Tag Archives: Christianity

July 3, 2023 · 5:43 AM

Occupational Ministry

There are times when we all forget that our occupation is often a call from God. We look at pastors, missionaries and the like and think that they’re fulfilling their calling, but miss the fact that God has wired each of us differently for different occupations. When I feel this way, I thunk of Casper Ten Boom, Corrie’s father. He was a watch maker in Holland. He worked all the time, but didn’t have a lot of money because he didn’t charge the poor for his services, gave money to those who needed it and took in foster children. His occupation provided means to share the Gospel. So when the Nazis invaded, his watch shop was used as the front door to the Underground Railroad to move Jews to safety. God used him to save hundreds because he was willing to save a few before there ever was a war.

When Jesus called the disciples, there were at their jobs. Several were fisherman who were cleaning their nets when He called them to follow Him. Dorcas was a seamstress in the New Testament who used her skills to make winter clothing for the poor. Pricilla and Aquila were tent makers who heard the good news about Jesus and gave their hearts to him. They continued making tents. Paul even joined them in making tents as he preached. When the Jews were expelled from Rome, Paul took them to Corinth to use their skills as tent makers and teachers. They trained Apollos, another mighty preacher who won the lost. The Bible is full of people whom God used in their occupation to share His love with others. Do you see your occupation as an opportunity for ministry or just a means to an end?

In Mark 16:10 Jesus says, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities” (NLT). He shared this after telling a parable about a worker. Many of us want greater responsibilities and greater resources, but what are you doing with what you have right now? If you’re not using what you have now for His purposes, you won’t do it later. What is God asking you to do today in your occupation or with your current income? How you can benefit His kingdom with what you have and where you are? Start doing that, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem to you. Then God will open up greater doors of opportunity for you. Most of the people God uses have non-ministry occupations. Your job is not just a paycheck. It’s an opportunity to make a difference.

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June 28, 2023 · 5:39 AM

The King’s Table

In 2012, I had just started writing. In order to learn more, I signed up for a writer’s conference in San Diego. When I checked in at registration, the lady opened my packet and said, “Here’s your invitation to breakfast with author of “The Shack” William Paul Young. Here is your ticket to meet with the most connected man in America, Peter Strople. And here is your invitation to breakfast with church statistician George Barna.” Confused, I told her I didn’t pay for those. She replied,Lowell, they’re in here. Enjoy the blessing.” I honestly felt unworthy of it and tried to reject the offers. There were better writers there, people with thousands more readers and those who would have given anything to sit down with these people. In the end, I accepted the blessing and those meeting changed my life because I sat down at the table with them.

In 2 Samuel 9, King David remembered his promise to Jonathan to take care of his descendants. When he found out Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth was still alive, he sent for him. Mephibosheth was scared because normally kings killed the descendants of other kings, but David assured him he was safe. He had been living in the land of Lo Debar which means “the land of nothing”. Now, David was inviting him to eat at the king’s table. Mephibosheth refused and referred to himself as a dead dog, but David insisted. He then blessed Mephibosheth by giving him all of King Saul’s property and servants to work the fields. Verse 13 says, “So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he always ate at the king’s table. And he was lame in both feet” (AMP). Instead of disqualifying himself, he accepted the blessing of eating at the king’s table.

Psalm 23:5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed and refreshed my head with oil; My cup overflows.” God has prepared a table full of blessings for you. Have you been disqualifying yourself and missing out on the blessing? We can easily see why others deserve a seat, but we find reasons why we’re not worthy or able to sit at the king’s table. God is bidding you to come and dine. Don’t dismiss the blessings He’s trying to give you. There’s a seat for you that He has prepared. He wants to anoint you, refresh you and cause your cup to overflow. Quit finding reasons to not sit down. It will change your life. Accept the blessings God has for you by telling Him that you want to sit and dine with Him always. He will take you from the land of nothing into a land of abundance when you quit disqualifying yourself and sit at His table.

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June 15, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Expect Great Things

A few years ago, a video went viral of a man who was terrified to touch a teddy bear. They had blindfolded him and made him think he was on a show like Fear Factor. When he got the courage to put his hand in the plexiglass box, his fingers brushed up against the teddy bear. He squealed and yanked his hand out. For about two minutes he kept trying to reach in, but his fear was overwhelming. When he finally takes the blindfold off, he realizes it’s just a teddy bear, laughed, then grabbed it and spiked it on the ground. Everyone around him was laughing because he was too afraid to pick up a teddy bear.

It was easy for us to laugh at that because we weren’t the one blindfolded. Everyone else could see and knew he wasn’t in any danger. That’s kind of how Faith works. We’re blindfolded and can’t see. God is asking us to trust Him, but too often we are terrified. Our minds psych us out and we start freaking out. When we take a tiny step of faith and we experience something we aren’t anticipating, we squeal and pull back. All the while, God is saying, “Would you just trust me?”

In Matthew 9, two blind men were following Jesus calling out to Him for healing. Jesus asked if they believed He could heal blind eyes, and they said yes. Verse 29 says, “Then Jesus put His hands over their eyes and said, ‘You will have what your faith expects!’” (TPT) I believe He is still saying that to us today. Don’t let your mind expect the worse and create fear of what God is going to do. Expect God, who is good, to give you what you need. You don’t have to be terrified of what He has for you. Expect great things from Him because He gives good gifts.

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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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June 6, 2023 · 5:36 AM

Consider God’s Benefits

In recent years, there’s been a rise of subscription apps. They got them for TV, groceries and a host of other things. The market place is getting crowded, so they’ve started to add incentives. I didn’t even consider getting the grocery app I have now until they started adding benefits to owning it. I get ten cents off a gallon of gas, which adds up to offset the cost. I also get free deliver of online items or even in store groceries. They also added a year’s subscription to a TV app to the benefits package. All of a sudden it had enough value for me to go ahead and pay. To me, the benefits now outweigh what it costs me to make it worth it. We do this same analysis in many areas of our lives.

If you’re familiar with the Bible, you’ve probably heard that Hebrews 11 has been called the Hall of Faith. It’s full of people in the Bible who had to trust God through difficult circumstances. They held onto their faith in God when all seemed lost. Verse 37 says, “Some of these faith champions were brutally killed by stoning, being sawn in two or slaughtered by the sword. These lived in faith as they went about wearing goatskins and sheepskins for clothing. They lost everything they possessed, they endured great afflictions, and they were cruelly mistreated” (TPT). Each of the heroes of the faith paid a high price, but they keep the benefits of following God in mind to help them endure. Many never saw the fulfillment of their promise from God, but because they held onto their faith, their future generations did.

Romans 6:22 says, “But now, as God’s loving servants, you live in joyous freedom from the power of sin. So consider the benefits you now enjoy—you are brought deeper into the experience of true holiness that ends with eternal life!” You and I must also keep in mind the benefits that God offers us as we continue down the path of Christianity. You may not be faced with the same hardships these heroes of the faith had to, but you will still face difficulty times and be forced to trust in God instead of your circumstances. Our faith comes at a cost to us. It is freely given to us, but living in the world while being separate from it can be difficult at times. Trusting God over what we see can exact a price in our lives. Always keep in mind that God has more in store for us than we can even comprehend now. Remember all His benefits and hold fast to your faith. He will always do what He promised.

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June 1, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Living The Lifestyle

In the fall of 1995, I was living in Egypt. My family had sent me a care package with goodies from home. I got some Dr Peppers, VHS tapes of my favorite TV shows, a tape recording of my favorite radio station and a stack of CD’s from the local Christian bookstore. As I shifted through the CD’s, one in particular caught my attention, “Jesus Freak” by DC Talk. It had been a few years since they released an album, so I was excited. I immediately put it in and hit play. When it got to song 4, I heard the words of Brennan Manning for the first time as “What If I Stumble?” began to play. The quote said, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” It shook me to say the least.

I had been raised in a church with a pastor whose slogan for the church was, “Christianity isn’t a religion…it’s a lifestyle Jesus commanded us to live.” I had been discipled to live that lifestyle, but for some reason when I heard the words on that CD, it hit me that I wasn’t supposed to live like a Christian just for Jesus. There is a world of people all around me who don’t know Jesus and are basing their opinion of Him based on how they see me live and act. My faith couldn’t be just something that I talked about. I didn’t want anyone to turn away from the cross based on the things I did, so I determined to live a life that would point people to Him rather than to push them further into unbelief.

Colossians 4:5 says, “Walk in the wisdom of God as you live before the unbelievers, and make it your duty to make him known” (TPT). As we mature in Christ, our lives begin to change as we are made new from the inside out. The way we think, behave and speak begin to change the more we become like Him. Each of us have to come to a point though where we choose to undergo that chrysalis so that our lives on the outside reflect what we believe on the inside. We will never arrive at living for Him perfectly, so perfection is not the goal. Getting a little bit more like Jesus every day is. We still have to contend with our flesh and we will still stumble, but as we mature, we learn to rely on His grace more. Our lives become living examples of the freedom and change God brings and that’s what will help an unbelieving world find attractive.

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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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May 31, 2023 · 5:45 AM

Waiting On God’s Promise

One of the things I’ve learned is that when God gives you a dream or a promise, it’s usually followed by a period of waiting. In my experience, the bigger the dream or promise, the longer you’ll have to wait. It’s natural in the waiting to wonder if God is still at work, if He has still chosen you or if it will ever come to pass. In the waiting, our circumstances can cause doubt, but it’s in the waiting that God positions us and grows us to be able to receive the fulfillment of the dream or promise. He’s at work when things appear to be hopeless. He’s working all things out for your good despite what your present situation is. Don’t give up on the promise. Even though you may have made mistakes, you haven’t disqualified yourself or caused God to abandon His Word to you.

There are plenty of people who went through this in the Bible. We often count them as heroes of the faith, but they were human like us. They had long periods of waiting. They felt hopeless at times. They made mistakes that you would think would disqualify them, but God kept faithful to His promise to them. Abraham waited 25 years for God to fulfill His promise, and Abraham tried to bring about the fulfillment himself. Joseph spent around 14 years waiting as a slave and in prison. David had to wait about 15 Years. In that time he was chased away from his family and friends. He had to live in a cave with a bunch of societal rejects. His home was burned down and his wife was captured just before he became king. The list goes on and on of people who had to wait.

Psalm 57:2 says, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me” (NLT). This verse was written by David while he was running from King Saul. He continued to cry out to God while He waited. He continued to trust that God was going to fulfill His plan. Just as God was faithful to David, He will be faithful to you. Remind yourself of the goodness of God. Remind yourself that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6). If you’re still waiting, God is still working. Pray that He prepares you and positions you while you wait.pray that He will encourage you and give you strength. None of the people I listed above were ready when God gave them the dream or the promise. It was in the waiting that they were matured and grew their faith to be able to faithfully walk in God’s promise. God will fulfill His promise to you when you’re ready.

Photo by Jeswin Thomas:

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May 19, 2023 · 5:27 AM

Time For Rest

I saw a friend of mine wearing a hat the other day that said, “Jesus took naps. Be like Jesus.” I laughed and thought of Jesus sleeping in the boat knowing the storm was coming. I also thought of myself because I don’t take naps. I’ve got too much going on in my mind and in my life to take a nap. I began thinking of Jesus again and how He would often draw away from the crowds to be alone. Whether He was napping, praying or just being alone, Jesus was creating space to rest. The Gospels include this attribute of Jesus as a reminder to us that we need to take a break often. The very first ordinance that God instituted for us was the Sabbath. The words means to stop and rest. God did it. Jesus did it. You need to do it.

Here are some Bible verses on resting.

1. You shall work for six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; [even] in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath].

Exodus 34:21 AMP

2. He (Jesus) said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while”—for there were many [people who were continually] coming and going, and they could not even find time to eat.

Mark 6:31 AMP

3. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.

Psalms 127:2 NLT

4. Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest.

Matthew 11:28-29 GNT

5. He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace near the quiet brook of bliss.

Psalms 23:2 TPT

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May 18, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Divine Disruptions

How do you respond when your plans get disrupted? How do you feel when things don’t go according to the way you thought they were? At times, we follow God’s leading in our life, thinking it’s going to go one way, when things happen and they go another. It drives me nuts when that happens. I’ve already played everything out based on the information I have from the Holy Spirit, but then I find out that I don’t have all the information. He often has a different plan than the one I have. He has other motives that I don’t know about. So when He disrupts what I think is the plan, I often don’t recognize that it’s Him. Instead of rolling with the changes, I often push back.

In Acts 8, the Early Church was growing rapidly until Saul came on the scene and started persecuting Christians. People had to move away from their homes to escape. One person that did that was Philip. He went to Samaria where Jews were hated. He preached the Gospel and revival broke out. So many people were getting saved and healed that Peter and John went there and took over Philip’s ministry. An angel then told him to go down the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. There he encountered an Ethiopian reading Scripture. He explained it to him and he got saved. After baptizing him, the Spirit caught Philip away and transported him to Ashdod instead of Gaza where he thought he was supposed to go. That was a seven hour walk away.

In each of these cases, the plans Philip had were disrupted or changed. Because of the persecution, the Gospel spread around the world. Because he followed God’s leading after his ministry was taken from him, aN Ethiopian took the Gospel to Africa and established the Church there. Romans 8:28 says, “So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose” (TPT). Whatever disruption you’re facing right now could be from God. Even if it’s not, God can work it out for good and for His purposes. Instead of throwing a pity party, ask God what He needs from you in this time. Who knows the ripple effect of what God can do through you when you submit to His will instead of your plans.

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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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May 17, 2023 · 5:34 AM

Faith Lived Out

One of the jobs I’ve had was in a think tank for a large company. They would fly several of us in, present a problem the company was facing and we would go to work to solve. It usually took a week to figure out the cause and how it presented itself. We would then spend the next couple of months creating the solution. We could talk about the solution for days, but until we put it into practice, we didn’t know if it would work. So we flew to where the problem was the worst and implemented the solution. We then watched the results, gathered feedback, refined the solution and retested it over and over until we got the results we were looking for.

In Matthew 7:24 Jesus said, “So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, will be like a wise man [a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man] who built his house on the rock” (AMP). He said that when the storms of life came and beat against this house, it stood firm because their faith had been tested, refined and proven. Then He contrasted it with a person who just heard His words, but didn’t live them or act on them. When the storms came in that person’s life, their faith crumbled because it was only an idea they were holding onto. This person lacked a strong foundation built on faith that had been lived out.

James 1:22 says, “But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].” Faith is just a concept you talk about until you put it into practice in your life. It’s what you live out Monday through Saturday when you’re in the world. It’s walking and trusting God when you can’t see the next step, but moving forward anyway. It’s trusting His promises when others say there is no hope. God never intended for Faith to be something we identify with. He intended it to be something we lived, grew and built our lives on. That’s a foundation that can withstand even the strongest storms. I know because I’ve proven it in my life over and over.

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May 16, 2023 · 5:38 AM

Maturity Matters

I read something a while back that shocked me. It said the average person only reads one book after they leave school. One book for the rest of their life! That’s crazy to me, and I’m not a person who devours books. That means that the average person will mature physically once they’re out of school, but not intellectually. They do very little to grow their mind, improve their understanding of the world or learn something new. I realize we have a ton of information at our fingertips with the internet, but articles aren’t books. They give you the Cliff Notes, not the full tools that will truly help you improve. It should be worrisome to us that the average person peaks intellectually between 18-24 years old.

Paul spent most of his entire adulthood traveling to young churches and writing them letters on the importance of growing and maturing in their faith. He was constantly telling them and Timothy, his understudy, to grow their roots down deep, mature their faith and produce fruit. He understood that we’re not supposed to stop once we’ve accepted Jesus and are baptized. There’s a lifetime of growth and learning ahead of you. Yet, somehow, the same mentality that affects our learning growth, infects our spiritual growth. It tries to remove our drive to learn more about Jesus, change how we live and mature in our faith. When that happens, we miss out on the abundant life God has for us. We become like the Israelites who wandered in the desert for 40 years. We’re out of the bondage of sin, but we fail to reach the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.

Ephesians 4:13-14 says, “This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth” (NLT). Maturity in Christ perfects the Body of Christ from false teachers, builds unity in the Body and makes us more Christlike. Take time to read this full chapter today. God has so much more for us. We can’t be satisfied with milk when He has meat waiting for us. We must be intentional about our spiritual growth and maturity. It requires us to learn more about Him and to live out our faith more than one day a week. It requires us digging into God Word ourselves and relentlessly pursuing Him. God has more to this life for you. Don’t be satisfied with where you are.

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