Tag Archives: Christianity

October 25, 2023 · 5:41 AM

Living Free

There was a worker at the LA Zoo who tells the story of some red tailed hawks they received from the police. They had been brought in cages and told to take care of them until the trial. As time went by, he would see those hawks in cages and it would break his heart. He didn’t know when or if the trial would ever take place. He felt the bigger crime was keeping these birds locked up in cages. Finally he decided to unlock the cages and let the birds out even if it cost him his job. Once the birds were out, they just stood there on the table. He shewed them and tried to scare them into flying, but nothing worked. They had gotten used to the prison of cages and refused to fly away even though he had set them free. He finally gave up and let them back in their cages.

In the book of Exodus we read how the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years. Even though they were numerous, they had adjusted to life in the prison of Egypt. God sent Moses to liberate them and to take them to the Promised Land. On the way there, they kept complaining how things were easier in Egypt. They began to resent their freedom and question God. They started fantasizing about life in Egypt because it was what they knew. They preferred predictability over purpose. They were hoping that freedom brought convenience, but found that it took work. Their complaints reached God who had set them free. He provided food and water for them, but still they complained. With this attitude they could never fight the battles needed to dispel the nations living in the place God was leading them. Instead of taking them back to Egypt, He kept them in the desert until a generation came that was willing to fight for the freedom and promises of God.

Galatians 5:1 says, “It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed]” (AMP). It’s easy to look at the hawks and the children of Israel and think they should have just spread their wings and enjoyed their freedom. It’s another thing to look in the mirror and see if you are still standing by your cage wanting back in. If God has set you free, it’s time to fly. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to cost you discipline, time and effort. God has broken open the doors that held you in and has a place of promise for you. Are you reminiscing about the predictability of the past? Have you been fantasizing about how easy it was before? Those are the lies of the enemy trying to draw you back in and to make you ineffective in a desert land. It’s time to stand firm, armor up and take the land of freedom that God has set before you.

Photo by Taylor Deas-Melesh on Unsplash

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October 24, 2023 · 5:42 AM

Blessing Your Enemy

My son said he and his friends had been discussing a question and he wanted to ask us too. He said, “Would you rather be trapped in a room with someone you love or hate?” Before we could answer, he started sharing some of his friend’s answers. He then looked at my wife and asked for her answer. She told him it didn’t matter to her because she would just sleep most of the time.” He laughed, looked at me and said, lI know it wouldn’t matter to you either. You’re so extroverted, you’d make the person who hated you your friend!” I told him that I would bless them until they had no choice but to like me. We had a good laugh as I continued to ponder the question.

In 2 Kings 6, the Arameans were at war with Israel. The prophet Elisha knew when and where they were going to attack and would tell Israel’s king. He would then change their strategy to be prepared. After this happened several times, the king of Aram got mad and thought he had a spy. They to,d him it was Elisha who was revealing their location, so he decided to go after him. He surrounded Elisha with his entire army, then Elisha asked God to make the entire army blind. He then led them to the king of Israel and asked God to open their eyes. They saw they were doomed as the king of Israel asked if he could kill them all. Elisha told him not to and to feed them instead. Verse 23 says that the king of Israel made them a great feast then sent them on their way. The Arameans stayed away from Israel after that because of the kindness shown to them

In Luke 6, Jesus was giving the Sermon on the Mount teaching people what God really wanted. In verses 27-28 He said, “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies and do something wonderful for them in return for their hatred. When someone curses you, bless that person in return. When others mistreat and harass you, accept it as your mission to pray for them” (TPT). God’s way is different than our way. We tend to retaliate or get even with someone who hates us. God’s way is to love them and to pray for them. It’s hard to hate someone you’re asking God to bless. It’s also hard to hate someone who is blessing you. Remember that hate is not from God. Love is. How we act shows who our father is according to Jesus. How have you been responding to the people who hate you, your beliefs or actions? Try praying for them first. Then ask God to show you how to bless them in such a way that they have no choice but turn turn away from hate.

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October 23, 2023 · 5:46 AM

Returning To The Shepherd

A sheep’s greatest need is not food and water. Their greatest need is a shepherd. They cannot survive without one. They naturally flock together, but without a shepherd they tend to get distracted at times and wander from the heard. They’re also a defenseless breed. Without a shepherd to protect them, they are easy targets for predators. Also sheep must be sheared at least once a year. Without a shepherd doing that, their wool will get matted up and become too heavy to bear. They will either succumb to the weight of it or get sick from the diseases that wil be acquired from the matted wool. The last reason why sheep can’t survive without a shepherd is because they wouldn’t be able to find pasture or water for themselves. Without a shepherd they would eventually starve to death.

In Mark 6, Jesus and the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee. Verse 34 says, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things” (ESV). Jesus saw the people and knew they couldn’t survive without a shepherd and needed spiritual food. After teaching them, the disciples saw they were hungry and asked the Good Shepherd to send them away to find their own food. Jesus, who was trying to teach the disciples how to shepherd people, told them to feed these sheep. They replied they didn’t have enough money to feed them all and they only had five loves of bread an two fish. In the Good Shepherd’s hands, that was enough to care for a flock of five thousand. These sheep need their shepherd to provide spiritual and physical food.

Zachariah 1:3 says, “Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.” Have you wandered away from the flock and the Shepherd? We all do it at times. We get distracted by the cares of this world and we sometime put a greater priority on earthly things. You need the Good Shepherd if you’re going to survive. You need the flock of your local church as well with God’s under shepherd. You can’t survive on bread alone. I know because I’ve tried it before. God is calling to each of us, searching for us to bring us back into His flock. We need His loving care so we are not weighed down by the cares of this world. We need to return to Him so we can find lie down in green pastures and rest beside streams of water. Our natural place is with Him. If you’ve been separated for whatever reason, call out to Him today and return. He is a loving shepherd who won’t be mad at you. Instead, He has compassion for you each time He sees you and wants to be your shepherd.

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October 19, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Intimate Conversations

Whenever I travel for work, it’s important to stay in contact with my wife. Sometimes when we end up talking I’m at the airport or I’m at dinner or while I’m with coworkers. It’s hard to have good conversations in those places. It’s often noisy, people are trying to get my attention or I’m trying to find where I’m going so I’m somewhat distracted. The best conversations are when I’m away from all the noise in the quiet of my hotel room. Only then can we truly have interruption free conversations where it doesn’t have to be quick snippets.

Luke 5:16 says, “As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer” (MSG). Having intimate conversations with His father while He was here was important to Him. People were constantly vying for His attention and needing a miracle. He just wanted to have a quiet, uninterrupted conversation. Many times He had those quick conversations in front of people, but very often we read where Jesus went to a desolate place to pray. If it was important for Him to do that, how much more important for us?

At one point, Jesus told us to go into our closet to pray. I don’t know that He meant that literally. I think what He was saying was that we need to find a quiet place where we can have some uninterrupted prayer time. We can’t always go to an out of the way place to pray, but we can find space to get alone with Him. It may be a closet or it could be before everyone wakes up or after they go to bed, but we each need to find time to get alone with God so we can have intimate conversations with Him. I believe the quality of our relationship with Him hinges on it.

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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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October 16, 2023 · 5:47 AM

Seeking God’s Plan

We recent,y had a guest speaker at church who is also a professor at a Christian college. He told the story of how one of his classes asked him, “What do you think Christians struggle with most?” He then posed it to the audience and fielded responses. Some said loving others, obedience, overcoming temptation, etc. All the usual suspects were called out. He then said he asked his class for two days to ponder the question. As he thought about it, there wasn’t an answer for Christians as a whole because Christianity is made up of unique individuals with their own propensities and struggles. As I’ve thought about my own personal answer to that question, I’ve also thought about us as a whole and how we are good about praising God, but then forgetting what He’s done in the past, as well as, making decisions without involving Him or seeking His plan for us.

In 1 Samuel 13 King Saul been king for a couple of years and had seen God miraculously deliver him and the army in battle. In this instance, he had attacked a garrison of the Philistine army and then called the warriors to him for battle. While the arrived, he waited for Samuel to arrive to sacrifice and to seek God’s guidance and blessing. He began to see the Philistine army arrive in force and panicked. He made the sacrifice himself and the kingdom was taken from him. He acted much like israel did when leaving Egypt. They had seen God’s hand deliver them with the plagues, yet they forgot and began to doubt God at the Red Sea. Psalm 106:12-13 says, “Then Israel believed in [the validity of] His words; They sang His praise. But they quickly forgot His works; They did not [patiently] wait for His counsel and purpose [to be revealed regarding them]” (AMP). In each of these instances the consequences of forgetting and acting without waiting on God had dire consequences.

Proverbs 19:21 says, “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail” (NLT). Is this something you struggle with too? The consequences are too dire for us to continue trying to execute our own plan without seeking what God’s plan is. There’s too much at stake when we forget what He’s done in the past for us. James 1:5 tells us He will give us wisdom if we seek Him for it. In Matthew 6 Jesus told us to seek God’s kingdom first then everything else will fall into place. Let’s work on keeping our eyes and hearts focused on God even when our current circumstances want to make us doubt and forget what He’s done for us in the past. Let’s ask Him what His plan is for us and then give Him the freedom to execute it because His plan and purpose for us is what’s going to succeed. You probably won’t overcome your struggle overnight, but you can focus on getting a little bit better each day.

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October 10, 2023 · 5:43 AM

Motivated By Love

Think of some things you’ve done and accomplished. What was the motivation behind them? What drove you to accomplish them? I’ve been motivated by money in order to get something done. I’ve been motivated to be the best so much that it pushed me to my limits. I’ve been motivated by wanting to prove people wrong. I’ve also been motivated by my pride so that I was seen and praised. However, to be motivated by love is completely different. That causes us to go above and beyond. When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus told them that it was to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Then He said that the second one was to love others as we love ourselves. Love for God and others should motivate our actions.

In 2 Samuel 9 King David asked if there was anyone left alive in the House of Saul whom he could show kindness to because of his love for Jonathan. They told him that one of Jonathan’s sons had survived, but he had become crippled while being carried from his home once word came out that the king and Jonathan had been killed. This son, Mephibosheth, had been living in fear since he was young that the new king would find him and kill him to end the line of Saul. When he was summoned to the king, I’m sure he was terrified as he arrived. However, love casts out fear, and what he discovered was a man motivated by love and not fear of losing his kingdom. He was invited to stay there and sit at the kings table all the days of his life. This act of love from David pulled Mephibosheth from a life of hiding and obscurity into the life he was born into. He lived a life of abundance from then on and David was blessed because of his act of love.

1 Corinthians 16:14 says, “Let everything you do be done in love [motivated and inspired by God’s love for us]” (AMP). We love because God loved us first. We are to be motivated by that love in everything we do. Going back to my initial question, what’s the motivation behind what you’re planning to do? If it’s anything other than love, it’s time to reconsider how being motivated by love would change your actions. It’s not easy to do everything with a love that unselfishly seeks the betterment of others. We have to fight our selfish nature that wants to do things that are motivated by making you feel better, that benefit you and or bring attention to you. That is the opposite of what the Bible is asking us to do. Our motivating factors should be a love that honors God and benefits Him or honors and benefits others. It’s not easy, but it’s right.

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October 9, 2023 · 5:43 AM

Yielding To God’s Process

In high school I was on the varsity basketball team. At the beginning of each season coach would run us a lot to condition our body. He would make us do jumping exercises too so we could increase our vertical leap. It was after we were worn out that we would begin shooting practice. He wanted us in mid game condition so we could learn to shoot while our boys was tired. After that, we went through our plays and then ran some more. Finally, we had to make 100 free throws before we could leave. Coach always pushed us hard because he understood that while we had skills and talent, there was a gap from where we were to where we could be. His job was to increase our skills and our endurance which meant he had to push us.

Early in the Gospels we read where Jesus called the disciples to follow Him. Some were fishing when He asked them to give up catching fish so they could learn to fish for men. Matthew was in his tax collection booth when Jesus called and redeemed him. Each one he called was asked to give up their life, their routine and their normal life in order to learn from Him. They lived a nomadic life while they listened to each sermon, watched the compassion Jesus had and asked questions around the campfire at night. Jesus pushed these 12 men to be more than they were. He taught them, trained them and gave them opportunities to put into practice what He did. When He went to Heaven, they grew even more and turned the world upside down. It didn’t make sense to the outside observer, but because they had spent time with Jesus and submitted to being disciples, they changed the world.

Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now all discipline seems to be painful at the time, yet later it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who yield to it” (TPT). God sees potential in you and wants to help you reach that potential. There’s a gap between where you are right now and where you could be. In order to get there, you’re going to have to submit to His process of discipleship. You’re going to have to endure being uncomfortable, being pushed and stretched so that He can produce in you a harvest like you’ve never experienced. It starts with yielding to Him as the authority of your life. You must give Him control rather than just letting Him be a guide. Discipleship is sitting at His feet, learning from Him, giving up what you want for what He wants and accepting His plan over yours. Only then will you reach the potential He’s placed in you and bring in a harvest like never before.

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September 28, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Keep Failing

Several years ago I decided I was ready for the next step in my career. I wanted to be the General Manager of a retail store. I put on my suit, rehearsed answers of my achievements, thought of people I had helped get promoted and confidently walked into the interview. The District Manager followed the script for a little while then said, “I hate these questions. They don’t really tell me anything. Tell me about a time when you failed.” I sat there with a blank face. My heart was pounding. I thought, “A failure? Why does he want to know about my failures? Is he trying to keep me from the job?” As I searched for a good failure, I asked him to repeat the question. I then gave him a failure when everything turned out good, but he wasn’t satisfied. He wanted one where I crashed and burned because he wanted to see how I responded to it.

Our past failures are something that so many of us try to hide. In fact, we are so afraid of failure that we typically won’t ever put ourselves in a position to fail at doing something. We try to stick with what we know so that we’re always succeeding. What my District Manager wanted to see if I had learned that failure is the greatest teacher. It is also our path to grace. If we never fail, we have no need for grace. If we never try to do something beyond our abilities, we also keep our faith small by never trusting God to do something through us. God rarely calls us to do things that we can do in our own strength and abilities because He knows pride is always knocking on our door waiting to take credit for our successes. However, when we do things beyond our abilities, it forces us to seek and rely on Him.

James 1:5 says, “And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace” (TPT). God doesn’t ridicule your failures. He’s not waiting to strike you down when you fail either. He sees them as opportunities to grow us and to lavish His grace on us. When we’re called to something greater than our abilities, seek His wisdom first, then step out in faith and do it. If you fail, it doesn’t mean you didn’t hear God or that He didn’t come through for you. It quite often means you and God have two different definitions of failure and success. Don’t let what you think is a failure keep you down. Get back up, trust His grace and keep walking in faith because to keep playing things safe is truly a failure.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio.

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 24, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Working In Harmony

I grew up as the middle child of three boys. Like most siblings we fought over insignificant things and argued over just about anything. We often tried to get each other in trouble by tattling. Many times we would instigate arguments between the other two just to watch them fight. Like most siblings, we were competitive and were always trying to outdo each other. We had the same parents, but we had three very distinct personalities. As we matured, the fighting and arguing stopped. We learned to get along and how to help each other out. Even though we sometimes have disagreements, we don’t allow those to be reasons to separate us. We recognize those are personal choices and don’t try to force each other to live by each other’s personal rules.

Romans 14 has a lot to say about similar things. We as individuals and corporate bodies of churches often fight with each other over things the way siblings do. We find reasons to argue with each other even though we serve the same God. Instead of working together, the way a body should, we find problems with each other’s choices and interpretations that don’t line up with our own. Paul says those are signs of immaturity. Why are we fighting with each other trying to prove who’s right or better? We’re on the same side. When we look for differences, we’ll find them and be divided. We know that a house divided can’t stand, nor can it accomplish its great commission.

Paul encourages us in verse 19 by saying, “So then, make it your top priority to live a life of peace with harmony in your relationships, eagerly seeking to strengthen and encourage one another” (TPT). The foot is not more right than a hand because it walks instead of grabs. An eye is not greater than an ear because it sees rather than hears. We have differences because there are strengths in our differences. Let’s quit firing our weapons at each other, look for each other’s strengths and work together so that all may know Him. We must live in peace and harmony with each other as believers. The best way to do that is to seek to help, strengthen and encourage each other in the work God has called each of us to. It’s time we matured in our faith and worked in harmony with each other to accomplish His will instead of our own.

Photo by Chang Duong 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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August 16, 2023 · 5:37 AM

Opening The Door

I love stories where Jesus entered people’s homes. We get to see a different side of Jesus and how different people respond to it. In Luke 7 Jesus went into the home of a religious leader of the Pharisees named Simon. When Jesus sat down to eat, a woman from the neighborhood entered the home, anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume, wept tears on His feet and dried them with her hair. Simeon began to judge Jesus in his heart and doubt Him because a prophet should know this woman was a prostitute and not let her touch Him. Jesus responded that the man neglected Him by not extending normal customs to Jesus like greeting Him and anointing Him. This woman responded the way he should have and Jesus forgave her sins.

A few chapters later in Luke 19, Jesus entered Jericho with large crowds of people blocking the streets to see Him. That’s where we meet Zacchaeus who climbed up a tree to see Him. When Jesus saw him, He invited Himself over to his house. Zacchaeus was honored and the people were upset because of who Zacchaeus was. When Jesus entered his house Zacchaeus had a change of heart and offered to repay with interest the people he had stolen from. He also offered to give half of his wealth to the poor all because when he let Jesus come in, he let Him into his heart as well. In verse 9 Jesus responded, “Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham” (NLT). With that, Jesus restored Zacchaeus into the family.

In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” Do you hear Him knocking? Once He comes in, how will you respond? Many people like Jesus as a teacher, but never let Him in because that forces us to either judge Him or be changed by Him. We see what happens to people in these two stories. You can’t let Him in and be the same person. You will either dismiss Him or become like Him. He’s still standing outside your door knocking, waiting to be let into every area of your life. He wants to fellowship with you and bring about forgiveness, healing, restoration and life change to you. Will you let Him in or hold Him at a safe distance?

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