Tag Archives: christian living

July 14, 2025 · 5:25 AM

Standing For Righteousness

About a hundred years after King David died, one of his descendants named Jehoshaphat took the throne of Israel. He inherited a divided and distracted kingdom. He had the choice to lead with courage and conviction or compromise. He chose to lead God’s way no matter what. His decisions weren’t easy or popular at times. In fact, he removed his grandmother from her place in the palace because of her idolatrous influence on the people. He wasn’t driven by what was popular politically but led with moral conviction based on the precepts that God had given them to live by. He understood that you can’t lead people to God while tolerating what pulls them away from Him. He loved his family, friends and nation enough to speak the truth and do whatever it took to stand for righteousness in an unrighteous generation.

The love God calls us to show is one that calls people out of their sin rather than to accept it. He is looking for leaders like Jehoshaphat who will stand up in their generation to lead with conviction of what is right and what is wrong. 2 Chronicles 17:6 says, “He was deeply committed to the ways of the Lord” (NLT). He wasn’t just passionate about God’s Word, he was bold enough to stand for righteousness when the culture around him was opposed to it. He taught people the truth and called them to live holy lives. He also demonstrated this commitment in his own life. Because of his courage and leadership, the nation turned back to God. 

He faced the same pressure to fit in than to stand out that we do. Like him, we must identify what is distracting us and pulling us away from God first. Once he got his heart right, he then found the boldness to stand up to the culture around him. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” We must keep our eyes on Jesus who showed us how to love with grace and truth. He will strengthen you and give you the courage to stand up for Him so you can lead others to salvation.

Photo by Hannah Reding on Unsplash

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July 11, 2025 · 5:45 AM

Deliverance

The Bible has the theme of deliverance running through it. From the Children of Israel being delivered from Egypt to the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace to the cross. God desires that you would be free from sin, sickness, oppression and any other kind of bondage. I love how Galatians 5:1 reminds us that it was for freedom that Christ set us free. We are not to return to the bondage that He delivered us from. The Biblical meaning of deliverance is to draw you out of or to rescue you. He has delivered us from sin and He will continue to deliver us from anything that would hold us back from the freedom He gives.

Here are some Bible verses on deliverance.

1. Consider my affliction and deliver me, For I do not forget Your law.

Psalms 119:153 NKJV

2. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Matthew 6:13 ESV

3. I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will feel my presence in your time of trouble. I will deliver you and bring you honor.

Psalms 91:15 TPT

4. Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

2 Timothy 4:18 NLT

5. In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; Incline Your ear to me and save me.

Psalms 71:2 AMP

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July 10, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Just Do It…Again

Have you ever had to start over at square one? It’s one of the most frustrating things there are. After you’ve done the work and made progress, something happens and you have to start over. I’ve had to do that in life, with dreams God has given me, with work and in relationships. I don’t have many pet peeves, but doing work I’ve already done is one of mine. It’s redundant, but I’ve learned to not look at what I’m having to do over. Instead I focus on the outcome. The work is worth the payoff in the end.

After Isaac inherited all of Abraham’s wealth and land, people became jealous and didn’t like him. They poured dirt into the wells that Abraham had dug and forced him to leave that area. Genesis 26:17-18 says, “So Isaac left. He camped in the valley of Gerar and settled down there. Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham’s death. And he renamed them, using the original names his father had given them” (MSG).

I’m sure Isaac was frustrated, but he did the work anyway. I believe that’s what you and I need to think about today. You may be frustrated at how clogged up life is at the moment. You may feel like you’re at square one with the dreams God planted in you. Don’t quit or give up. Do the work with gladness and push forward. There is a reward and times of refreshing coming, but you’re going to have to do the work. It may require sacrificing other things, spending more time in prayer, reading the Bible or fasting, but God’s rewards for you are on the other side of your obedience. Pick up a shovel and start digging.

Photo by Lucas van Oort 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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July 8, 2025 · 5:33 AM

Hope Beyond The Moment

Hope is fuel for an aching soul. I’ve been in some hopeless situations where daily I was looking for the smallest glimmer of hope. Just a little bit would give me energy and increase my faith. It’s in times like those that I also learned my hope lies beyond my current circumstances look like. My true hope comes from the Lord. His report is greater than anything I can see with my physical eyes. It’s in those hopeless situations that I have to activate my faith in God and lean into Him because He is the ultimate authority.

In Romans 4, Paul is using Abraham as an example of someone who had hope in a hopeless situation. Verse 18 says, “Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, ‘That’s how many descendants you will have!’” (NLT) He trusted God over his circumstances and held onto hope when everything else told him that God’s promise was an impossibility. The next verse said his faith didn’t weaken as he waited for God to fulfill what He said. His example to us is something we can emulate and strive for as we face situations where there is no reason to hope.

Paul goes in In Romans 5:5 to say, “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” Just like Abraham’s faith grew stronger, ours can to in whatever we face. In Christ, there is always hope. When we face the toughest of circumstances, our faith has the greatest opportunity to grow. God uses situations to produce in us character traits, faith and hope. The hope we have in Him is the hope that will not disappoint even when whatever we’re facing doesn’t go according to our plan or desires. Our hope in Him can still remain strong because it goes beyond the moment. Our hope and faith are eternal.

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July 7, 2025 · 5:29 AM

The Wilderness Of Preparation

There have been times in my life when things were clicking and moving quickly. God’s plan for me was gaining ground so fast as if it were making up for lost time. Then without warning, things would come to a screeching halt. In those seasons I would wonder if I did something wrong or if I made God mad. He would seem to be silent during those times too. These periods would last days, weeks , months and even years. It made me think that the wilderness I was in was a place of punishment. However, I’ve learned that those seasons in the wilderness are periods of preparation for what’s coming.

In Exodus, we read the story of Israel being delivered from Egypt. We don’t know how long the period of the plagues were, but there were instructions for the tenth plague. In chapter 12 verse 11 God told them, “These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover” (NLT). Freedom came quickly and they took off in the middle of the night. They hurried toward the Promised Land. God parted the Red Sea and met them at Sinai. Then the entered the wilderness of preparation for 40 years. God had moved them out of Egypt, but He had to get the Egypt out of them before they were ready to possess the land.

In 2 Corinthians 4:17 Paul reminds us, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” God uses periods of troubles, set backs and aimless wandering to produce in us the things we need. The longer we sit and complain in these seasons, the longer it will take to get out of. They are to remove things from our lives that we can’t carry with us into the next season and to produce character traits we will need. The wilderness isn’t to necessarily punish you for mistakes as much as it is intended to prepare you and produce things in you that can’t be brought about any other way.

Photo by Nathan McBride on Unsplash

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July 2, 2025 · 5:08 AM

Productive In Every Season

In every season, farmers are doing something to get the most production out of their plants and trees. In one season they prune in order to create new growth opportunities. In another season they work the soil giving it what it needs so that the plant can grow and produce healthy fruit. In one season they wait and let God do the unseen work. Finally there’s harvest season where they reap the rewards of all they’ve been doing. Harvest time is the result of their productivity in the other seasons.

In the late chapters of Genesis, we read the story of Joseph. He went through several seasons himself. He was planted in his father’s house and tended to by him. There was a season of pruning by his brothers and the Egyptians where he lost things and people in his life. There was a season of waiting where he felt forgotten in prison. There was also a harvest time where Pharaoh called for him and he interpreted dreams no one else could. He was given the position of being second in command of Egypt. It didn’t happen overnight. Instead it was the culmination of trusting God in the other seasons. The productivity in the other seasons produced a great harvest.

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). I don’t if you’re in the waiting season, the pruning season, the soil working season or harvest season. Whatever one you’re in, keep serving and trusting in the Lord. The harvest will come at the appointed time. Don’t grow weary in your work. You will reap the harvest at just the right time that God has appointed (Galatians 6:9). Keep tilling. Keep planting. Keep fertilizing and watering. Keep being still before the Lord. Be faithful in this season and God will do His part to bring about the harvest.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.

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June 30, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Remain In Christ

One of the Scriptures that has always stood out to me is Romans 11:17. It says, “But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree” (NLT). I’m no gardener, but the idea of being grafted in has always intrigued me. To be grafted in means we had a clean cut from our old life, we’ve been tightly bound to a new source and we receive nourishment from the new root. The continuous flow of sap from the new source is what helps us bear fruit. 

In John 15:5 Jesus said plainly, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” The Greek word for “remain” is meno which means to live in a constant, uninterrupted state. Jesus was telling us that a life with Him is not a place we visit one or twice a week, but a place where we live constantly if we want to bear fruit. He went on in this chapter to tell us to remain rooted in His Word (7), to remain in His love (9) and to obey His commands (10j so we can bear much fruit. We can’t bear fruit unless we live in a constant, uninterrupted state connected to Him.

What kind of fruit should you bear in your life as a result of this grafting? Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law” (AMP). Notice that fruit isn’t a reflection of our efforts, but of His presence within us that comes from remaining in Him. Your life will bear the fruit of the root and tree that you’re connected to because they are your source. Where are you drawing your daily life from? Are you remaining in His presence daily? When we remain in Him, we will bear fruit in every season of life. 

Photo by Josie Weiss on Unsplash.

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June 26, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Watering Seeds

For the past few months we’ve been driving to Dallas. Along the way, there is a stretch of farmland where people are growing fields of corn. As the summer has progressed, some of these fields went from green to having some brown spots to turning yellow. The drought did a number on some fields. In a few instances, we’d see a dry field next to a green one. We would be sad about them losing an entire crop, but also see that the neighboring crop was full. They both went through the same drought, but one farmer watered their crops and the other didn’t.

Through the New Testament, Jesus often referred to us as farmers and seed spreaders. He talked about our return on those seeds as well when it came to harvest time. However, there may be some fields you’ve tilled and planted without seeing a harvest yet. I’d like to encourage you to take the step of watering them. 1 Corinthians 3:7 says, “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow” (NLT). Watering is part of the process many of us forget about. Seeds don’t grow to maturity and crops don’t produce unless they’re watered regularly.

Years ago, I heard Doug Stringer with SomebodyCares.org say, “Prayer is water for the seeds you plant.” In Jewish tradition, after Passover, they pray for dew to cover the ground where their crops are planted. Then as Sukkot passes, they pray for rain at harvest time. These festivals were created by God and remind us that we need to pray for God to water your seeds and to cause them to grow. He’s reminding us that our work isn’t done once we’ve planted seeds. If you’re waiting on a harvest from seeds you’ve planted and are wondering what’s taking so long, start watering them through prayer. Your seeds are not dead. They could be just waiting on some water.

Photo by Elibet Valencia Muñoz 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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June 25, 2025 · 5:33 AM

The Dominion Mandate

In Genesis 1:28 one of the first directives God gives mankind is a dominion mandate over the earth. That word dominion means to exercise authority, to make productive through the cultivation process and to steward well what had been given to them. I believe that mandate continues to this day, but also extends to the areas of our lives and gifts God has given us. Imagine how your life would change if you exercised authority over your thoughts, your flesh and your time. What would change if you began to cultivate the relationships God has given you, your finances, resources and talents? We are called to be stewards of all God has given us.

I love the story of Nehemiah. He did all these things well because he took the dominion mandate seriously. He was a cupbearer to the king. He cultivated that relationship to the point that the king financed his calling. When he returned to Jerusalem, he found that the walls were in torn down with rubble everywhere. He exercised authority over the situation and the people responded. They took what was broken and rebuilt the walls of the city in a short amount of time. The city had not been productive and couldn’t grow because of the lack of protection. By stewarding his vision, organizing the people and taking dominon over the situation, Jerusalem became a vibrant city again.

Proverbs 13:23 says, “Abundant food is in the fallow (uncultivated) ground of the poor, But [without protection] it is swept away by injustice” (AMP). There is so much untapped potential in our lives because we fail to take dominion and leave it uncultivated. There are places in our lives that are like Jerusalem before Nehemiah showed up. They’re without protection and need the walls rebuilt. Where in your life do you need to begin taking dominion? What do you need to cultivate in order to change fallow ground into fertile soil? Where do you need to be exercising your God given authority? You have been given a dominion mandate by God. Don’t settle for fallow for fallow ground into the land God has given you.

Photo by Mark Stebnicki on Pexels.

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June 24, 2025 · 5:32 AM

Repentance And Obedience

Author Max Lucado shared the story of being on an airplane years ago. Somewhere in the middle of the flight the captain came over the speakers to alert the passengers about upcoming turbulence. He told everyone to take their seats and buckle up. A minute or so later, he made the announcement again. Max thought it was weird because everyone sat down. Then the pilot made the announcement again a few minutes later and added, “This includes the lady in the restroom.” An embarrassed, red faced woman came out, found her seat and took her seat. His point was that like the pilot, God will do whatever it takes to get our attention to get us to repent or to get ys where we need to go, even if it’s embarrassing or hurts.

It makes me think of Jonah. God called him to a city he didn’t want to go to because he didn’t like the people. Instead of obeying, he bought a ticket on a ship going the opposite direction. God sent a great storm, but Jonah didn’t repent. Instead, he dug his heels in. The storm got worse and the crew cast lots to find out Jonah was at fault. Again, instead of repenting, he asked them to cast him in the sea. He was going to die before he obeyed. However, God prepared a big fish to swallow him and take him back so he could obey. During his three days in the belly of the fish, he repented. The fish spit him out on the beach, and Jonah obeyed.

Acts 3:19 says, “And now you must repent and turn back to God so that your sins will be removed, and so that times of refreshing will stream from the Lord’s presence” (TPT). Peter spoke this truth and it’s relevant to us today. What has God asked you to do that you haven’t done yet or are running from? A friend told me last week that simple obedience is the highest form of worship. If you’re running from what God called you to, it’s time to repent and obey. It’s better to do it before He tries to get your attention. I can speak from experience on this one myself. Don’t delay your obedience another day. God is reaching out to remind you that your obedience matters.

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