Tag Archives: Devotion

July 7, 2014 · 7:56 AM

God’s Garden

Recently I was talking with a lady I have known my entire life. She was sharing how her grandfather had a garden, her father had a garden and how she and her husband have a garden. She’s worried because she doesn’t see many people after her generation planting gardens. The art of digging into the earth, planting seeds in their season, watering the seeds, keeping weeds out, tending to the growing plants and bringing in a harvest is being lost. Some are ok with the thought of that being a past time, but with it goes a lot of understanding of scriptural principles too.

Whether or not people continue to plant gardens, the law of sowing a reaping will still be true. Will the next generation understand what sowing and reaping is if they never plant anything? If they never plant anything, will they understand the time and dedication it takes to reap a harvest? If they don’t understand what it takes to bring in a harvest, how can they be expected to work in God’s vineyard? Jesus said, “Pray that the Father would send laborers to work in the vineyard.” The idea of labor is hard work.

God is looking for people who are not afraid of hard work. Ones who know that to get a harvest, it takes tilling, sowing, tending and watering. People who know that just bringing in the harvest is not enough. There’s more work to be done after you bring the harvest in. Once the harvest is brought in, you have to prepare the land for the next planting season. The work of the Kingdom is like that, it never ends. It’s a continuous cycle just like the garden. We must continually be about our Father’s business. We must always be tilling, planting, watering, tending and reaping. Our work won’t be finished until he comes.

The more we plant, the bigger the harvest we can expect. My friend told me that her husband planted 18 pounds of potatoes and got 500 pounds in the harvest. Imagine if he had planted a hundred pounds! The harvest we are seeing in our churches is small because we haven’t planted enough. It’s time we began to sow the Word of God into the lives of others bountifully. We then need to water that Word with prayer. We can tend to it by having conversations that are godly and uplifting. When the time is right, those souls will be ready for a harvest. It won’t be just them, but their families too.

What are you planting into the lives of others? If you haven’t been planting, you can start today. Yes, it’s hard work and it won’t be easy. God made gardening hard work on purpose. He’s looking for people who aren’t afraid to dig in to the dirty parts of life, plant seeds of His love in their life and then shower them with blessings. It’s time we got back to the basics of what we were called to do. It’s time we started planting again because there can be no harvest if no one plants. Whose life will you sow seeds in today?

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

July 2, 2014 · 7:51 AM

The Gift Of Help

One of my first jobs was being a sacker at a grocery store. Back then, the sacker didn’t just put your groceries in bags, they also took your bags to your car and put them in it. Society has gotten away from that in recent years. We have determined we can do it on our own and don’t need the help of someone else. We have self check out lines so we can avoid being helped by the checker and sacker. We do it all ourselves. We take the groceries to the car, load them up, take them home and then try to carry them all in the house in one trip. We load as much as we can on our arms. When so done offers help, we say, “No thanks. I got it.”

Have you ever done that? I think most of us have. Why do we refuse help when we need it? Why do we continually try to do things on our own? We need help from others. In fact, not long after God made Adam, He looked at him and said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper.” God recognized right after He made Adam that we need help. He knew it wasn’t good for us to do things alone. So He created Eve. He gave us the gift of a helper.

I’m the type of person who loves to offer help, but has a hard time accepting it from others. I’m also the guy who uses the self checkout lane and tries to carry every bag in one trip. What I find is that doing things on your own wears you out. It’s tiring. That’s because it goes against the way God made us. He intended for us to have others help us. He intended for us to have others be strong when we are weak. But if we don’t let others know we are struggling while trying to carry all the bags on our arms, how can they know to help?

The bags most of us carry are invisible. We struggle to carry them trying not to let one break. It takes up so much of our energy. It’s ok to get help. It’s ok to see someone struggling and to offer help. In fact, Galatians 6:2 tells us, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” That’s pretty powerful. Carrying someone else’s burden is how we fulfill God’s laws. Eve was made to carry Adam’s burdens. You were made to carry someone else’s. If you were made to carry someone else’s, then you were also made to let someone carry yours. You just have to let go and accept their help.

What all are you holding onto today? What burdens are you carrying that are wearing you out? You weren’t meant to carry them alone, so stop trying. Find someone you can trust and ask them to help you. Ask them to pray with you and for you. Share your burdens. When you do, your load will be lightened and your strength will return. Trust God’s plan that you need help. Don’t be too prideful in thinking you can do it on your own, God has someone waiting to help you carry the load. You just need to accept it and do your part in fulfilling the law of Christ.

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 1, 2014 · 7:36 AM

The Fog Of Life

20140701-073502-27302875.jpg

Have you ever had to drive in the fog? Some days I have to go through fog so thick it seems my headlights only light a few feet in front of my car. Even though I know where I am, it creates fear. What if there’s a wreck I can’t see? What if the road turns and I miss it? What if there’s something in the road? High beams, that help you to see far when it’s clear, only make the situation worse. You have to slow to a crawl just so you can feel safe in moving forward. You have to take your time in getting to your destination. You have to accept that you aren’t going to get where you are going when you planned on getting there.

Faith is a lot like driving in a fog. It’s dangerous at times. It requires us to slow down and pay attention to everything. We don’t always see what’s right in front of us. It gets revealed to us little by little. God wants us to slow down and to make each move purposefully. He doesn’t want us to get in a hurry. That’s when accidents happen. We have to trust that we will get to where He wants us when His timing is right. That’s one of the hardest parts of being in a fog. We have our own ideas of when we want to get where He has us going and we try to get there as quickly as possible.

I’m learning just how important the journey is. It’s not always about getting to the destination. The fog, the slow times and the detours are all part of God’s purpose for our lives. They build our faith and give us the seasoning that we need so that we are ready when we finally do arrive. I’ve seen how the slow times and the hard times in my life have prepared me for where I am today. I know that as time goes on, I’ll have a better perspective on the foggy times. It’s in those times that I didn’t rely on my headlights to see what was ahead. I used God’s lights to light each step of the path as I took them one by one.

It’s easy to get frustrated when your vision is clouded by the fog of life. It’s hard to slow down and wait. I understand completely. I’m a person who likes to move. I like the sense of accomplishment I feel when I get to my intended destination. That’s what’s comfortable to me. Taking a detour and a route I’m unfamiliar with isn’t comfortable. Slowing down isn’t easy. Taking in the journey isn’t what’s natural for me, but it’s in those times that I trust God the most. It’s on the detours that I learn more about who God is and who He wants me to be. It’s when I slow down and take life one step at a time that my vision really becomes clear. I don’t have to worry about tomorrow or my destination. I’m called to be in this moment.

Maybe you’re like me and you don’t like it when you can’t see very far ahead of you. We can learn a lot when life gets foggy. Don’t panic because you can’t see into the future. Don’t let fear of the unknown consume you. Our God knows your future better than we do. He sees through the fog and will guide us. Trust Him completely with each step. This uncertainty that comes from the unknown is meant to grow your faith and build your relationship with the Father. Don’t rush though it trying to get past it. Be in the moment and trust Him to use the foggy moments to get you where you’re going right on time.

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 30, 2014 · 7:49 AM

Following The Pattern

20140630-074755-28075370.jpg

My pastor’s wife was sharing a story with me a few weeks ago. She was telling me about a wedding in the church where several ladies were tasked with sewing the bridesmaid’s dresses. One of the ladies went to her and said, “When you get to the part where the sleeve attaches to the dress, follow the instructions. It’s not going to make sense and it’s going to go against everything you know about sewing, but follow the pattern. It will work.” A few days later she got to the sleeve and looked at the pattern. She thought, “This isn’t right. It won’t work.” She then remembered the word of the other lady and followed the pattern.

When she finished, the dress came out the way it was intended. She’s still not sure how. She just knows that for that dress, it seemed wrong to her, but she stuck with the pattern and it worked. It’s a lot like God’s Word. There’s some stuff in there that doesn’t make sense. Love your enemies. If you want to be first, be last. Celebrate finding one sheep instead of being happy with the 99. Bless those who curse you. There are a lot of things that seem backwards when we first look at them, but ultimately the pattern of God’s Word works.

I was praying on Saturday night about what scripture to read for service on Sunday morning. God clearly spoke, “Psalms 143.” I closed my eyes and went to bed. I woke up early Sunday morning and read it first thing. I immediately thought, “This can’t be right. Maybe I didn’t hear you, God.” I proceeded to read Psalms 140-145. I decided that Psalm 145 was what God meant. I highlighted each verse so I could copy it and paste it in my notes. Right before I clicked “copy”, the voice of The Lord spoke and said, “Really? You’re going to ask what I want and then change it?” I immediately went to Psalm 143, copied it and pasted it.

When it came time for me to read the scripture, it became abundantly clear that Psalm 143 was the right choice. It didn’t make sense to me at the time God spoke it, but in the moment, it was perfect. God does that to us a lot. He asks us to do things that don’t make sense in the moment or on the surface. It goes against what we think should happen, but He asks us to follow His pattern no matter what. He knows the final outcome. He knows what your future moments will be like and He asks you to trust Him now even when it doesn’t make sense. You’ll be glad you did when it’s over. His ways are higher than ours. He knows best. Trust Him today even when you can’t see how it will work.

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 27, 2014 · 7:58 AM

Lesson Learned

20140627-075632-28592665.jpg

It’s Free Friday! Today is the day you let go of the things in your life that keep you down or hold you back from all God has for you. To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of “AHA: Awakening.Honesty.Action.” by Kyle Idleman. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

Have you ever been stuck on a problem or in a situation and didn’t know the answer of what to do? Have you spent days and nights racking your brain trying to figure out the solution? It’s stressful. You’re in a no win situation with no doors or windows opening telling you, “Thos is the way out!” It’s complicated too. If you do this, then that will happen. If you do that, then this will happen. Then, when you least expect it, you see the answer. It was there the whole time, but your vision was cloudy.

That’s how the prodigal son was. He had taken his inheritance early (mistake). He had moved away from his family so he could be himself (mistake). He wasted all the money from his inheritance on partying (mistake). He didn’t take time to build real relationships with others. All the friendships he had made were superficial and shallow because they were built on his ability to pay for drinks (mistake). When a famine came, all those superficial friends wouldn’t lend him a hand. They only looked out for themselves. Every mistake he had made was staring him in the face. His hunger was a constant reminder that he had messed up.

Here he was trapped in a foreign land. He had no friends, no shelter, no food, no money and no way back. He had to be honest with himself. He had no way out of the situation. He thought for days on how to get some money back. He found a job slopping pigs. He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the food in the slop. I’m sure he got angry at himself as he watched the pigs have enough food to eat. He probably tried to think of ways get some of the food out of the trough with no one looking. He was desperate. Hope was running out when he had a moment of clarity. He could go home to his father and feed his pigs. At least his father fed his servants unlike his current employer.

That moment of clarity led to action. He got up immediately once he saw the answer to his problem. He rehearsed his speech the whole way. “Dad, I’ve messed up. I don’t deserve to be called your son. Will you hire me? I’m starving and am willing to work hard.” While he was going through the words as he walked, his father saw him and ran to him. His father embraced him and kissed him. The son pushed the father back and started to say his speech, but the father wasn’t listening. He saw the hunger and desperation in his son. He had his servants prepare a feast for his son. The son never had to worry about food or shelter again.

He learned some valuable lessons in the ordeal. He learned that real relationships aren’t made by paying for everything. He learned that you should always prepare for the worst outcome and have enough to survive it. He learned that family loves you no matter what. He learned that pride will keep you from having real relationships. He learned that being honest with yourself and God pushes you to action. Most of all, he learned that no matter what he has done, the Father will always accept him back if he’s willing to return. The past is pushed aside and arms are wide open to the child who returns.

If you would like to win “AHA” by Kyle Idleman, go to the Devotions By Chris Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (June 28, 2014) who has done liked my page. If enjoy reading these daily devotionals, please invite your friends to like my page so they can receive encouragement from God’s Word too. You can also follow me on Twitter here.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 26, 2014 · 7:45 AM

Chasing Vultures

20140626-074420-27860750.jpg

In Genesis 15, God spoke to Abraham (Abram) and told him that his reward would be grand. Abraham fired back at God, “What use are your gifts as long as I’m childless.” He wasn’t being rude. He just wanted someone to give an inheritance to. He had been blessed by God in every way, but had no one to give it to. That’s when God planted the dream of having a son on his heart. He took him outside to count the stars to number his descendants. God said, “You’re going to have a big family!”

It was then that he made a sacrifice to God for giving him the dream of a big family. While the sacrifice was on the altar, verse 11 says, “Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.” When I read that, I thought, “That’s a weird verse to have in the Bible.” The more I think about it though, the more I know it was on purpose. You are going to have to protect the dreams that God gives you and you are going to have to protect them. The enemy wants to come in like a vulture and steal them.

I looked up vultures on the internet and found that there are many types of them. They are all birds of prey. They can spot their target from miles away. They will pick at their food and eat it until it’s gone. That’s what our enemy does. He circles above our heads and threatens to take our God given dreams away from us. He picks at them until we let them go and give them up. We wonder why God gave us the dream only to have it picked apart and eaten. It’s up to us to chase the enemy away.

One thing I learned about vultures is that they don’t mess with things that are healthy. They only prey on the weak, the sickly or the dead. The first line of attack is to keep the dream God has given you alive and healthy. Don’t let it sit dormant in your mind. Write it down. Tell others about it. Own it. Steward it. When it feels like it is taking forever for it to happen, keep believing in God. Habakkuk 2:3 says, “If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.” The dream God gives you will take place in His time, not yours.

If your dream is weak, sickly or dead it is still not beyond God reviving it. Joseph’s dream must have seemed dead to him. He had been given it over 20 years earlier. Since the time God gave it to him, he had been betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of rape and was forgotten in prison left to die. I’m sure there were many times as he sat in that prison that the vultures circled his dream, but he refused to let it die. He knew that God had given it to him so he chased the vultures away. He kept believing until the Pharaoh called for him one day.

Whatever dream God has given you, it’s worth fighting for. It’s worth chasing the vultures away. Even if they are circling overhead, don’t get discouraged. Stand your ground. Own your dream. Patiently wait for God to bring it to life. What He started in you, He will finish. What He planted in your heart will grow and come to life. While you are waiting for that to happen, grab the Word of God and chase those vultures away. Your dream is worth fighting for no matter how bad things look right now.

12 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 25, 2014 · 7:56 AM

Quit Helping God

My son gets frustrated some times while playing his learning apps on the iPad. He will carry it over to me and say, “Help me, DaDa.” I’ll look at what the app wants him to do end start to show him. He will then start trying to help by doing something else on the screen while I try to show him the right way. I ask him to stop and watch, but he gets frustrated with me. He eventually takes it back and keeps on trying until he comes back and asks for help again. We go in circles until he just gives up trying to do it.

It reminds me a lot of how I try to do things. When I can’t get past something or really need God’s help to accomplish something, I run to Him and cry out, “Help me, Father!” He looks down and tries to show me what He wants and how I should do it. Instead of watching and learning, I bat His hand away and say, “Ok, I got it.” He knows I don’t. He knows there’s more to it than I see. He’s trying to help me connect the dots, but I’m not patient enough to watch and learn. I take it back out of frustration and keep trying.

I’m glad that God is more patient than I am. I know He gets frustrated with us trying to always do things instead of learning from Him. It reminds me of two sisters in the Bible found in Luke 10:30-42. There is one sister, Martha, who is busy trying to do everything for The Lord. She is working hard so that everything is right and there are no problems. She wanted to serve Jesus we’ll, but got frustrated in the process. Her sister wasn’t helping, so she asked Jesus to help. “Tell her to lend me a hand,” she said. The Lord tried to help her, but not in the way she was expecting.

Her sister Mary was sitting at His feet listening to Him. She was patient and wanted to learn how to better serve. Instead of continuously trying to work to get it right, she stopped, handed her time over to Jesus and watched. She didn’t try to bat His hand away while He spoke. She didn’t interrupt in order to show she got it. She just waited. The Lord rewarded her in His response to her sister. He said, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

If you’re looking to God for help today, take time to sit at His feet and listen. Quit trying to do it all, stop completely and learn. He would rather us take the time to listen and learn than to keep working in our trial and error ways. He wants to take it out of our hands, show us what He wants and then to give it back. Don’t keep batting His hand away when He’s trying to show you. It’s ok to stop working when you’re sitting at His feet. It’s ok to leave the complicated things behind to do something as simple as listening. Taking time to listen to His voice will not be taken from you. It’s just up to you to position yourself where you can hear.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

June 23, 2014 · 6:47 AM

Haiti Day 5: We Said Goodbye

20140623-074152-27712914.jpg

Instead of going to a traditional church on Sunday, we took church to the Myan orphanage. We sang a couple of songs in English and then did one in Haitian Creole. Some children got up and recited memory verses and others sang a song they had learned. A few members from our team shared scriptures and short messages for each child. We then stood in a large circle around the room and went one by one telling one thing we are thankful to God for. The answers from some of the children were clothes, a bed, food, a beautiful house, someone to wash their clothes and one just thanked Him for everything that’s been done for her.

After we said our tearful goodbyes, we went back to the guesthouse to put our work clothes on. We headed to the Gonaives orphanage to finish the job. The children loved the warm yellow that we painted it. The old gray didn’t have a happy feel to it. It’s amazing how a little paint can transform not just a house, but a child’s outlook on life. Every new orphan that walks through the freshly painted gates will be greeted with a heart to show them love and a beautiful house to welcome them home.

The words “home” and “family” mean so much when you see the world through an orphan’s life. They don’t have a mother or father that they can go to for advice. They don’t have a safe place they can go when it storms. There are no family reunions that they can go to in order to connect with their roots. They aren’t even guaranteed their next meal or clothes when they grow. They miss the chance to be children when they have to grow up so fast in order to survive. That’s why orphan care is so important.

We may not be able to help every orphan in the world, but we can make a difference in the lives of a few. At our nightly devotional, we each shared the name of an orphan who changed our lives or touched our heart. We collectively smiled as each name was called out. It was the smile that says, “I know that kid! They touched my life too.” These team members may not have known the name of an orphan before they came. As we are leaving, I can tell you they don’t just know the name of an orphan, they know one personally.

I often think I would like to have known James in the Bible. He was hard nosed and didn’t pull any punches. His book in the Bible is short, but power packed. In the first chapter verse 27, he said, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress.” This week, each member of our team got to experience what pure and genuine religion feels like. My hope is that what was born in Haiti will carry on with each of them for the rest of their lives. May they never stop giving what God has placed in their hands or serving Him faithfully.

20140623-074349-27829444.jpg

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 19, 2014 · 5:46 AM

Haiti Day 1: Called To Do Something

20140619-064508-24308570.jpg

The first day in Haiti is always a long one. We arrived at the church at 3:30 in the morning to head for the airport. We had a quick layover in Miami before boarding another plan to Port au Prince. We were delayed for what seemed like hours before take off. In reality, it was only about 30 minutes. We were so excited to get here. When the plane finally took off, there was a sense of relief. We arrived safely and got through customs with no problems. After stopping for a quick lunch, we headed to Miss Dorothy’s Faith, Hope, Love Infant Rescue center.

She and her team care for children with medical conditions that cost more than their parents can afford. Our team got right to work loving on each of these kids and began to play with them. It started off with the orphans coming up and sitting with our team. It quickly turned into chasing, soccer, swinging and a lot of laughing. One team member was playing with four boys and wooden swords that were there. The kids were “attacking” him and he fended them off. It was an incredible moment to watch.

After everyone had their fill of fun, we headed back to the guesthouse for dinner and our nightly devotions. The prevailing message was simple: each of us are called to do something. There’s no where in the Bible where is God ok with anyone doing nothing. We were each created with a purpose. If you don’t know what it is, it isn’t an excuse to do nothing. We need to be about our Father’s business. There’s always someone we can help. There’s always someone we can pray for. There’s always someone who needs to be shown God’s love.

As we all shared our story last night, I looked up and saw a tree across the street. It was taller than all the other trees and it’s growing at an angle. I wondered when it was planted and by whom. I wondered what caused it to grow at an angle. Was it the earthquake? Was it poorly planted? Was the ground bad? I looked at the other trees and saw all different shapes, sizes and types of trees. Each one was growing in its own way and at its own rate. Each one served a specific purpose. If that tree compared itself to other trees growth, it could think it was better. If it compared itself to their straightness, it would think it’s a failure.

The problem with comparisons is that we are all different. We’ve all been planted in different soil and come from different seeds. Each one of us grow at our own rate, produce different fruit and have our own purpose. When we compare ourselves to others, we lose sight of who God made us to be. We each are called to do something that only we can do. We have been planted where God wants us. It’s up to us to grow and produce what He wants us to. It’s up to us to keep our eyes on Him and to stretch ourselves as high as we can so we can get more of the Son. When we do that, we will be success by God’s standard.

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 12, 2014 · 7:56 AM

Learning Through Relationships

When is the last time you looked back over your life to see the people God placed in it at just the right time? I’ve been reflecting this week on my entire life as an exercise in faith. I spent time looking back thinking about the people who have mentored me in the faith. I’ve also spent some time thinking about the people who were brought into my life for a brief period and then were gone again. As I’ve done this exercise, I have been able to see God’s hand on the relationships He’s brought to me. It has also built my faith in trusting Him with the relationships He has given me right now.

Sometimes we don’t understand why God has brought certain people into our lives. Some rub us the wrong way. Some push us out of our comfort zone. Some challenge everything we say. Some make us want to run away. As I’ve mentioned those, you’ve probably put some names to those people in your life right now. We all have people in our lives that we are grateful for. At the same time, we also have people in our lives where we wonder what God is thinking! We’d rather that they not be in our lives. In looking back, I’ve found that those people shaped me as well. The ones who rubbed me the wrong way actually acted like sand paper and smoothed out some of my rough edges.

When I look at the story of Joseph in Genesis 37, I see the relationships God put in his life. The first relationships you see are with his dad and brothers. His dad loved him, but his brothers didn’t. When his brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites, God put Potiphar in his life. Potiphar was the captain of the palace guard for Pharaoh. When Joseph did well for him, he made him his personal assistant. Joseph got to see the inner working of Egypt. He got to see how to act in the presence of a king. He learned how to be an effective administrator which he would need later.

After being wrongfully put in prison, Joseph used the skills he learned from Potiphar to run the prison. He leveraged the relationship with the guards and eventually the warden to be put in such a position that he was over all the other prisoners. It was then that he met two prisoners who worked in the Pharaoh’s court. He was able to interpret their dreams putting him in direct relationship with someone who had Pharaoh’s ear. When Pharaoh had a dream no one could interpret, the released prisoner mentioned Joseph. He was then able to be put in a position to save his father and brothers.

You may not understand the relationships you have right now, but God is using them to get you where He needs you. Joseph could have sulked that he was a slave or a prisoner and spent his life being bitter. Instead, he took bad situations and forged relationships he wouldn’t have made any other way. He looked for opportunity instead of excuses. He built relationships instead of resentment. Looking back it’s easy to see what God was doing. I’m sure Joseph didn’t understand why he had those relationships at the time. He accepted the people that God placed in his life, learned from them and moved on.

Who is God trying to use in your life right now?
Have you been building resentment toward them or relationships them?
What do you need to do to learn from each relationship?

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,