Tag Archives: Devotion

October 11, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Follow Me


My son, like most kids, loves to play chase around the house. I usually play along pretending he is faster than me, but sometimes I catch him. When he realizes that I’m going to catch him, the game changes very quickly. He says, “Just follow my footsteps!” He then goes around the living room, hopping, sliding, drumming on the couch, and other crazy movements to which I am to follow. I have to pay attention to where he went and how he went so I can follow correctly. Otherwise, I’m not following very well.

I often think about Jesus’ call of “Follow me” that He gave to the disciples and now to us. Follow me. Follow my footsteps. Do what I do. Say what I say. The disciples were so good at this that they were named Christians by others in Acts 11:26. The name “Christian” means follower of Christ. I find it interesting that it wasn’t something they labeled themselves as, but rather, based on their actions, they were called it. Are you and I self labeled Christians or do others label us that based on how we live?

I love how the Amplified Bible expounds on the meanings of words based on their original meaning. In Mark 2:14, Jesus went up to Matthew and said, “’Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].’ And he got up and followed Him [becoming His disciple, believing and trusting in Him and following His example]” (AMP). Matthew was labeled as scum by another version, yet when He accepted the invitation of “Follow me”, he changed how he lived to follow Jesus’ example. How have our lives changed since accepting Him?

The call of “Follow me” goes out to everyone, but there’s a difference in following Jesus around and being His disciple, by accepting Him as your Master and Teacher through following His example. The Pharisees followed Jesus around, but it wasn’t enough to change how they lived. We each need to examine our life to see if we are following Jesus around or if we are following His example because there’s a big difference in labeling yourself a Christian and following His example to the point that others label you one. “Follow me” is more than a geographic change – it’s a lifestyle change. 

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October 10, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Don’t Miss It


A couple of years ago I watched a video where they asked you to count how many times a group of people passed a basketball. After counting the number of passes, I felt pretty good about getting it right. That’s when another question showed up on the screen that asked if I noticed the bear moonwalking through the group of basketball players. I didn’t believe it when they showed me, so I started the video over looking for the bear. Sure enough, I was so busy trying to count that I missed the person dressed as a bear dance through the screen as they passed the ball around him.

In Matthew 12, Jesus and His disciples were passing through a grain field on the Sabbath. Since they were hungry, they picked a few heads of grain and ate them. Some Pharisees saw them and got onto them quoting the law of Moses that says you can’t harvest on the Sabbath. Jesus’ response seems odd at first, but what He said to them, applies to us. In verse 7, He said, “And if you had only known what this statement means, ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION [for those in distress], AND NOT [animal] SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent” (AMP).

Jesus was saying, “Don’t get so caught up in the law that you lose compassion. Quit using the law to condemn, and start finding ways to help people.” Yes, God gave us the Law, but it wasn’t intended for us to use it as a means to condemn or to keep us from living. We can’t live our lives bound by legalism. The sacrifice Jesus made on the cross paid for our sins, not our ability to follow the Law. We can’t miss what Jesus was trying to say here. God desires that you and I show love and compassion more than living a legalistic life.

If you were raised to live a legalistic life, listen to the words Jesus spoke to the legalism elites of His day. There’s more to the Christian life than following a set of rules. God’s grace is greater than your worst sin. Your salvation is not dependent on your ability to follow a set of laws or to hold others to those laws. Jesus wants us to trust God’s grace, love people, and help those in need. Don’t miss the dancing bear in the screen because you’re too busy following the rules too closely. 

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October 7, 2016 · 5:00 AM

A Call To Fast


Fasting is a discipline that many of us hide from. Sure we participate when the whole church fasts each year, but how often do we do it on our own? Fasting feeds your spirit rather than your body. It says, “Flesh, I’ve given you what you’ve wanted for a while now. It’s time I denied you what you want in order to give my spirit what it wants.” Denying your flesh produces stronger prayers, promotes spiritual growth, and activates answers from heaven. Every Christian should fast as they’re able to.

My friends at United Cry are starting a 30 day fast today to pray for the results of the election. We need to pray that God would help us to elect the leader He wants us to have. We need to pray that God would wake up the Church from her slumber so she would take an active role in shaping culture. We need revival fires to burn across America and the world. We are in a desperate situation in need of God’s providence, and I believe that when we return to fasting and prayer, we will change the course of history.

Here are some Bible verses on fasting.

1. So I directed my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
DANIEL 9:3 AMP

2. “But even now,” says the Lord, “repent sincerely and return to me with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Joel 2:12 GNT

3. Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to him there.
Joel 1:14 NLT

4. So we fasted and sought [help from] our God concerning this [matter], and He heard our plea.
EZRA 8:23 AMP

5. The people of Nineveh believed God’s message. So they decided that everyone should fast, and all the people, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth to show that they had repented.
Jonah 3:5 GNT

6. And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.
Matthew 6:16 NLT

One final thought. Abraham Lincoln was once asked if he thought God was on the side of the Union. His response was, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” As you fast and pray over this election, ask God to help you be on His side rather than asking Him to be on your side. We need God’s help more than a political leader’s help.

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October 6, 2016 · 5:45 AM

Spiritual Healing 


Imagine that you woke up so sick this morning that you couldn’t go to work. So you call the doctor, but they tell you, “Sorry. We are having check ups for healthy people this week and aren’t taking any sick patients. We can fit you in sometime next week. Will Wednesday at 11:30 work?” How would that make you feel? Being sick, and not being able to see a doctor, would compound an already bad day. Yet situations like this happen all the time in our churches. Spiritually sick people walk through our doors and we put them off.

You and I interact with spiritually sick people every day. We come into co tact with them at work, at the store, at the park, and at the gym. We rarely interact with them, and if we do, we don’t always invite them to church where they can find spiritual healing. For those who do walk in our churches, many times we are too busy interacting with spiritually healthy people to notice or to say hello to them. It’s more comfortable to hang out with our friends than to introduce ourselves to a stranger who may be in need of the Great Physician.

I love the example Jesus set in Matthew 9. He was walking down the road and saw a tax collector stand. He walked up to it and said, “Follow me and be my disciple” (NLT). Immediately Matthew recognized he was sick, and Jesus was a doctor who could heal him. He then invited Jesus to his house and then invited a bunch of spiritually sick friends. He wanted them to get better as well. But the religious minded people couldn’t understand why Jesus would hang out with such people. In verse 11, they asked His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”

I love Jesus’ response. He said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do.” It was a reminder to them (and us) that we have an obligation to help the spiritually sick of this world. Our goal shouldn’t be to get through this life without interacting with non-believers. We should want to interact with is many as we can. Why do you think the majority of Jesus’ ministry was outside the synagogue? He wanted to be where the sick and hurting were. Somehow we’ve changed from His example. We expect the spiritually sick to come to the church, yet when they do, we often ignore them. It’s time we remembered we were once sick too and needed spiritual healing. 

What can you do today to bring spiritual healing to those you come in contact with?

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October 5, 2016 · 5:35 AM

Buy A Ticket


I used to live next door to one of the oldest members of our church. She was quite the character. One evening I was outside when she pulled into her driveway with a car full of groceries. After I helped her take them in, she told me a joke I’ll never forget. She said, “One day, the lottery was really large and a man wanted to win it. He prayed, ‘God, if you let me win the lottery, I’ll give 25% to the church.’ God replied back, ‘Buy a ticket!'” She then told me, “So many times we ask God for something, but don’t do anything about it.”

I think about that joke often in my prayer time. How many times have I asked God for something when I wasn’t willing to “buy a ticket”? God couldn’t help that man win the lottery if he wasn’t the owner of a ticket, and He can’t answer a lot of our prayers if we aren’t willing to put ourselves in position for Him to either. Remember, faith without works (action), is useless. He could have believed all he wanted that God would let him win the lottery, but without action on his part, it was useless.

In John 4:46-54, there is the story of a nobleman whose some was on his deathbed. He heard that Jesus was about 18 miles away, so he walked over a day to get to him. When he arrived, he begged Jesus to come to his home and heal his son. Jesus blew him off. He wouldn’t let up though. He pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my son dies” (NLT). Then in verse 50, it says, “Then Jesus told him, ‘Go back home. Your son will live!’ And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.”

In order for his faith to activate his son’s healing, he had to start home. He had to act without seeing the result. It wasn’t until the next day, on his journey home, that his servants met him on the road, that he found out his son was healed. What if he had stayed and continued to beg Jesus? What if he had never started home? Often Jesus would say, “Go. Your faith has made you whole.” Their healing, their answer to prayer, was always activated by something they did. God has the power to answer your largest prayer, but it usually requires some kind of action on your part first.

What action do you need to take as an act of faith to activate God’s answer? Mark Batterson often writes, “Pray like it depends on God. Work like it depends on you.”

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October 4, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Quit Doubting God



I began my daily devotional journey over four years ago. I’m often asked how I can write so often without running out of things to write about. In the beginning, that was my greatest fear. What if I woke up one day and had nothing to write? What would my readers think? Would they forgive me for letting them down? I honestly worried that that day would come, but I’ve since learned that I wasn’t doubting my abilities – I was doubting God’s

Several months after I started, and while I was wrestling with those thoughts, I got to meet and have breakfast with William Paul Young, author of “The Shack”. As we talked, he said something that changed how I looked at God. He told me, “Quit looking at God as well and start to see him as a river flowing from an eternal spring.” In that moment, my perspective changed. I had been looking at God as a well that could run dry instead of an endless source of creativity. I truly had been doubting Him instead of myself.

In John 4, Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well. After asking her for a drink, He remarked that if she knew who He was, she would ask Him for water that never ran out. In verse 11, she said, “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket, and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?” (NLT) She was still looking at the well to be the source. She, like us, had a very small idea of who God was and what He was capable of. She tried to confine an infinite God to a finite space. She tried to place Him inside our laws instead of herself in His.

I love Jesus reply to her. He said, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” When we put God into our laws, we become thirsty again and fear that His goodness will run out. When we see Him for who He is, our laws go out the window because nothing is impossible to Him. He isn’t your well – He’s the one who gives you a fresh, unending, bubbling stream so you’ll never thirst again. When you change your perspective of who He is, you’ll quit doubting His abilities. 

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October 3, 2016 · 5:46 AM

Losing Pride


When I picture John the Baptist, I picture a Grizzly Adams kind of man. Bearded, tough, and furry clothes. The Bible describes him as a guy who lived in the wilderness and ate locust. I wonder what people thought of him when they saw him. I wonder if they took one look at his exterior, made a judgement, and discounted his message or dismissed him as crazy. Sure, on the outside, he was rough, but on the inside was a heart and spirit we should all strive to have.

I believe he was able to amass a great following based on his heart. How many people do you know who have charismatic personalities, yet are very humble? Those two things rarely go together. Usually the person who enjoys being the center of attention doesn’t give it up happily, but John knew his place and his calling. When Jesus came along, he had no problem yielding the stage to Him. To me, that’s what admire most about him.

When some of his followers came to him to tell him that Jesus was baptizing not far away, they expected him to get upset. After all, his name was John the Baptist. Baptizing people was kind of his thing. His followers were a lot like us. They didn’t like to yield the stage, and they really didn’t like that Jesus was taking people from their ministry. How dare He? After all, it was John who baptized Jesus. But John knew what was going on and he didn’t let his pride get in the way of his calling

In John 3:30, John showed us what was behind his wild and rough exterior when he told his followers, “He must become more important while I become less important” (GNT). That’s the attitude that each of us should strive for each day. We should make Jesus more important in our life while we become less important. We should understand that our lives were created to serve His purpose, not ours. Each day, we should be looking for ways to have Him increase in our lives. If you want to fulfill your purpose, you have to lose the pride that tries to make your name known so you can make Him known.

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September 30, 2016 · 5:00 AM

God Still Heals

I believe God heals people. I always have believed it and I always will. I have a personal rule that when someone asks me for prayer, I pray with them on the spot. That way, they know I’ve prayed for them and later I don’t have a guilty conscience because I said I would and I didn’t. Because of this rule and my faith that God heals, I get calls often to pray with people. Recently, there have been a lot of calls. After I prayed for one person, my son said, “You pray about doctors a lot!” He hears me pray for these people and for the doctors who treat them. 

I don’t know why every person that’s prayed for doesn’t get healed. I’ve read tragic stories on social media of people who have been prayed for by thousands of people that didn’t receive their physical healing. A man who lost his 3 year old son recently said that his son’s death has provided him with more motivation to go to Heaven. Another man I know had been given six months to live because of cancer. Several months later, after lots of prayer, the cancer was gone from his body completely. God only knows why some are healed and others aren’t. Either way, it doesn’t change His ability.

Here are some verses in the Bible that speak about healing. May they boost your faith and bring you hope.

1. Lord, heal me and I will be completely well; rescue me and I will be perfectly safe. You are the one I praise!
Jeremiah 17:14 GNT

2. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Psalms 103:2-5 NASB

3. All the people were trying to touch Him, because [healing] power was coming from Him and healing them all.
LUKE 6:19 AMP

4. Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.
James 5:13-15 MSG

5. In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues.
1 Corinthians 12:28 GNT

6. Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”
Matthew 8:7 NLT

7. But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received.
Isaiah 53:5 GNT

8. O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.
Psalms 30:2 NASB

9. But for you who fear My name [with awe-filled reverence] the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go forward and leap [joyfully] like calves [released] from the stall.
MALACHI 4:2 AMP

10. He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”
Exodus 15:26 NLT

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September 29, 2016 · 1:20 AM

Let’s Make A Deal


One of the game shows I grew up watching was “Let’s Make A Deal”. It’s a fun environment where the audience dresses up in ridiculous outfits hoping to be chosen by the host to come on stage. They can choose to trade what they have for what’s behind Door #1, Door #2, or Door #3. Sometimes, they would win a fabulous prize, but often they would get a Zonk (a worthless prize). There are a lot of times in life when we make bad trades. We sometimes trade moments of pleasure for a lifetime of regret. We sometimes trade happiness for a better paying job. Life is full of trades.

When Jesus was fasting in the wilderness, just before He began His ministry, Satan met Him and offered three trades. The first trade was to trade spiritual strength for a full belly. We know He was hungry and it must have been tempting to turn those stones into bread, but Jesus knew it wasn’t a good trade. Too often we are tempted to give up our spiritual significance for an insignificant morsel. In Luke 4:4, Jesus said, “It takes more than bread to really live” (MSG). 

In the second temptation, Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world if He would bow to him. The trade here was to displace God from the throne of His life and put Himself there. Satan still tries that with each of us. Our flesh wants to play “King of the Hill” with God for who’s in control. Like Jesus, we need to understand it’s a bad trade. Jesus reminded him and us that the way to a successful life is to worship the Lord with absolute single-heartedness. We can’t give in to the temptation to trade places with God on the throne of our life.

The third temptation of Jesus was to jump off the Temple and let the angels catch Him. Satan was asking Him to doubt God’s protection by testing it. Jesus knew God would send the angels if he fell, but to jump would appear to be an act of faith, but would really be an act of disbelief. That’s why Jesus quoted the commandment, “Don’t you dare tempt the Lord your God.” Our enemy often masks what you’re really trading to make us think we are doing something spiritual when really, we’re doing the opposite.

The best way to make sure you don’t trade for a Zonk, is to know God’s Word. It’s what Jesus used to look at each trade that was offered. Every one of us are tempted daily to make trades. We need to take a closer look at what we are being offered and what we are being asked to give up. Leading a Spirit led life, immersed in the Bible, will help you to make fewer bad trades. Whatever you’re being tempted with today, I hope that you will take a moment to look at it in the light of God’s Word and ask God to help you make the best choice.

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September 28, 2016 · 5:50 AM

Come Here


One of my favorite songs in high school was “The Call” by Steven Curtis Chapman. I don’t think it ever made the top ten on Billboard, but it told a powerful story of some fisherman who left their nets on the waters edge. A man named Jesus had called them by name, and with reckless abandon, they walked away from everything they had known including their jobs and their family. The chorus of the songs says, “We will abandon it all for the sake of the call. No other reason, but for the sake of the call. Wholly devoted to live and to die for the sake of the call.”

For most of my life, I have imagined that scene. The sun was just coming up and there were fishermen all along the shores of Galilee. They were beside their boats cleaning their nets, tossing sticks and seaweed to the side. They were talking about the productivity, or lack there of, from the night before, and discussing where they would try tonight. That’s when, in Matthew 4:19, a stranger walked up and calmly said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” They put down their nets and started following Him.

I think I got most of it right, but what I didn’t get right was the “follow me” part. Jesus didn’t say that calmly. When you look at the original language, it was more of a, “Come here!” It was authoritative. When He spoke those words, it struck a chord with something in them, and they walked away from everything they knew. James and John walked away from their father. Imagine that conversation. It sounds crazy when you think about it, but that’s what happened. 

I took my five year old to a baseball game a few days ago. As we were walking through the crowd to find food, he kept wandering away. I found myself yelling, “Come here” a lot. He would run back to me, but would wander away before long. That’s how it is for many of us in our walk with Jesus. He’s constantly yelling us, “Come here!” We wander off, and He’s calling us back. The call He gives to all of us is to follow Him. He doesn’t stay in the same place. He’s constantly moving and drawing us into deeper relationship with Him. The question is, are you too settled in where you are to follow where He leads?

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