Tag Archives: christian living

November 20, 2023 · 5:52 AM

Finding Happiness

I saw an article in Psychology Today called “10 Simple Ways To Finding Happiness”. In it they told people to be around people you likes, find your true purpose and to do things you love. I’m sure it’s a lot of great advice, but it was all very self centered information. I then decided to Google “happiness definition”. It came up with lots of opinions, but the different dictionaries all had something very similar. They basically said that happiness is finding contentment with your current situation. It’s hard to find contentment when you’re current situation keeps going from bad to worse or if you’re constantly trying to find the silver lining. Our circumstances aren’t really a great place to look for contentment and happiness because they’re always changing.

Think of Joseph who had the coat of many colors. While he was at home as dad’s favorite, he found happiness despite what his brothers thought. Then they tried to kills him, but decided to throw him in a pit and rob him of his coat. From there, they sold him into slavery where he was taken to a foreign country. He worked hard for a wealthy man and life was good for a slave until he was accused of rape. Looking for contentment in those circumstances must have been difficult as he was thrown in prison where he sat for years. Somewhere in there he found his happiness in God and waited for God to intervene. In one day he went from prisoner to being second in command of Egypt. When his brothers arrived, he wasn’t mad or bitter because finally he understood God’s plan.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desire” (GNT). Where have you been seeking your happiness? If it’s in circumstances, you probably feel like you’ve been on a roller coaster of emotions. Instead we need to find contentment and happiness in God and in how He’s using our circumstances to shape us and place us. The character of God is love. That’s why He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). God has a plan and your current situation is part of it. He uses difficult times to shape us and to grow our faith. In the moment it can feel like you’re forgotten as Joseph, but God has never lost sight of you, nor has He forgotten you. Find your happiness and contentment in Him rather than your circumstances.

Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash

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November 16, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Living Stones

There’s a scripture I’ve read over many times and haven’t given much thought to until today. It’s 1 Peter 2:5 that says, “And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple” (NLT). If you think about what stones are and how they are used, a lot jumps out at you. Stones are movable, shapable, polishable and usable. These are all things God wants to do in our lives so that He can use us for His purposes. We all have a role to play in building His church of living stones. I don’t think it was by accident Peter used the term stone here. In fact, it was divinely inspired.

Think about what David picked up and used to slay the giant. It was a stone, five smooth ones to be exact. What did the Israelites take out of the Jordan river to build an altar to God so people would remember what He did? Stones. What was the Temple in the Old Testament built out of? You guessed it, stones. The Bible uses stones for many things. If you think about them as people, we’ll that’s the same things God wants to do with us as living stones. We are to be giant slayers, reminding people of all God has done and we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

The thing that all these stones had in common is that they were able to be used and given a purpose. Sometimes God has to shape us before He can place us exactly where we’ll be the most effective. Sometimes that means parts of our lives will be knocked off so we’ll fit. Sometimes we will have our rough edges sanded off so we’re smooth. No matter what, we must submit to God and His purposes so we can reach our potential. Otherwise we will be stuck in the ground going nowhere. Today, ask God how He wants to use you as a living stone and see what He does.

Photo by Karsten Winegeart 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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November 14, 2023 · 5:37 AM

Turning North

One of my favorite visual lessons to use in a group is to have everyone close their eyes and to then point north. What usually happens is you will have a room full of people pointing just about every direction including up. I then have them open their eyes to see where everyone is pointing. Immediately some start laughing, but others start trying to convince others they’re right. I then pull a compass out of my pocket and show them which way is north. I’ll ask them to again close their eyes and point to north. Most will point in the direction the compass did, but there will still be some who point in other directions. I tell them that if they don’t know which way north is, and you’re lost, it’s hard to get where you’re going.

All throughout the book of Jeremiah, Israel was lost. Each person was doing what was right in their own eyes and doing what they wanted. Even though they had the compass of The Law, they chose to go in different directions. In Jeremiah 18, God had Jeremiah watch a potter work with some clay. After making a piece of pottery, the potter didn’t like it, then crushed it and started over. Then, in verse 11, God said, “Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds” (ESV). He was telling them to repent, which means to change directions. He wanted them to turn north towards Him.

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide me and a light for my path” (GNT). God has given us the compass to this life through His Word. It will guide us in the direction of our life and in the choices we make. However, just like in the room full of people knowing which way north is, we still have to make the choice each day to point north or in a different direction. God always gives us a choice. If we head any direction but north, we risk facing the consequences of our actions. His way is the only right way to get north. His word lights the path so we can see where we’re going and also guides us in the paths of righteousness. It’s up to me and you to continually turn north when everything else is trying to get us to turn in different directions.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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November 13, 2023 · 5:54 AM

Life Transformation

One of our favorite types of shows to watch on TV are home renovations. There’s something beautiful and hopeful when you see these amazing professionals take a drab house no one wants and turn it into someone’s dream home. There are also shows where the home owner tries their own renovation. It’s usually a disaster. They had watched these shows where the professionals renovated and then tried to do it themselves. The house is in shambles, they’re over budget, over extended and ready to give up. Shows like that remind me that I can make small changes to the house, but I’m not qualified to take on an e tire renovation myself. It’s best to leave that to the ones who understand how houses are built and do it all the time.

Paul wrote about half of the New Testament, but before he became Paul, he was Saul. Saul was a person who hated Christians. In fact, he hunted them down and killed them in public. He was on a mission to destroy Christianity anywhere it spread. After he chased Christians out of Jerusalem, he was headed to Damascus to kill them. While on his way in Acts 9, he was met and blinded by Jesus. His life was completely transformed. The believers and Jews alike were perplexed by such a radical transformation in him. They couldn’t believe it was the same person. He went on to preach and share his story across the world of what God can do with a life that submits to its creator.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (ESV). When we give ourselves fully to Christ, He takes our old life and renovates it into something new. The old person we once were no longer exists. Our spirit is reborn and a transformation takes place. It’s not something we can do ourselves though. Only Christ who lives in us can transform us. We are no longer bound to our old life, it’s desires or it’s fate. I’ve seen several people whom God delivered and transformed instantly. I’ve also seen people who spend the rest of their life struggling to not go back to who they once were. I don’t know the difference, but I do know that the Creator knows what He’s doing, loves them both and has given them new life. Every renovation is different, yet each one starts with us submitting to the transformation.

Photo by Anuj Yadav on Unsplash

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November 9, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Productive Planting

Every spring there are big displays in home improvement stores selling seeds. I like to look through them to see if there’s anything we would like to try to grow. One one side of the packet you have a picture of what the seeds inside will produce. On the other side you have a color coded map that tells you where these seeds grow the best and then some instructions that tell you how deep to plant them, how far apart, when the best time of year to plant them is and how long it will take them to produce. The more closely you follow those directions, the more likely that your garden will produce something from the packet.

Most of the seeds we plant in life can’t be seen and aren’t physically put in the ground. There’s no packet that you can read to tell you where they will grow best, how long until they produce or when the best time to plant them is. When I was a kid, a popular saying in the church world was, “You’ll reap what you sow.” To me, it always seemed to have a negative connotation. They only brought it up when you weren’t doing the right thing. While it’s true that it works for those behaviors, it also works for the behaviors God wants to reinforce in our lives. The law of sowing and reaping was instituted in during creation when the Bible tells us that God planted a garden in the east. He didn’t speak the Garden of Eden into existence like most everything else.

As Christians, we need to pay attention to the things we are planting in our lives, the lives of others and into the world. We don’t have to worry about timing, location or season. 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures” (TPT). The seeds you’re sowing today are not in vain. They will produce whether you think it’s the right season to plant them or not. The law of sowing and reaping can only come into affect when you plan seeds. God is the one who makes them grow, not you. Don’t hold back in planting where God tells you to or when. Your planting will be productive through Him.

Photo by Ricardo IV Tamayo 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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November 8, 2023 · 5:45 AM

Giving God Your Ashes

A friend of mine, who has a green thumb, reached out to me recently. She said she had reached out to several people asking what kind of fire place they had. When everyone had a gas fireplace, she remembered that I have a BBQ pit. She then said, “I have a strange request. Can I have your ashes?” I told her that I had just smoked some meat recently and that she was welcome to the ashes. Then I asked why she needed ashes since it was just dust. She then told me how the oak trees in her yard were sick and how she could take the ashes from the trees I burned to make a paste that would heal her trees. I had never heard of that, but it made sense.

In the book of Ruth, there had been a famine in Israel and Naomi, along with her husband and two sons, had to move to a foreign land. When her sons grew up, her husband died. Her sons then married foreign women. About ten years later, her sins died without having kids. She decided to return to Israel and told her daughters in law to go home. Ruth decided to go with her though. When they entered Bethlehem, the people greeted Naomi (which means pleasant), but she told them to call her Mara (bitter) because she had lost everything except Ruth. That’s when Ruth realized they needed food and gleaned in Boaz’ field. Boaz married Ruth later and they had a son. The people rejoiced for Naomi and sang of her restoration and healing through Ruth and her grandson. God brought her out of the ashes and gave her new life.

Isaiah 61:3 says, “To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory” (NLT). If you’re looking at the ashes of what used to be your life, know that God can make beauty from them. He can restore your life to better than it once was. He will use the ashes to heal you and others. I’ve seen Him do it in my own life. I was left holding the ashes of everything in my life that I held dear, ready to give up, when God took the ashes and exchanged my despair for joy. The ashes of what once was are the soil God uses to create something new. Give Him your ashes and let Him create something beautiful.

Photo by David von Diemar on Unsplash

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November 7, 2023 · 5:43 AM

Opportunities To Grow

Every winter I prune back my crepe myrtle trees so they will grow tall and bloom in the spring. While I’m cutting back the branches, I wonder if they think I’m not a good caretaker because of the pain they’re going through. I wonder if they think that I don’t care what happens to them because they’re going through so much loss. Then I start to wonder why we do that to God. When things aren’t going right, when things cause us pain and when we suffer loss we wonder if God is good. We wonder if He even cares about us or sees the pain we’re experiencing. I’ve laid on the floor weeping in my most painful moments asking God to intervene when in fact He was. I couldn’t see it at the time, but He was pruning my life so I could grow and bloom like never before.

There are two stories in Mark that always get my attention. In Mark 4, Jesus and the disciples get in a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. A crazy storm erupts and the boat starts to sink. They realize Jesus is sleeping in the hull and wake Him. They said, “Don’t you care that we are about to die?” (GNT) Jesus, knowing they weren’t in real danger called the storm. Then a couple chapters Jesus told the disciples to cross the sea and He’d meet them. Another storm arose and threatened to sink the boat. Jesus then walked on the water. Mark 6:48 said it looked like He was going to pass them by. They were afraid and called out to Him. When He entered the boat, the storm stopped. In both of these instances, in both instances He tested their faith and used the opportunities to grow their trust in Him.

Psalm 23:4 says, “Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me. Your shepherd’s rod and staff protect me.” Just be a you’re a Christian m it doesn’t mean you aren’t going to walk through dark valleys. It doesn’t mean you aren’t going to experience loss or pain. What it does mean is that you will get to experience the grace of God when you need it most. He will be there with you in the darkness with His rod and staff even when you can’t see Him or feel Him. He works everything (every situation) out for your good. He is for you and will use every situation and opportunity to grow you. What the enemy intends for evil and destruction in your life, God uses as a place of growth. When the enemy tries to close the book on you, God starts a new chapter of hope. Don’t give up in the darkest of valleys. Let your faith arise because God is there and is doing something for your good giving you opportunities to grow.

Photo by Chris Buckwald on Unsplash

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November 2, 2023 · 5:30 AM

The Donkey In The Well

When I was a senior in high school, I went on my first mission trip. We drove deep into the heart of Mexico. At one point, we turned off the road into a dry creek bed. We drove down that creek bed for about twenty minutes and then we arrived in a small village to build a church. The people seemed to come out of nowhere to greet us. One day they took us to a deep well and told us about how a donkey had fallen in there and died. It took them several days to get it out, but by then the water had been polluted. They had to empty the well so they could get fresh, clean water again. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that story.

Proverbs 20:5 tells us that wisdom and counsel are deep within us like a well and that people of understanding will be able to draw them out. Then in Luke 6:45, Jesus said that we speak out of the abundance of our heart, meaning the things that are deep inside us come out of our mouth. Then in James 3:12, the author writes, “Is it possible that fresh and bitter water can flow out of the same spring? So neither can a bitter spring produce fresh water” (TPT). He’s talking about our words and how we speak. How can we speak words of healing if we are full of bitterness inside? How can we speak life if there our inner well is polluted?

Each one of us have donkeys that fall into our well and die causing our heart to be polluted. The words we speak to others reveal whether we’ve taken it out and refreshed our well or not. I’ve learned that we empty our polluted well by confessing our sins, faults and inner struggles to God and to others (James 5:16). We confess them to God for forgiveness and to people for healing. When’s the last time you looked deep into the well that you’re drawing out of? What kind of water are you giving other people? Take some time today to get alone with God, do some self examination and get healed so that you can produce fresh, clean water that others can drink from.

Photo by Gary Meulemans 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 31, 2023 · 5:46 AM

An Abundant Mindset

If you’ve ever been around someone from the depression era, you’ve seen what a scarcity mindset looks like. Very little is thrown away. They utilize everything to its limit and they’re very frugal. They probably still have their lunch money from the third grade. They never feel like they have enough and it can affect their generosity. By contrast, if you’ve been around anyone born in the last forty years,you’ve seen someone with an abundance mindset. They seem to place little value on what they own because they can just get another one. They’re very free with their money and live in the moment. To them there will always be more than enough. It’s amazing how these mindsets affect every area of life, including generosity, contentment and gratitude.

The disciples had a scarcity mindset. They blocked the little children from coming to Jesus because there wasn’t enough of Him to go around. When they told Jesus to send the people away to eat and He told them to feed them, they looked at how much money it would take and it wasn’t enough. When they had five loaves and two fish, it wasn’t enough. However, Jesus had an abundance mindset and He wanted to teach them a lesson. He took what little they had to show them if they were generous and if they trusted Him, they would have more than enough. After feeding the five thousand, He sent them out with baskets to gather the leftovers. Each disciple had a basket full. It was enough for them to keep giving. He was trying to change their mindset to one of trust and abundance.

In Luke 6:38 Jesus said, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (NLT). Again He was teaching us that we have to get past our scarcity mindset to receive the blessings He has for us. The measure we give is the same measure He uses to bless us with. If we have a scarcity mindset in giving, we will miss out on the abundance of God. If we never feel like we have enough and hold tight to everything entrusted to us, we’re like the guy who buried His talent in the sand. That’s what a scarcity mindset looks like. God will supply all YOUR needs according to HIS riches. It’s not about how much you have. It’s about how much do you trust Him with what you have. When you take what little you have and put it in His hands, it becomes more than enough. Pray about what that looks like for you and ask Him for an abundant mindset so you can experience the overflow.

Photo by Paz Arando on Unsplash

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