Tag Archives: christian living

September 26, 2023 · 5:39 AM

No Comparison

One of the most exclusive clubs in the world is to be a president of the United States. Each one has a legacy and way that they’ve run the country. New asters and people alike compare them against each other constantly. I imagine that being in that role it would be hard not to compare yourself against the presidents who came before you. Teddy Roosevelt fell into that trap, but soon learned the lesson of comparing yourself to someone else. He wisely said that comparison is the thief of joy. If I’m constantly comparing myself to another person, it’s hard to be happy, yet it’s something we all do. We try to measure ourselves against someone else to gauge how we’re doing. The problem is while we’re all running a race, we’re on different tracks. There’s no way to truly compare.

In John 21 Peter was slipping into that mindset. He had betrayed Jesus three times and decided he wasn’t worthy to continue being a disciple. After all, in his mind, no one else had betrayed Jesus. After not catching fish all night, they heard Jesus tell them to cast their nets on the other side again. They then had breakfast and Jesus pulled Peter aside to ask him if he loved Him and to tell him to feed His sheep. Jesus then told Peter, “Follow me,” again. He then told Peter how he would die one day. John was nearby and Peter asked Jesus about him. Jesus replied, “If I want him to stay alive until I come [again], what is that to you? You follow Me!” (AMP) Jesus was telling him not to compare himself with John. He wasn’t called to do what john was. He had his own race to run.

Galatians 6:4 says, “But each one must carefully scrutinize his own work [examining his actions, attitudes, and behavior], and then he can have the personal satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable without comparing himself to another.” If you’re going to compare yourself to someone, compare yourself to Jesus. He is our measuring stick and we’re all going to fall short which keeps us humble and shows us our need for Him. Don’t let pride trick you into looking at someone else other than Jesus so you feel better about yourself. Run your own race and follow the path God has for you. That is how you maintain joy in your relationship with Him and will continue to follow Him because you’re keeping your eyes on Him and not someone else.

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September 21, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Chasing Your Dream

What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail? What dream would you go after? So many times fear of failure or being defeated is what holds us back from chasing after the things God put in our heart. Back in the early 2000’s, I started writing devotionals. There were no blogs really, and social media was yet to come. I figured I would just email them out to friends and whoever wanted them. I asked about five people if they’d be interested. One of them replied, “Please don’t put me on any list. I get enough junk mail as it is.” I let the fear of other rejections hold me back. I didn’t write devotions for 10 years after that. I quit chasing after something God put in me because of something someone else said.

After the Israelites left Egypt, God reminded them that He had promised them land. It was a good, beautiful, fertile land, but they would have to fight to take possession of it. They were guaranteed victory if they were willing to fight for it. Instead 10 of the 12 spies came back confirming what God said about the land, but they were afraid of the giants and walled cities in the land. It took forty years before they had an opportunity again. This time, the spies were told how fearful everyone was of them, and it boosted their confidence. In Joshua 2:24, they reported back, “The Lord has given us the whole land for all the people in the land are terrified of us” (NLT).

The only thing that changed was that they quit listening to fear and started listening to God. That’s exactly what you and I need to do. No, it won’t be easy and there will be some struggles and battles ahead when you chase after what God has put in you. You are guaranteed victory in the long run if you will push past your fear. God is ready to act on your behalf, but you have to be the one to step out in faith to chase after what He called you to. As my friend says, it’s time for you to smash fear in the face! The enemy is afraid of you doing what God told you to do, so he uses fear to hold you back. Know that the Lord has given you those dreams and will make them happen. You just have to step out in faith and chase them.

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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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September 20, 2023 · 5:46 AM

Dressed For Battle

The Landsnechts were German speaking mercenaries hired for battles in the 1400’s – 1700’s. You couldn’t miss them on the battlefield. They wore oversized, flats berets to battle with amulets and ostrich feathers attached to it. Their shirts were baggy with puffy sleeves of vibrant colors. Their pants were also colorful and baggy. They were a sight to be seen on the battlefield. Emperor Maximilian said they should be allowed to wear whatever they wanted to battle because their lives were so short and brutish. Could you imagine seeing someone wearing something so vibrant to a battle? These days wear camouflage and ghillie suits to blend in with the environment. What you wear to a battle should give you a competitive advantage rather than place a target on you.

In 1 Samuel 17 we see young David show up to the battlefield. The army is dressed for battle, but the other side has a formidable giant whose mouth was just as big. He called out to the army for 40 days taunting them and challenging them. No one rose to the occasion. Instead they cowered in fear. When David heard it, he got mad and wanted to fight. The king heard about it and decided to send him out to fight Goliath rather than to continue the stalemate. He placed his own armor on David, but he couldn’t walk with all of it on. Instead he grabbed his shepherd’s staff, five smooth stones and his slingshot to head out to the battle. The giant laughed that they would send someone out without armor and so seemingly I’ll prepared. Goliath walked toward David, but David ran to him, put a stone in the sling, killed the giant and then cut off his head with his own sword.

Ephesians 6:13 says, “So put on God’s armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy’s attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground” (GNT). You and I are in a spiritual battle every day. What armor are you wearing for it? Do you even have any on? If we’re going to hold our ground we must wear the armor that God made for us. Someone else’s armor won’t do (see the story of the seven sons of Sceva). God gives us a helmet to protect our mind, a breastplate to protect our heart, a belt that reminds us of the truth over the lies, shoes that carry us to help others, a shield to protect us and a sword to advance. Without these, we’re I’ll prepared for the battle we’re in and can be easily defeated. Paul tells us to put on the armor now so don’t wait. He’s given you everything you need to stand through anything and hold your ground.

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September 19, 2023 · 5:37 AM

Giving God Control

One of the books I read a couple of years ago was a study of 100,000 churches and the results. Something that caught my attention was it showed how many Christians are good with living lives that are close to Christ. However, there was a significant drop off to those who live Christ centered lives. We’re comfortable with the first one, but struggle to make the leap into giving up full control. A life that is close to Christ prays, reads their Bible and seeks Jesus for decisions in their life. It’s like a person who is driving the car of their life and asks Jesus for directions of which way to turn. By contrast, a Christ centered life is one where Jesus is in the driver’s seat making the decisions and we are in the passenger seat going where He takes us. Few fall into this category.

It reminded me of the story of the Rich, Young Ruler in Mark 10:17-27. This man approached Jesus to ask what he needed to do to receive eternal life. Jesus told him to obey the commandments. He felt good since he lived a life that did that (like most of us). Verse 21 says, “Jesus looked straight at him with love and said, ‘You need only one thing. Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me’” (GNT). Jesus didn’t tell him he wasn’t going to Heaven. He called him to a life that was Christ centered. To give up his will and possessions for Christ was more than he was willing to do. He, like us, enjoyed being in the driver’s seat and went away sad because he wasn’t willing to give up control.

Galatians 5:22-23 talks about the Fruit of the Spirit that God produces in our lives as Christians. Then in verse 25 it says, “The Spirit has given us life; he must also control our lives.” How much control have you given the Holy Spirit in your life? Do you find yourself in the driver’s seat or the passenger seat? Both are saved and going to Heaven, but only one offers a life that is truly Christ centered. The life that Jesus was inviting the rich, young ruler into. If we want that kind of life, we’re going to have to give Him control of our life. It’s not an easy thing to do which is why so few make that leap. Jesus is always calling us into a deeper commitment to Him, to a life more abundant. The way to get to the fullness He offers is through giving up control.

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September 13, 2023 · 5:37 AM

Understanding Later

As a parent, you often have to make hard choices for your kids. There may be certain music you won’t let them listen to or movies you won’t let them watch. There are games you prevent them from playing that all their friends are playing. It could be a party or get together that you keep them home from. You’re doing it for their good and their future, but many times they don’t understand. They accuse you of all kinds of things when you make tough decisions. You hope that one day they will understand and appreciate what you did for them even though it was uncomfortable at the time.

I’m sure Joseph didn’t understand when he was attacked by his brothers, sold into slavery and put in prison in a foreign country. At the end of the story we see that all his troubles were about maturing him and putting him in position to save his family. His great grandfather faced some difficulties as well. Abraham was asked to move away from his family and the life he had always known. He wasn’t even sure where he was headed until he got there. God’s promise to him was 25 years slow in the making as well. Because he obeyed and was uncomfortable during a season, he was able to see and live in the land God would give his descendants. All throughout the Bible we see where God asked people to do uncomfortable things without them understanding in the moment. He was asking them to trust Him with their future.

In John 13, Jesus and the disciples were in the room about to have the Passover dinner when Jesus put on an apron, got a bowl of water and began washing their feet. Peter protested and didn’t want the Messiah to do such a lowly task. In verse 7 Jesus replied, “You do not understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later” (GNT). We usually don’t understand much of what God does for us in the moment. It’s often uncomfortable or even painful, but He has a plan. In every case where I went through difficult situations and I look back on it years later, I can see the hand of God protecting me, positioning me and growing my faith. If you’re there now, trust His plan and know that while you do not understand now what He’s doing, you will later on in this life or the next.

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September 12, 2023 · 5:45 AM

Getting More Followers

During the pandemic a girl on TikTok licked a toilet seat on an airplane to get more views. Let that sink in. Later on she went on Dr. Phil’s show who asked her why and she said, “I was really annoyed that Corona was getting more publicity than me.” She went on to say that did it for clout. She, like so many of us on social media, become addicted to likes, views and follows. We have assigned value to people based on these things. The more of them you get, the more you’re considered an influencer. Because it feeds our ego, if people start losing followers, people start to do crazy things like licking a toilet seat on an airplane to get them back. This isn’t a phenomenon that’s just started. It’s been around for thousands of years.

In John 12, Jesus had been in ministry for 3 years and crowds followed Him. They wanted to see the next great miracle or even be a part of it like when He fed the 5,000. He continued to point people to God and repentance throughout His ministry. The Pharisees were livid that they were losing followers and clout and plotted to kill Him over it. Verse 43 says, “For they loved the glory that men could give them rather than the glory that came from God!” (TPT) Sounds familiar. However, we can contrast that with John the Baptist, who in John 3 was approached by his followers who were upset because people were leaving their ministry and “flocking to Jesus.” In verse 30 he replied, “It is necessary for him to increase and for me to decrease.” He understood that we must get people to follow Jesus rather than us.

In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (NIV). Are you trying to get followers for yourself or for Jesus? Are you following people or following Jesus? These questions get to the heart of our ego and remind us of what our purpose is. We can easily get caught up in the madness of trying to get more followers and then start doing ridiculous things when we lose them. If our goal is to follow Jesus and to get others to follow Him more than they follow us, then it’s hard to fall into that trap. John the Baptist understood the assignment. It’s not about us. It’s about Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with clout, being an influencer and getting millions of views as long as it’s not controlling your perceived worth and driving your life. Don’t just try to get people to follow you. Get them to follow Jesus instead.

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September 7, 2023 · 5:30 AM

A Useless Life

Have you ever considered what your epitaph might say? There are some pretty unique ones out there like Merv Griffin’s that says, “I will not be right back after this message.” Others are more sentimental expressing love for family. Some denote anger because they felt abandoned in their final days by those they loved. Epitaphs can be as unique as the individual, but I shave never seen one that reads, “Here lies a person who lived a useless life.” However, the truth is that what’s not done for eternity and others is often useless. The last thing I would ever want is to have lived my life only to get to Heaven and find out my life had been useless for God’s Kingdom.

The book of Titus is not a book most of us know well. However, in it Paul gives instructions on the importance of discipleship and teaching others how to live for God. In his closing statements, in Titus 3:14, Paul writes, “Our people must learn to spend their time doing good, in order to provide for real needs; they should not live useless lives” (GNT). Another translation says, “unproductive lives.” God’s idea of a productive and useful life is one that helps others find Him, provides for those in need and brings people into a mature faith. I know that doesn’t encompass all of it, but Paul’s message to Titus was that he should be doing these things and helping other believers to do them as well.

1 Corinthians 3:13 says, “And the quality of each person’s work will be seen when the Day of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone’s work; the fire will test it and show its real quality.” That Fire will reveal whether we lived useful or useless lives. Every one of us will stand before Jesus on that day with our lives and the things we did presented to Him as an offering. Will the things you’re doing now survive that fire? We must live our lives with that fire in mind. There’s an old poem by C.T. Studd that reminds us, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” If you haven’t been living with the end in mind, you can start today and still have an offering that will survive that fire and show your life wasn’t useless.

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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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August 31, 2023 · 5:30 AM

An Open Hand

To me, one of the most challenging things God has spoken to anyone in Scripture is in Genesis 12:1. “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you’” (NLT). He was 75 years old at the time. He was well established, and yet God asked him to pack everything up and go to a destination that would be shown to him at a later time. His faith in action is inspiring to me. The Bible later says that his faith was counted at righteousness. That’s a faith we should all aspire to have.

Fast forward to the New Testament and Jesus spoke something very similar to all of us. In Luke 14:33 Jesus said, “So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.” Every one of us who follows Christ is given the same call that went out to Abram. I believe it’s God’s reminder to us that this place is not our home. Everything we have here is temporary and we can’t take it with us. We must be willing to let go of earthly things so we can receive from God the spiritual things He has for us. We can only do that if we have an open hand.

My wife and I try to be intentional with keeping an open hand with the possessions we have. When your hands are open to God, He can place things in them and take things out of them whenever He wants. Faith like Abraham’s is trusting God with all you have and with the direction of your life. You may not get to know the destination, but you still have to pack up and leave if He asks to walk away from everything that’s familiar to you. God’s greatest blessings are stored up for those who are willing to give Him whatever He asks for and for those who follow Him wherever He leads. What are you willing to let go of should God ask for it? Are you holding onto to earthly things too tightly? Pray that God would help you keep an open hand and heart then watch what He does.

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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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August 30, 2023 · 5:44 AM

Guarding The Seed

One of the most exciting things in life is when God puts a vision in your heart of where He wants to lead you and how He wants to use you. For most of us, we’re so excited that we want to share that with someone. What often happens is that the people whom you think would encourage you and be excited with you about it are often the ones who will discourage you from doing it. They’ll either blow it off, tell you why it can’t happen or outright oppose it. The enemy kills more seeds this way than in any other. Your disappointment turns into lack of moving forward and the vision goes dormant. Remember the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy that which God plants in you. Protect it until it has taken root.

In Genesis 37 we read the story of Joseph. One night God gave him a dream where he and his brothers were tying up grain when his stood up and their bowed to his. The next day he was so excited about this vision he told his brothers. They mocked him for the dream. When he dreamed that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed to him, he told them again. This time his father scolded him for the dream God gave him. His brothers grew jealous of the dream God had given him, began to hate him and started planning to kill him over it. Even thought they sold him into slavery and he went to prison for years, God accomplished the dream He gave him. When things were darkest in his life, God was still growing the seed the enemy tried to steal and was positioning Joseph for it to come to pass.

In 1 Timothy 6:20 Paul warned Timothy of this very thing. He wrote, “Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge” (NLT). To guard it well you will first need to purpose in your heart to follow God’s vision and plan before you tell others what God has planted. You need to begin moving in the direction of the vision and acting on it. When the people you respect and love say opposing words, guard the seed and remember your promise to God to fulfill it. The larger the dream, the greater the opposition. Even if you feel like the seed has been stolen in this way, trust God’s plan like Joseph. It may be dark now, but that’s the condition a seed needs in order to grow. God does not take back His gifts nor His callings (Romans 11:29). Begin watering that seed and guard it well. God is still working.

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August 29, 2023 · 5:41 AM

Burden Bearing

When someone is going through a tough time or has even lost someone close to them, we usually say, Let me know if you need anything.” Has anyone ever taken you up on that? I haven’t. The person going through it quite honestly doesn’t know what they need and are often not in the right state to be asking. What they need is someone who will help them carry the load and take a few things off their plate. They need someone who won’t just say that and leave. Someone who will anticipate what they need, sit there in the silence with them and walk through the struggle with them. That’s what we’re called to do and I’ve been blessed to have people do that with me.

In 1 Chronicles 23, David was living in the wilderness on the run. He heard a town was being attacked and went to save it. Then he heard that Saul was on his way to kill him so he headed back for the wilderness. While being hunted by Saul, his best friend Jonathan found him and came to encourage him. In verse 16 he said, “Don’t be afraid. My father Saul won’t be able to harm you. He knows very well that you are the one who will be the king of Israel and that I will be next in rank to you” (GNT). I love that he met David in the wilderness where David was. He didn’t send a message from afar. He then gave him words of encouragement and affirmation along with a reminder of God’s promise to help in his time of trouble. The Bible said these two loved each other like brothers and this was a time when they showed that love.

Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]” (AMP). What is the law of Christian love? To love your neighbor as yourself. Part of that is helping your neighbor carry their burdens. It will require more than platitudes to do this. It may require time, effort and energy to help someone through a crisis. While we can’t carry everyone’s burden, list important to listen for the Lord to direct you to those who need your help, otherwise you will be exhausted. Ask God to show you who needs your help in carrying their burden, then go and do something. They won’t know what to tell you they need many times. In those cases be proactive. Clean the house, provide a meal, watch the kids, sit and listen. Whatever God puts on your heart, do it out of love to encourage them and strengthen them.

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