Tag Archives: daily devotion

May 19, 2015 · 7:09 AM

Raising A Standard

We all know the saying, “When it rains it pours.” Somehow when bad things happen, the sky seems to let loose and we struggle to find a ray of sunshine. There are times when those days of rain turn into weeks, months and sometimes years. We can get caught up in a cycle of bad things happening to the point that we forget what it’s like to experience God’s goodness. During those times it’s easy to want to give up or even to quit hoping for the sun to shine again. In those times, it’s important to submerse yourself in God’s Word to help you pray and to find hope again.

One of the scriptures I stand on and pray when bad things continuously happen is Isaiah 59:19. It says, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. (AMP)” When bad things keep happening and I’m beginning to feel like I’m going to drown because there is so much bad news, I ask God to raise up a standard against the enemy who is coming to attack me. I pray that God would deflect the attack and help me to get my head above water again. 

I also like to turn to the Psalms. David was a man who was constantly under attack and he recorded some great prayers asking God to help him. One of my favorites is found in Psalm 54:1. David’s prayed, “Come with great power, O God, and rescue me! Defend me with your might.” David understood what we need to understand. The battle is not ours, but the Lord’s. Pray that He would come defend you against the attacks of the enemy and rescue you. God is our rock and our fortress in times of need. Run to Him and allow Him to defend you.

Another one I pray is from Isaiah 54:17. God said, “But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgement you shall show to be in the wrong. This peace, righteousness, security and triumph over the opposition is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. (AMP)” That word “prosper” simply means to succeed. No matter what the enemy brings against you, he will not succeed because you are a servant of God and it is your heritage to have peace and security in the bad times. 

As a Christian, you are going to face hard times. You are going to see some dark days. That doesn’t mean that you are out of God’s will or not His servant. Jesus said the rain falls on the good and the bad. The biggest difference is that you and I have a God who will rise to the challenge on our behalf. We serve the One who is made strong in our weakness. Quit trying to fight the battles in your own strength and rely on His. Pray His Word over your life and your situation and rest in the peace that God will work out whatever is going on to your benefit.

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May 18, 2015 · 5:49 AM

Look At Your Heart (Video)

6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Jesse’s son Eliab and said to himself, “This man standing here in the Lord’s presence is surely the one he has chosen.” 7 But the Lord said to him, “Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.”

I Samuel 16:6-7

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May 14, 2015 · 7:27 AM

Building A Good Name

I was in the Sixth grade when I was first made aware of Proverbs 22:1. Mr. Davidson had all of our names written on scrolls and placed up on the bulletin board. Right on the middle was a bigger scroll with the words, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.” I remember looking at it and wondering if the name “Chris” was better than the other names on the board. I was looking at it the wrong way. Mr. Davidson explained that name meant reputation and that each one of us were in control of our reputation through our actions.

I’ve given a lot of thought to that verse since my first day in Sixth grade. When faced with tough decisions, I’ve always asked myself, “Will this give me a good name or destroy the one I have?” I wish I could say I’ve always made the right choice, but I haven’t. When I’ve messed up, I’ve had to go back and rebuild. A good name is not given to you, it’s earned and built over time. I’ve learned that a decision made in a moment can tear down something that has taken a lifetime to build. 

One of the best ways to build a good name for yourself is to be honest. For some reason, we buy into the lie that we have to make things up or embellish the facts in order to build a good reputation. The truth is what Ben Franklin once said: Honesty is the best policy. When you tell the truth, you don’t have to try to remember what you told someone. Psalm 51:6 says, “But you (God) desire honesty from the womb.” And Proverbs 11:5 tells us that the godly are directed by honesty. In order to have a good name, you’ve got to start by being honest.

Another way to have a good name is by being humble. Don’t think higher of yourself than you should as Romans 12:3 put it.  There’s a fine line between being confident and being proud. People are drawn to confidence, but pushed away by pride. I’ve found that not only does God resist the proud, but people do too. Humility doesn’t mean you constantly beat yourself up. It’s having a mindset that reminds you that you are not above anyone or anything. If we are constantly seeking glory for everything we do, it’s hard to stay humble.

When I think of people that have a good reputation, I think of happy people. They don’t let the pressures and problems of life hold them down. They have a positive mental attitude that sees struggle and hardship as opportunities for growth rather than as reasons they’re being held back. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing. (AMP)” Happiness is a force that attracts others because it bring healing to their lives. It is an outward expression of an inward peace that comes from knowing God has everything under control. 

These are just a few ways that you can build a good name. What ways have you seen? 

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May 13, 2015 · 7:35 AM

Let Go And Let God

  

I’m sure you’ve seen Newton’s Cradle on someone’s desk somewhere. If you’ve seen it, you’ve pulled back one of the silver balls and let it go. The ball you pulled back and let go smashes into the first ball, which doesn’t move, but transfers the energy to the next ball and so on until it reaches the farthest ball. That ball then swings out like a pendulum and returns to start the process over again. They’re a lot of fun to play with, but they also represent so many of us in our faith.

When it’s just sitting there on someone’s desk not being used, it’s just for show. It might get used every once in a while, but more often than not, it just collects dust. So many people show up to church and sit there collecting dust. They don’t move, they don’t transfer energy or shine. They go for nothing more than to see and be seen. They feel that they’ll get to Heaven because they went to church or that their kids will learn good morals. A church should not be a place to collect dust. It’s a place to knock off the rust, and send you out into the world with kinetic energy that moves other people.

There are many Christians who are like the picture above. They have been pulled back and are ready to be released to do God’s work, but they’re afraid to let go. That’s nothing more than wasted potential. I understand the need to be in control. I’m a control freak myself, but if you are ever going to do anything great for God, you have got to let go and let God work through you. Psalm 37:5 says, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” 

You’re committed when you let go because you take your potential out of your hand and place it in God’s. He is the one who will accomplish the work. It’s easy to be frightened by looking at what our potential is in God’s Kingdom. We pull back the ball to start the chain reaction, but hold onto it out of fear. We never release ourselves fully into God’s control. So much of what God wants to accomplish is thwarted by our inability to let go and trust Him. We look at our strength and our abilities instead of His. 

Phillip Brooks, who was an Episcopal bishop in the 1800’s, said, “Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.”  It’s time we quit looking at our potential energy in the Kingdom and released ourselves to do God’s work. It’s time we quit talking about what God has called us to do and started doing it. Until we let go, we will not release others to do what they’ve been called to do. Remember, when you let go, you engage others and release them to move in God’s Kingdom. It’s not just about your potential, but about releasing others to meet theirs.

*The concept and training of motivating people from their potential energy to their kinesthetic energy belongs to Trinfinity. Used with permission. 

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May 12, 2015 · 7:16 AM

Leaving The Doldrums

Not long after Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, other ships began to make the voyage across the pond. Several ships noticed a strange phenomenon as they sailed near the equator. There was very little wind and ships would drift there for weeks or months. In time, this area of the ocean became known as the doldrums. Sailors avoided it because they didn’t take the provisions to survive a trip that got stuck there for a long period. It was a place of stagnation, depression and death which is why it became known as the doldrums.

There are times in life when you and I sail into the doldrums. Everything seems to be going fine, we are moving along and then the wind stops. We begin to float along. We get stuck and can’t seem to get out of the place we are in. It often seems like God has forgotten us. We question ourselves and what we could have done to cause God to leave us in this place. I’ve seen people stay in these types of doldrums for years not knowing how to escape. It seems like their prayers to put wind back in their sails are falling on deaf ears, but that’s not the case.

If you read the first part of Acts, the disciples had been in the doldrums since the crucifixion of Jesus. They had moments where Jesus would appear to them, but when He left, they would feel just as stuck as before. On one of those occasions Jesus spoke to them and said, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised as I told you before. (Acts 1:4 NLT).” Wait? For how long? How could Jesus leave them adrift in the doldrums? It was a dangerous time to be in Jerusalem. Just 40 days before, Jesus had been killed and they feared they were next.

They met in the Upper Room and prayed for the next ten days as they waited. Then Acts 2:2 says, “Suddenly there was a sound from Heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. (NLT)” God sent the wind of the Holy Spirit to fill their sails and push them out of the doldrums. That wind pushed them and the message of Jesus all over the world. They were no longer stuck in their depression and doubt. They were revived and renewed because they waited on the Lord in prayer.

If you’re stuck in the doldrums, let me encourage you not to give up. Wait on the Lord in prayer and ask for Him to send the Wind of the Holy Spirit into your life. I’m talking about spending some serious time in prayer. The disciples prayed and waited in one place until God answered. We need to do the same thing. We need to commit to praying not just a one or two sentence prayer, but an active, waiting on God all day kind of prayer if we truly want out of the doldrums. We need to wait on the Lord until He answers. Be prepared though. When that rushing, mighty wind blows into your life, God will take you farther than you ever dreamed possible.

One final thought: The doldrums are where hurricanes originate from. What seems like a windless place is where God launches the most powerful forces.

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May 11, 2015 · 5:30 AM

There Is A Purpose

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 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.
Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)

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May 8, 2015 · 6:39 AM

10 Scriptures On Mothers

 
1.   He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the LORD! (Psalms 113:9 NLT)

2.   Don’t curse your father or fail to bless your mother. (Proverbs 30:11 MSG)

3.   My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. (Proverbs 1:8 NLT)

4.   Let your father and mother be proud of you; give your mother that happiness. (Proverbs 23:25 GNT)

5.   Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters. (1 Timothy 5:2 NLT)

6.   Honor (esteem and value as precious) your father and your mother–this is the first commandment with a promise. (Ephesians 6:2 AMP)

7.   That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible. (2 Timothy 1:5-7 MSG)

8.   The man called his wife’s name Eve [life spring], because she was the mother of all the living. (Genesis 3:20 AMP)

9.   Respect your father and your mother, as I, the Lord your God, command you, so that all may go well with you and so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16 GNT)

10.   Each of you must show great respect for your mother and father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest. I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:3 NLT)

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May 6, 2015 · 7:24 AM

Being Led

At work, every once in a while, I’ll do an activity to teach people how to lead.ill split the group in two and give half blinders to put over their eyes. To the other half, I give the rules of engagement. They can’t touch the person with the blinder that they are leading. They can only use their words to safely have them exit the classroom, walk down the hall into another room, guide them to an object in that room, get them to pick it up, describe it to them without saying what it is and then guide them back to their point of origin.

In a crowded room, you have a lot of people talking. The person with the blinders should only be listening to one voice. When they listen to the instructions being given to someone else, they’re often confused, go the wrong way and bump into something. Some people wait until the room has cleared until they start so they can avoid the confusion. Once in the hallway, they have to guide them around corners, people and objects. It’s important to know where they’re going and how to tell this person how many steps before going right or left.  It’s a fun exercise to watch, but also has a lot of powerful principles.

I use it to teach people how to lead and guide others using their words, but there’s a deeper lesson for us. Not many of us know how to follow or trust what we can’t see. For me, it’s an accurate representation of what it is to walk by faith. I can’t see where I’m going or the obstacles in my way until I bump into them. If I’m not listening or don’t understand the instructions given to me, I walk into walls, hazards and become scared to take the next step. My walk becomes a crawl and it becomes difficult to reach the goals God has for me.

Another powerful parallel is that God uses His words to guide us instead of grabbing us by the hand and taking us where He wants us to go. We know He’s there because we sense His presence, but unless we learn to listen to His voice, we won’t be going very far. I believe that God is always speaking to each one of us, but we hardly ever listen. He is telling us which way to go, when to duck and when to turn, but if we aren’t listening to His voice, we’ll be lead astray. God rarely speaks in a booming voice that is above all the noise in our life. Instead, He speaks in a still, small voice that we have to be listening for.

David must have experienced the same frustration that you and I face today when it comes to knowing God’s will and direction. In Psalm 5:8 he prayed, “Lead me to do your will; make your way plain for me to follow. (GNB)” He, like us, wanted to do God’s will, but he struggled. Instead of staying in one place, he prayed that God would lead him. He also asked that the path would be made plain. I think that’s a great prayer for us to pray today in searching for God’s will. When we pray it, we will need to listen for His voice and to be prepared to follow where He leads. Be careful to obey everything so you won’t bump into objects and arrive at your destination in a timely manner. 

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May 5, 2015 · 7:45 AM

What Pleases God

When I look at my social media feeds, I’m always intrigued by what goes viral. I think it gives a glimpse into who people are and what’s important to them. My favorite viral posts are those of someone doing good for someone else. Inevitably in the comment section (yes I read those too), someone will write something to the effect, “Why are we so intrigued by this? They did what we are supposed to do. This shouldn’t be viral. This should be common.” They have a point. Doing good for someone else without knowing you’re being seen or hoping to go viral is what we should be doing.

As Christians, we have a particular responsibility to help others in need. Throughout the Bible, God tells us to care for the poor, the weak and the defenseless. He asks us to show His love to those whom society deems the least worth it. Yet, in our day and age, someone who does something God commanded, goes viral because it isn’t commonplace in our society. We have stopped looking around because we are looking down at our phones. We have abandoned reality for a virtual world of fantasy. The by product of those exchanges is that we fail to fulfill our purpose in serving others. 

Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not forget to do good and to help one another, because these are the  sacrifices that please God. (GNB)”  When we are so busy with work or so enthralled in our mobile devices that we forget to do good, we are too distracted to see those whom God places in our path. We have to find a way to lose the distractions that prevent us from seeing those to whom we could be doing good for. The Message Bible writes the end of this verse in very specific terms for us. It says, “God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship – a different kind of “sacrifice”- that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.”

The opportunities to do good are all around us. If you’re not seeing them, you’re too distracted. If you’re seeing them and not doing anything about it, you’re neglecting to do the sacrifices that please God. There are people who come to your house who need a kind word, a smile or help. There are people beside you at work who are hurting and feel like no one cares. They desperately need a child of God to bring light into their darkness. There are people walking past you on the street, in the parking lot or in the store who could use a smile, a kind gesture or someone to lay it forward. That’s not someone else’s job. It yours if you call yourself a Christian.

We shouldn’t do things in order to be seen or to go viral. We should do it out of the love God has placed in our hearts for others. Jesus said in John 13:35, “If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples. (GNB)” That love is expressed in outward acts of kindness that others can see. It’s not done in order to be seen, but as an expression of love from the Father. So today, put away the things that are distracting you from seeing those who need help. Look to do good for someone. Smile and tell them, “God said He loves you.” God takes a particular pleasure in those acts of worship.

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April 30, 2015 · 7:46 AM

Character Development

I’m always intrigued by the story of Joseph found in Genesis 37-45. No matter how many times I read it, I come away with a new respect for him. God gave him a dream as a young man that one day his family would bow down to him, including his own parents. His brothers were so outraged that they wanted to kill him. His own father was so disrespected that he rebuked him. Even through that, he still believed in the dream that God had given him. That wouldn’t be the end of it though. For the next several years, he would face one trial after the other without wavering in his belief of that dream. Psalm 105:19 says, “Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. (NLT)”

When God gives you a dream, hard times are sure to come. There will be people who will openly resist you in your efforts to bring about your calling. It will not be an easy road. In fact, fulfilling your calling will be one of the hardest things you do. God does not choose the weak to carry out his plans. He calls the faithful ones who will endure anything to see it come to pass. He gives His assignments to those who will survive the pits of despair that they will be thrown in. He gives them to those who are willing to leave family and friends to travel to distant lands that are engulfed in spiritual famines so that others may find the spiritual food that God gives.

Joseph wasn’t the only one this happened to. Think of Peter and the early Church. Jesus told Peter that He would build His Church through him. When Peter was emboldened by the Holy Spirit, he was beaten repeatedly and thrown in jail. He was opposed by people he knew. He didn’t quit because there were hard times. He let that fuel the fire that God had placed in him. He used those hard times to grow his faith and endurance. Because he didn’t quit, the early Church grew and Christianity spread like wildfire in that region. He trusted the calling he was given over his external circumstances. 

Paul was another person who faced opposition. He went from being someone who killed Christians to one who was martyred for his faith. He was stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake and carried off to Rome because he would not keep quiet about the dream God gave him. Because he was willing to endure the hard times, God used him to write most of the New Testament. The Gospel didn’t just stay in one region, it began to cover the known world. His character was tested over and over and he proved to be the person God saw in him.

God tests those He trust His message to because He knows it develops character. Romans 5:3-4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. (NLT)” When God calls you, He tests you in order to develop in you the characteristics necessary to fulfill that calling. He allows you to be moved around in order to create the relationships you need in your life and to put you into position. Don’t quit because hard times come. Let them do the work God intends them to do and continue to walk in your calling. 

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