Tag Archives: daily devotional

June 4, 2013 · 8:15 AM

The Butterfly Effect

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Going through trials is difficult. It’s part of life and especially part of the Christian life. Jesus told us we would have them. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer, take courage, be confident, certain and undaunted for I have overcome the world.” He knew we were going to face difficult times. He faced difficult times Himself. He didn’t want us to be defeated by our problems.

He told us that we should take courage because He overcame. If He was able to, we are able to because His spirit lives within us. We forget that sometimes, especially when we’re in a trial or in distress. We don’t rely on the power that is inside of us to overcome. We worry about the problem instead of focusing on the One who gives us strength to overcome.

I heard it said before that a butterfly won’t be able to fly unless it has that struggle with the cocoon. The difficult battle that it has to emerge from the problem that is wrapped around it is the very thing that will help it to survive once it is free. It can choose to give up in that struggle or it can get gain its strength needed in that struggle. We all have that choice.

We shouldn’t be surprised that life doesn’t always go as planned. We shouldn’t be caught off guard that a person does us wrong. Bad things happen to everyone. We can take courage in our frustrations. We can be confident in our ability to overcome. We can remain undaunted in our mission even though obstacles stand in the way. We can have peace in the storms of life.

Our ability to stand firm in tribulation and to weather the storms of life does not lie in our own strength. If you are trying to stand in your own strength, you will grow tired and weary from the struggle. Zechariah 4:6,7 says, “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says The Lord of hosts. For who are you, O great mountain of human obstacles?” It goes on to say that The Lord will turn that mountain into a plain.

Whatever mountain, struggle, trial, frustration, distress or tribulation you are facing today, The Lord knows about it. He is building strength in you during this time. Don’t give up or quit. You have supernatural power inside of you to overcome. You have the ability to persevere in this time and overcome because He has and He lives in you. Speak to your mountain today. Ask God to make it a plain in front of you. Keep moving forward in His strength today.

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June 3, 2013 · 8:02 AM

Chopping Roots

My uncle and I built a swing set for my son last week. After building it, we decided to put up a fall zone perimeter around it and fill it with wood chips to protect him. We measured and then placed the boards around the swing set. As we were screwing them together, one of the boards wouldn’t square up right. The ground was raised up and kept the board from being level. I grabbed a shovel and started to dig. It wasn’t long before I hit some roots.

I took the shovel, placed it against the roots and jumped on it to break the roots. Sometimes that worked and other times the shovel didn’t move. As I broke some roots, I had to grab the ends of them and pull until they came all the way up or until the were far enough away that I could chop them and get no future trouble from them. As I looked back at the area where they were, it was now soft soil and I could easily pull the dirt back and place the board on level ground.

I started to think about my life after that. When I try to line things up, they don’t always come together the way I think they should. No matter how hard I try, it just doesn’t work. There are roots below the surface that affect things in each of our lives. We may not always see them, but they’re there. They create uneven surfaces in our lives and have a way of messing things up from time to time.

A scripture that always comes to mind when I think about roots is Hebrews 12:15. It says, “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you.” We’re all susceptible to these roots because life isn’t perfect. Things happen that we can’t control and we allow roots to grow in our lives beneath the surface. They get nourishment from the feelings we keep hidden. They grow until we deal with them and cut them out.

Some roots cut easily because they are young. Other roots will take a lot of strength and effort to remove from our lives because they’ve been there so long and haven’t been dealt with. It’s important that we recognize when roots are trying to take hold in and then prevent them. Hebrews said we need to watch out so that the root doesn’t grow. Understanding and knowing what situations cause roots like this to grow is the first step in preventing their growth.

You have to mentally determine not to let them grow up in you. If you are susceptible to them growing in trials, be on your hard during those times. If you are susceptible to them when someone dies, make a determination not to be angry or bitter. Whatever the case may be for you, it’s important that you do what you can to prevent them. In my trials, I consciously pray, “God, please don’t let a root of bitterness spring up in me so that this situation affects me in the future.”

What roots do you have in your life that you need to put the shovel to? Dealing with it now is better than later. You need to kill it at its source so that it will not continue to grow and affect your life negatively. You need to dig it up, pull it out and chop it off. Afterwards, you’ll notice that the soil in your life is a lot softer, more even and able to have something better planted in its place.

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August 6, 2012 · 8:29 AM

Victory in your trials

One of the things I love about Jesus is that He didn’t pull any punches in His ministry. He told it like it was. Take for instance John 16:33 where He said, “In this world you will have tribulation and trials and distresses and frustration (AMP).” If He told us ahead of time we were going to experience these things, why are we shocked and upset when they happen? I’ve had my share of these and know there are more on the way as long as I live.

So often when we encounter these in our lives, we ask others to pray for us to be delivered of it. Our immediate response to tribulations, trials, distresses and trouble is to want to get out immediately. If that was God’s desire for them, we would never face them. He uses times like that to grow us, to make us more dependent on Him and to prepare us for something down the road.

Here are some things I’ve found that help me to get the most out of these times.

1. Admit I can’t do it alone

We were not made to go through these times alone. I’ve tried to make it through difficult times by myself and it has never worked. I try and I try, but always fall flat on my face after I get worn out by the stress of it all. It’s only when I come to the realization that I need God’s help that growth truly happens. In II Corinthians 12:9, Paul said that it is when we are weak that He is made strong. We don’t realize our need for dependence on God until those times.

When we think we can do it on our own, our pride grows as a result. I thought it was fitting that Michael Phelps final medal was in a team event. He didn’t get to be the best Olympian ever on his own. He had help along the way. He had a coach to push him beyond what he thought he could do. That’s what God does for us in our difficult times. He pushes us to grow more than we ever thought we could.

2. Trust God

I don’t know what my future holds and chances are, you don’t know yours either. We may have a plan of where we are going, but it doesn’t always end up that way. God has a perfect plan for your life. He knows what you need now to get you where He wants you in the future. Sometimes difficult times are a means to put us back on the right track. He uses road blocks, job losses and dead ends to get us to where we need to be. We have to trust His view of the complete picture of our lives.

Last season I watched a couple of episodes of “Gold Rush Alaska”. In one of the episodes, they took their gold to a refinery at the end of the season. They heated the gold until it melted, they then added borax to the gold and then they let it cool. Once cooled, the gold was covered in black stuff (dross). They hit it with a hammer and all the dross fell off leaving pure gold. When we are walking through the fires of life, God purifies us. It’s not an easy process and it often means that we lose people who are close to us. They, like the dross, may be keeping us from being pure. It may hurt, but it’s for our good.

3. Walk in faith

When hard times come, don’t crumble under the pressure. Keep walking and moving in the right direction. Giving up only prolongs the situation. I know what it’s like to give up when the tribulation seems to have no end. This is not the answer. God sees you where you are and is walking through it with you. He is there every step of the way. You may not be able to see the way out, but He does so you don’t have to.

Victory is found in taking up your cross daily and following Him. It’s in your daily walking out your faith even when you can’t see the next step that you overcome trials. I love how the verse in John 16:33 ends. It says, “Take courage; be confident… I (Jesus) have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.” Your victory has already been won! Keep walking in faith believing in your victory and learn what God has for you in this.

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July 23, 2012 · 9:31 AM

Recognizing attacks

Are you falling behind or not doing what God has called you to do? You are not alone. Circumstances and situations seem to eat up our time and prevent us from doing what we are supposed to do. It happens to all of us. We get caught in a cycle of things happening that continues until we give up on our calling.

If you have plans to be effective for Christ, then you will be under attack. Things will happen in your life that will prevent you or slow you down and keep you from being effective. I’ve heard that 21 days makes a habit. If the enemy can keep you from your task for 3 weeks, he has a strong chance of keeping you from your mission.

There are some common tactics he uses and we can see them by looking at Job’s life.

1. He attacks your mind

If he can win the battle of your mind, he can render you ineffective. That’s why he attacks this first. He may attack you, your family, your job or your belongings to get your mind off of God. A lot of times when bad things happen, we even blame God for it. When you blame God, he has won.

This happened in my own life. I lost just about everything that was important to me in my life during the span of about 8 months. I lost the battle of the mind when that happened and I was rendered ineffective for nearly a decade. We need to recognize that when bad things are happening, it could be an attack and you need to guard your mind. When Job was attacked this way, he fell down and worshipped God and said, “Naked I came into this world and naked I’ll go out. The Lord gave to me and the Lord has taken away. Bless the name of the Lord.”

2. He attacks your body

If he can’t win the battle of the mind, he will try to attack your body. He did this to Job and he’ll do it to you too. He will afflict your body until you physically can’t accomplish what God has for you. When you are taken down through physical illness or injury, it is hard to move around or go where you are supposed to go.

This happened to me recently when my back went out. During that time, I spent less time in prayer, read scripture less, wrote less and couldn’t attend church. The attack kept me from all the things that feed my spirit. When your spirit isn’t fed, it grows weak. When it grows weak, you are able to be defeated. Job was not defeated when he was attacked physically. Scripture says that during that time, he did not sin against God with his lips.

3. He attacks through friends

Another tactic that is used against us is that our friends and family can be turned against us. When Satan can’t turn you against God, he will turn the closest people to you against you. They will tell you things that will break you down and break your heart. Their words become obstacles that will build doubt and keep you from your calling.

There is an old Irish proverb that says, “In times of trouble, friends are recognized.” When bad things start happening to you, a lot of “friends” seem to disappear from your life. You start to question each of the relationships you have and sometimes you are left with no one standing with you. Job experienced this. His wife and friends told him to curse God and die and even accused him of hidden sins. Still he did not let it sway him.

What’s going on in your life that you may not have recognized as an attack? Is something taking you away from what you are supposed to be doing for God? If so, then you are probably under attack. Don’t yield if you are being attacked. Stand up, fight back and get back to doing what you need to do for God!

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