prophet Nathan was sent to David to confront his sin. He told him the story of a poor man who had his lamb stolen by a rich man, who killed the lamb and served it to a friend. David screamed out that anyone who could do such a thing should be put to death. Nathan looked at him and said, “You are that man!” Instead of denying, defending or attacking, David admitted his sin and sought forgiveness. He accepted the feedback and correction which allowed him to remain king. He asked God to create a clean heart in him and to renew a right spirit within him.

Proverbs 25:12 says, “When you humbly receive wise correction, it adorns your life with beauty and makes you a better person” (TPT). How well do you receive feedback and correction? God uses people to confront our sin, shortcomings and areas that need improvement. Do you reject what they say, defend your intentions or attack them? David, as king, could have easily put Nathan in jail or killed him. Instead, he received the correction and became a better person and king. By the way, the one who wrote this proverb was not only David’s son, his mother was the one whom David had the affair with. God not only redeemed David after his son, He birthed a kingly succession out of his greatest sin. When we receive Godly feedback and correction, God can redeem whatever He’s pointing out.

Photo by Víctor C.on Pexels.

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November 3, 2025 · 5:51 AM

Guarding Your Heart

There’s a show on TV called “To Catch A Smuggler.” It follows different border patrol security agents around the world who work at airports. When they see something on the scanner, they pull the person aside and question them. They open the suitcases and dig around looking for contraband. Many times they are catching drug mules. Their job is to protect their nation and they’re not passive about it. They often find hidden compartments full of illegal items. The show is interesting to me as I watch for the behaviors of those trying to do harm and for those who are trying to protect their nation. It reminds me how important it is to be vigilant as we watch over our lives.

Joseph was a young man when his brothers took his famous coat of many colors and sold him into slavery. When his master’s wife tried to seduce him, he could have told himself that he deserved it because of his hardship, but instead he ran. When he spent years in prison, he could have grown bitter against God and his brothers, but he didn’t. The Bible doesn’t give us much insight into his thought processes during all those years. However, we can see his actions throughout his story to see that he guarded his heart closely. He made sure not to let bitterness, selfishness or anger in. He guarded what came into his heart and he was able to see the realization of the dream God gave him.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (NLT). Think about that verse. It urges us to guard our heart more than anything else because what you let into your heart will spill out in behavior and affect your life. How strict are you on guarding your heart? Do you entertain whatever thoughts come your way, or are you like those border patrol agents who inspect everything? Just like what comes through a border can destroy a nation, what comes into your heart can destroy your life. We must be vigilant about protecting it. Like Joseph, each of us will be tested by the enemy to disrupt God’s dream for our life. If we are diligent to guarding our heart, the course of our life will follow God’s path.

Photo by Rebecca Johnsen on Unsplash

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October 30, 2025 · 5:30 AM

A Foundation Of Love

I was at celebration of my aunt and uncle when a lady walked up to me. She said, “You don’t know me, but I know you. I grew up in your grandfather’s church.” She shared some stories with me about him, and then she said, “He gave that church a foundation of love.” That phrase resonated with me for many reasons. I couldn’t help but think of how you and I are the Church. It’s important that we build our faith and our lives on a foundation of God’s love. If we don’t do that, our lives can become full of meaningless rituals or a cold relationship with God. When that happens we must return to our first love.

In Luke 7:36-47, Jesus was dining at a Pharisee’s house. A lady who was a prostitute came in, bowed at Jesus’ feet, cried tears on His feet, then dried them with her hair and poured perfume on them. The Pharisee was stunned that Jesus allowed this to happen. Jesus told him a parable of two men who owed a debt to someone. One owed a little and the other a lot. The creditor forgave them both. Jesus then asked the Pharisee which person loved the creditor more. He replied that the one who was forgiven more. Jesus agreed. He then looked down at the lady and told the Pharisee that her many sins had been forgiven and this was a display of her love.

In Ephesians 3:19 Paul concluded a prayer by saying, “And [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself]” (AMP). You and I can’t just have a head knowledge of God. We must experience His love and forgiveness in our lives. When we do that, we will experience God’s presence and be filled with it. When we have the foundation of His love in our lives, we can make a greater impact on the people around us.

Photo by chris liu 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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October 29, 2025 · 5:47 AM

Searching For Treasure

Almost every time I’ve gone to the beach, I’ve seen people walking around with metal detectors. They walk up and down them scanning for treasures lost by others. You can hear it beep, and then they start digging. I’ve also watched videos of people who drag sifters through the sand trying to pick up things. I wonder if they found something, and then think I should buy a metal detector. I never do though. The difference between us is that because they are searching for it, and I’m not, they’re the ones who are likely to find hidden treasure. They’re willing to dig, to sift and to do what it takes in order to find treasure. Hoping to find it, without doing anything, will not result in me finding treasure.

I love the story of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. He believed in God and had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was on his way home and had purchased a scroll of Isaiah, which was very costly. While he was riding along in his chariot, the Lord spoke to Philip and told him to go south of Jerusalem to the desert road. Philip obeyed not knowing why. It was on that road that their paths crossed and he heard the Ethiopian reading Isaiah searching to know God more as he read chapter 53. Philip asked if he understood, but the Ethiopian said he couldn’t unless someone explained it. That day, the Ethiopian found the treasure he had been seeking and accepted Jesus as his savior. Philip baptized him and was carried away by the Spirit while the Ethiopian returned home spiritually rich.

Colossians 2:3 says, “For our spiritual wealth is in him, like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered—heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge” (TPT). In Christ are all the spiritual treasures are available to us. Like any treasure, we must seek it, dig deep and do what it takes to find it. The more you dig into God’s Word, the more you will discover who He is. The more time you spend with Christ Jesus getting to know Him, the more treasure you will find. If your Bible is never opened or you never stop to pray, you can’t expect to find the hidden treasure He has for you. If you seek Him, you will find Him, but you must search for Him as you would a hidden treasure.

Photo by Fer Troulik on Unsplash

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October 28, 2025 · 5:57 AM

Staying In Sync

Have you ever had the chance to watch a military marching band? It’s one of the most incredible things to watch as a hundred band members play instruments and march in beat while creating formations. No one does it better than the Fighting Texas A&M Aggie Band. Sometimes they are spread out over the space of an entire football field. Between the echoes of the music coming off the bleachers and the distance apart from each other, if they relied on sound, they would be off. Instead, the band members keep their eyes on the drum majors to keep in step and in time. The drum majors set the tempo, the direction and ensures that the members stay in sync.

In Acts 10, Peter was on a rooftop praying when God gave him a vision of a picnic cloth coming down out of heaven. In it there were all kinds of animals that were considered unclean to eat. He heard God say, “Kill and eat.” However, he pushed back thinking it was a test. The lord said, “Don’t call unclean what I have called clean.” It repeated three times and then was drawn back up into heaven. Just then some Gentiles, who were sent by an angel, knocked on the door looking for him. The Holy Spirit told him to go with them. Peter obeyed and salvation reached the Gentile world. Peter had to adjust his thinking and beliefs in order to stay in step and sync with the Holy Spirit. He followed the Spirit’s lead rather than his flesh.

Galatians 5:25 says, “If the Spirit is the source of our life, we must also allow the Spirit to direct every aspect of our lives” (TPT). The Greek word Paul used for “to direct every aspect of our lives,” invokes images of soldiers marching in sync with disciplined movements. He was reminding us that the Spirit is our drum major and we must listen to Him and allow Him to direct every aspect of our life. We can’t rely on preconceived notions or what the culture around us tells us. We must trust the Word of God to give us direction in our life and to guide our decisions. When we keep our eyes on Him, He will direct us so that we march with His tempo and direction, as well as to stay in sync with His plans for our life.

Photo by Pramod Tiwari on Unsplash

Here’s a video of the Texas A&M band marching in sync.

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October 27, 2025 · 5:42 AM

Finding Hidden Motives

Years ago, when I first became a store manager for a major retailer, I was sent to training. They showed us multiple scenarios and taught us how to handle them. One such series of videos had people acting out of character and then trying hard to justify their behavior. They taught us not to overreact in those situations. Instead, we were to take the person to a private office to have a conversation. We were to point to the behavior, state that it was out of character and then ask, “What do I need to know about what’s going on in your life?” That question would often reveal hidden situations or motives behind their behavior. Once we discovered the heart of the issue, we could change the behavior.

In Luke 12, Jesus was teaching on hypocrisy when someone called out from the crowd, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me!” On the surface, it sounds like a reasonable request and one that’s justified. Also, in those days, rabbis would solve such problems for people. However, Jesus didn’t resolve the matter for him. Instead He said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own” (NLT). Jesus didn’t treat the issue, He treated the heart. The man was hiding behind fairness, security and justice, but Jesus saw the hidden motive and addressed it.

Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” We all fall into the hidden motives trap. Our requests to God for things or justification to others for our actions come from selfish motives at times. David knew that about himself and prayed this prayer often. When you ask God to look in your heart, test your thoughts and to point out things that offend Him, He will point to the root of the issue because that’s the only way to deal with fruit from hidden motives. We must be willing to be honest about what’s really going on inside and be willing to repent so that He can lead us along the path to everlasting life.

Photo by Simeon Lesley on Unsplash

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October 15, 2025 · 5:46 AM

Storm Of Distractions

If you watched the movie, “Up,” then you remember Doug the dog. Every time someone goes on a rabbit trail or gets distracted, either they say, “Squirrel,” or someone else does. I hear people say it often because we’re a lot like Doug. We get easily distracted. We have our eyes on the prize of where we’re headed and something shiny gets our attention. We try to pray and we start thinking of all we have to do today. When we try to read the Bible, our phone goes off with someone trying to reach us. We live in a world full of distractions, but we must learn to keep our eyes on Jesus.

In Matthew 14 after Jesus fed the 5,000 He put the disciples in a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. Somewhere in the night, a storm came over the sea and began tossing their boat. At 4:00 in the morning, while fighting to keep the boat afloat, Jesus came walking to them on the water. When they realized it was Jesus, Peter asked to get out of the boat and walk to Him. Verse 30 says, “But when he realized how high the waves were, he became frightened and started to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he cried out” (TPT). Jesus reached out His hand, saved him and walked him back to the boat. When Peter got distracted, he began to sink and became afraid.

Proverbs 4:26-27 says, “Watch where you’re going! Stick to the path of truth, and the road will be safe and smooth before you. Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked for even a moment or take the detour that leads to darkness.” It sounds simple enough, and it’s easy to pick on Peter, but we all get distracted by things around us or our circumstances. Taking the easy way out has become the norm, but we must stick to the path of truth. We can’t allow ourselves to get distracted so that we make decisions out of fear. We can’t allow distractions to get us off of God’s path. When we find that we are straying or are being distracted, we need to be like Peter and cry out, “Save me, Lord!” Just like He rescued Peter, He will rescue you and walk with you through the storm of distractions.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

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October 14, 2025 · 5:58 AM

Alignment And Recalibration

In one of my previous jobs, I had to fly to Tennessee once a year for a week long class. About twenty or so of us in my position would go at a time. On day one, we would start by watching videos of a person training. We would take notes on what we saw. The highest ranking person would call on a few people for their notes. She would then share hers. The process would repeat all day. Then we would be assigned material to train each day. We would take notes on each other each day and compare. By Friday we were seeing the same things and taking similar notes. She was helping us to align with the company values and calibrating our work.

In 2 Samuel 11, David had quit doing what he was supposed to do. The chapter starts off by telling us when the kings went to war, David stayed home. It was while he was home that he saw Bathsheba bathing and brought her in. When she became pregnant, he brought her husband home from battle. When he wouldn’t go home to Bathsheba, David sent him back to war to have him killed. When God called David out on his sin, it was a call to repentance and recalibration. In Psalm 51:10, David wrote, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” (NLT) David heard God’s voice and prayed this prayer so that he would align with God’s desires. I believe God answered his prayer.

Psalm 119:133 says, “Establish my footsteps in [the way of] Your word; Do not let any human weakness have power over me [causing me to be separated from You]” (AMP). This prayer is also a prayer of alignment and recalibration. When we come into alignment with God’s plan, He establishes our steps. When we seek His help in overcoming temptation, we are asking to have the Holy Spirit recalibrate our hearts so that we are aware of sins that are trying to entice us. Both of these prayers are good for us to pray. They give the Holy Spirit authority to point out things in our life that need correction. It encourages us to read God’s Word so we know what God’s standard of living is for us. He can give you a new heart and a right spirit too. Just ask Him.

Photo by Yogesh Pedamkar on Unsplash

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