Tag Archives: Devotion

May 22, 2014 · 7:49 AM

Grab Your Sword!

Have you ever been so angry with someone you sat there and plotted ways to pay them back? I have. I’ve plotted ways where I wouldn’t get caught, ways that would hurt them worse than they hurt me and ways that were they would know to never do something to me again. I used to say, “I don’t get even, I get ahead!” It’s crazy how clouded our mind gets when we’ve been hurt by someone. Reason goes out the window and we have a laser focus (tunnel vision) on hurting them back. We don’t care who gets caught in the wake as long as that person suffers.

I know I can’t be the only one who has ever felt this way. Maybe you’ve experienced it too. I know David did in I Samuel 25. He had protected a man’s property while running from Saul and living in the wilderness. He was hungry so he sent servants to ask for food as repayment. The man whose property he protected replied, “Do you think I’m going to take good bread and wine and meat freshly butchered for my sheep shearers and give it to men I’ve never laid eyes on?” David took that as a slap in the face for all he had done for him. Without hesitation, David said, “Get your swords!”

His first instinct was to repay this man evil for evil. Eye for an eye. Tit for tat. His anger blinded him. He got 400 of his strongest men and headed for that man. If he wasn’t going to give it freely, David was going to kill him and take it. We act the same way when we’re angry. Only around here, we don’t say, “Get your swords,” we say, “Grab your gun!” Violence seems to be our answer when someone has made us mad. We hit a wall, stomp our feet into the ground, punch something, scream out loud and display our displeasure any way we can. We want people to know we’re really mad.

That’s opposite of what God wants us to do. God says, in Deuteronomy 32:35, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will over take them.” The problem is we want them to have pay back now. We want to be the ones delivering it, but that’s not God’s way. That’s not God’s timing. In the New Testament, God reaffirms this message through Paul. Romans 12:17-18 says, “Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”

God doesn’t want us grabbing our swords (or guns) to pay back what someone did to us. He wants us to calm down, breathe and trust that He will handle it “in due time.” Proverbs 22:1 says that a good reputation is more important than riches. We lose our reputation when we go around paying people back. In turn, we tarnish God’s name. By the way, that man’s wife stopped David from killing her husband and everyone else. The next day, the man had a stroke and died. Instead of having murder on his hands, he maintained a pure heart before God. Instead of reaching for your sword next time someone hurts you, reach for patience instead. Let God have it.

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May 21, 2014 · 7:25 AM

Prayer Of Trust

Lord,

You’re holy and I’m unworthy of your daily presence in my life. Who am I that you should choose to call me your own, much less your child? I don’t know that I’ll ever understand why you choose to continually pour out blessings on me. I can’t comprehend the love you have for me. I can feel it and I can see it, but I know I don’t deserve it. In your grace, you have chosen not to give my what I deserve of have earned, but what you desire to give your children. You have given me peace, comfort, security and salvation. You have blessed me beyond words and I say, “Thank you!”

Thank you for not giving up on me when I most deserved it. Thank you for not turning your back on me when I have turned my back on you. You have remained true to II Timothy 2:13 that says even when we are unfaithful, you remain faithful. You cannot deny who you are. You are the steady constant in my life. You are my rock, my fortress, my hiding place and my deliverer. I trust you and run to you when things come at me faster than I can handle. I hide behind your shield when it feels like everyone is against me.

In those moments, you have never failed me. You have never left me out alone to face my battles. You have always stood with me, right beside me in the hardest of times. When others have left, you stayed. When others said that I got what I deserved, you put me back on me feet and showed me the path you wanted me on. You have always been my guide even though I haven’t always listened. You have pointed me to greener pastures, but I’ve procrastinated because I’ve been complacent with where I am. Continue to show patience towards me as you guide and direct me.

Give me the courage to leave those familiar fields to go where you would lead me. Give me peace as I walk away from the things I’ve known. Forgive me for finding my security in them instead of in you. Help me to trust you more and my surroundings less. Show me the greater plan you have for my life and nudge me when I stray from it. I ask for wisdom to recognize the time and seasons of change and for strength to bear the load you’ve given me. Thank you again for all you’ve done in my life and all you’re going to do. Thank you that I haven’t gone beyond the point of being used by you. I love you.

In Jesus name,

Amen

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May 20, 2014 · 7:50 AM

Umbrella Of Praise

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Have you ever just allowed your mind to worry? I’m sure you’ve been there where your every thought is consumed by all the possibilities. You replay the scenario in your mind over and over again until you can’t think of any good outcomes. Your heart rate goes up. Your stress increases. You get that feeling in the middle of your chest that something’s not right. Your sleep then gets affected and your exhausted because you’re mentally drained. It happens to the best of us, but it doesn’t have to. We don’t have to let worry consume our mind and lives. There’s a better way.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers…Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” Worry takes a lot of energy. It takes a lot of time and effort too. God would rather we spend that time, energy and effort in prayer. That’s what David did when he worried. He spent a lot of time in dark caves hiding from people who wanted to kill him. His mind would wander in the darkness and worry would creep in.

It was in the darkness of those caves in the stress of worry that he wrote so many Psalms. We like to think of him as the giant slayer, but he was also a worrier. Writing the Psalms helped him channel that worry into prayer and praise. When we worry, we take control of the situation that we have no control over. When we pray, we give God control of the situation that He already knows the outcome of. If we can learn to hand that off on prayer, we can displace a lot of worry in our life and use the energy for productive things.

The scripture also said to let petitions and praise shape our worries into prayers. I’ve found that when I’m most stressed, most worried and most consumed with a problem that I need to break away and spend time listening to Praise and Worship music. When I begin to praise God and worship Him, I invite His presence into my situation. I invoke all of Heaven’s authority to come stand by my side and fight on my behalf. I’m then surrounded by God’s peaceful presence because He dwells in the praises of His people. When that peace comes over me, I begin to see the battle is not mine, but His.

Worry doesn’t change my situation, prayer does because it moves the hand of God. Worry leaves me empty and broken, but God’s presence makes me whole. Worry sees every negative outcome in a situation, but praise sees everything working together for my good. The choice is ours. I personally like the outcome of prayer and praise than worry and fret. If you’re caught in that storm of negative thoughts, put up an umbrella of prayer and praise today and let the peace of God that passes all understanding come and rule in your heart and mind. Leave worry behind. Give it to the One who already knows what’s going to happen and is in control. It’s a wonderful feeling when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

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May 19, 2014 · 7:49 AM

You Are An Ironman

This weekend there was an Ironman race in our town. If you’re unfamiliar with an Ironman race, they start at 7:00 AM with a 2.4 mile swim, then they ride their bike for 112 miles and then run 26.2 miles. That’s a 140.6 mile race! Oh, and they have time limits for each portion of the race. To be qualified as an Ironman, you have to finish within those time frames. For the marathon run portion, you have to cross the finish line by midnight. That’s a 17 hour race if you’re keeping up with the math.

We had a friend racing in it so we thought we would go cheer her on at the finish line. I wasn’t prepared for that. It was an amazing experience to watch these Ironmen old and young, skinny and not so skinny cross the line. The music was pumping and the crowd was electric. Every time a runner would cross the line, the announcer would call out their name and say, “You are an Ironman!” The crowd would roar in celebration for that person. Some walked across the finish line, some limped, so ran faster, so took time to high five the crowd as they passed and some slowed down to take it all in and asked the crowd to cheer more.

As I was cheering, I thought about my own finish line in life. I thought, “This must be what it’s like when we die and go to Heaven. There must be a crowd of people cheering us across the finish line as the Father says our name and then says, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!'” My mind also went to Hebrews 12:1 that says, “Since we are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

In a 140.6 mile race, I’m sure there are places in that race where there isn’t a crowd cheering you on. There are placed where it’s just them and the road. They’re going through the motions fighting a mental battle to push on. I’m sure there is every reason in the world to want to quit and only one reason to stay in the race. There are walls in their mind that they have to push through. There are times where they need water and sustenance to give their body energy to keep going. But there are times where someone hands them a drink, offers a nutritious bar and times where there is a crowd that cheers them on. But there’s nothing like the crowd at the finish line.

In our personal race, there are times you will face where no one is there to keep you going. There will be times when you have every reason to quit. There will be walls that you will face to try to stop you. You’ll need to drink from God’s Word. You’ll need supernatural food to sustain you along the way. God will send encourages along your path, but there will be nothing like crossing the finish line in Heaven. There will be music and a great crowd of witnesses cheering you home. You will hear the Father say your name and then, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” So keep pushing today. You aren’t in a sprint or even a marathon. This life is an Ironman race. You can make it.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7, 8 NLT)

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May 15, 2014 · 6:27 AM

Practicing God’s Truths

I played basketball on high school and every day after school we had practice. To get started, we’d do calisthenics to stretch our muscles and warm ourselves up. Then we would run to finish warming up. After that, coach would explain the plays we were going to work on. He would then grab the starting five to walk through it so everyone would know where they were supposed to be. He would interchange players from the bench so they would know where they fit into the play. Once we got it, we would do a full speed run through over and over until it was like clockwork.

There were lots of corrections once we got to full speed. He would blow his whistle, stop the play, make the correction for the person who messed up and then would explain to everyone what went wrong and why it had to be that way. Once we got that down pat, we would then bring in the second string players to be defensive stand ins. We would then practice with the obstacle of players standing in our way. Once we had the play down with them there, he unleashed them to move as real players. We then practiced with a live defense until we got it right.

As a kid, I didn’t understand why we practiced the plays so much. I didn’t understand why everything had to be perfect before we could move to the next level. Now I know that practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. In practicing, we learned the ins and outs of everything that had to do with what we were learning. We learned what not to do and what to expect from our opponent, even an opponent who knew the play. We learned how to adapt and execute the play in order to win.

In Philippians 4:9, Paul urges us who are believers to “keep putting into practice all that you have learned and received from me.” He wants us as believers to practice what’s right. To practice putting the Gospel into action in our lives. He knew, like my coach, that one practice isn’t going to get you to perfect. You have to keep practicing what you’ve learned day in and day out. You have to perfect what you do so that it becomes second nature. You’ll know what to do when the enemy plays defense and tries to mess you up. You’ll be able to beat Him.

Jesus said in Luke 11:28, “But even more blessed are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.” He wanted us to practice putting God’s Word into action in our lives. That means keep trying even if you fail. Don’t give up when you mess up or can’t seem to get it right. Slow down, go back to a His Word and understand why He wants you to do things a certain way. Then put it into practice until you get it right. If you want to see growth, take one of God’s truths and start putting it into practices until you get it down pat. That can take a while so don’t give up in the process. You’ll get it, just keep practicing.

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May 14, 2014 · 7:03 AM

Changing Your Mind

I’ve started to read “Good to Great In God’s Eyes” by Chip Ingram. The book is for people who don’t want to be ordinary Christians. In the book there are ten practices that we can adopt as believers to live extraordinary lives in God’s eyes. He uses a lot of the techniques that I’ve learned in selling and management. I believe the Bible is full of men and women who lived great lives that set them apart and that you and I can live a life that would be worthy of writing about.

The first thing he talks about in the book is thinking great thoughts. He mentions that he doesn’t start with a physical action or attitude because true change starts in the mind. From all of my learning, I have found this practice to be true. In order to change a behavior in our lives, we first have to change how we think about it. You and I are creatures of habit, but we are not creatures who are stuck in our ways unless we believe that with our mind. If you want to change for the better, you have to believe that you can change.

How you think about something is what determines your feelings about it. How you feel about it determines your attitude about it. Your attitude then determines your behavior towards it. If you want to change your behavior towards something, you have to change your attitude. If you want to change your attitude, you have to change how you feel about it. If you want to change how you feel about it, you have to change your thoughts. You and I have the capability of changing our thought pattern over time.

Think about Romans 12:2. It says, “Do not be conformed to this world this age, fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind by its new ideals and its new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you (AMP). Our transformation, our changing comes from the renewing of our mind. We renew our mind by renewing our thoughts. We renew our thoughts by being intentional about the thoughts we think.

It also says that when we renew our mind, we get a new attitude. When we get the new attitude, we will be able to prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The Message says then you’ll “readily recognize what He wants from you and quickly respond to it. Your attitude will determine your action. You will begin to do the things that God wants you to do. You will begin to live the life a God wants you to live. You will start moving from a good, Christian life to a great Christian life. It all starts with the thoughts you think. If you want to change your life, change your thoughts.

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May 13, 2014 · 7:42 AM

Times Of Rain

Rain is something we need, but don’t really want. We associate it with bad. It started when we were children singing the song, “Rain, Rain, go away. Come again another day.” Rain disrupts the times of sunshine and happiness. When it’s rainy outside, we say it’s gloomy. We think of the gray clouds and we think of depression. It changes our path, our timing and our plans. It messes things up for us so we resist it. We forget that rain is a necessary part of life. We forget the good that it does.

I’ve got several friends right now who are experiencing rain in their lives. Several friends have had loved ones pass away unexpectedly. I’ve got a couple of friends who can’t seem to find a job. I’ve got a few friends whose lives have been turned upside down because of choices their spouse made. For them, it seems like the rain just keeps coming. It feels like their lives are being flooded with negative things. Matthew 5:45 came to mind. It says, “It rains on the just and the unjust.”

I’ve read or heard that scripture my whole life. I was always under the impression that it just meant that bad things happen to Christians and non Christians alike because I associated rain with bad times. When I read it in context and then in several versions and interpretations of the original Greek, the Message Bible stood out. It said, “This is what God does. He gives His best – the sun to warm and the rain to nourish – to everyone regardless.” The times of rain in our lives are meant to nourish us. Just like our yards, lakes and crops need rain for nourishment, so do our lives.

When bad things happen, it usually pushes us closer go God. We spend more time in prayer. We take the time to talk to God and to read His Word to try to find answers. Days of sunshine rarely push us to spend time with God. When we go so long without rain or without spending time with a God, we enter a desert. God knows that we need rain. Of course, with lots of rain, it starts to flood. Jesus told a parable about that. He said the wise man built his house upon the rock so that when the rains came down and the floods went up, his house would stand firm.

What’s your house built on? The one way to test it is with lots of rain. If your faith erodes when the floods come, you’ve built your house on sand. The good news is that of that’s the case, God is there to help you rebuild your life after laying a firm foundation. If the floods came and have damaged your house, but your foundation is firm, God will be there when the rain leaves to help you make repairs. Either way, the rain should drive you closer to God and nourish your spirit. Times of rain are painful, but needed. Don’t run from them.

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May 12, 2014 · 7:41 AM

Mr. Irrelevant

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Does the name Lonnie Ballentine mean anything to you? If not, don’t worry. Most people don’t know him and odds are they won’t. He was the last person picked this year in the NFL draft and is given the title “Mr. Irrelevant”. They name the last person drafted Mr. Irrelevant because odds are that they won’t make the team they were drafted to. While they get the honor of being drafted, they may never step foot onto a professional football field. The last person picked is just a formality. It’s a pick that means nothing. There are hundreds more that didn’t get drafted that feel irrelevant too.

It reminds me of school yard basketball, dodgeball or anything team related. Two people pick teams. Little by little the crowd is whittled down until one remains. The one team captain says, “You can have them.” The other one sees them as a disadvantage too and says, “No. You take them.” Neither one wants to take the last one there and care very little for their feelings. It’s tough feeling irrelevant. It hurts when that label has been applied to you. Sooner or later, you start to believe it and start acting that way.

What you may not know is that through the years, there are a number of people that were drafted as “Mr. Irrelevant” that made the team. There were several that had great careers and even one who went with his team to the Super Bowl. These men chose not to let the label define them. They didn’t look at the odds, the circumstances or history and decide to fall in line. They chose to be relevant. They chose to work harder, do more and make the team. They didn’t let a label placed on them choose their destiny.

You may be reading this today with the mindset that you’re irrelevant. Maybe you weren’t picked for the job. Maybe no one remembered it was your birthday. Maybe no one appreciates all you do to make ends meet. The enemy wants to come in and tell you that your life is irrelevant. He wants nothing more than to kill, steal and destroy you. Don’t listen to the lies that say you are irrelevant. That your life is worthless. That no one wants you. That your life has no meaning. You mean more to God than you can ever comprehend. Your dark times are the very thing that will make you relevant.

There are so many people who are and will go through something similar to your circumstances. God needs someone who’s been there, walked in those shoes and dealt with the pain of feeling irrelevant in order to help them. He needs you to draw on your experiences to give hope to those who have none. Being picked last is a blessing. It means that God can use you to reach others who will be picked last. He makes beauty from ashes. He has to let your life be torn down sometimes in order to build it back up. He can take a life that seems irrelevant and make it relevant. It’s up to us to not give up during those times so He can make what you’re going through relevant.

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May 9, 2014 · 7:45 AM

The Mom Who Wouldn’t Quit

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 an autographed copy of “What Happens When Women Say Yes To God” by Lysa TerKeurst. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

I’ve always heard that if your mom is praying for you, you might as well stop running because God is going to answer her prayer. There us a lot of power and passion in a mother’s prayer. I believe it’s because God puts something special in them. They have the power to love their children unconditionally. When a dad is ready to give up, a mom keeps believing against all hope and prays even more fervently. There is power in a mom’s prayer.

There is a mom in Matthew 15:22-28 who approached Jesus for her child. We don’t know her name, but we know about her persistence. She had a daughter who was being tormented by a demon. It was unbearable for her to watch her daughter be miserable and to be powerless against it. When she heard that Jesus was coming through her area, she made it her mission to get His attention and to get Him to heal her daughter no matter what. She knew that Jesus had the power to make her daughter whole.

With a loud voice, she began to make a scene trying to get Jesus’ attention. The Amplified Bible says it was a loud, troublesomely urgent cry. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David,” she cried out. Jesus could hear her, but He ignored her. He kept walking and gave her no reply to her shouts. She then began to pester the disciples. She begged them to get Him to touch her daughter. If she couldn’t get The Lord’s attention, she would find those who could and get them to plead with Him on her behalf.

When the disciples got tired of being bothered by her, they said to Jesus, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.” Jesus refused again. He said He had His hands full helping the lost sheep of Israel. When the woman saw that Jesus wouldn’t grant her request even though the disciples asked Him to, she marched right up to Him, dropped to her knees and begged, “Master, help me.” You can hear the desperation in her voice as she wanted nothing more than help for her daughter.

Jesus then said one of the most harsh things He ever said. He looked at her and said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus had not only ignored her and refused to answer her, now He was insulting her. Instead of walking away or throwing an insult back, she quickly replied, “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.” Verse 28 says, “Jesus gave in. ‘Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get.’ Right then her daughter became well.”

If you feel like God has ignored your prayer, keep praying and get others involved. If God is refusing your request, go straight into the a Throne Room and make your request known. If God is still refusing, don’t quit praying. If you feel insulted because you have prayed so long and so hard, don’t stop. Your answer could be just around the corner. God will test our faith to make sure it’s what we really want. He will answer when our faith is something else. Mom, you have a gift for never giving up when it comes to your children. Keep going to The Lord in prayer until He gives in and grants your request. There’s something about a praying mom that touches the heart of God.

If you would like to win an autographed copy of “What Happens When Women Say Yes To God” by Lysa TerKeurst, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (May 10, 2014) who has liked my page. If you have already liked my page and enjoy reading these daily devotionals, you are already entered. Please invite your friends to like my page so they can receive encouragement from God’s Word too

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May 8, 2014 · 7:55 AM

The Mom Who Was MVP

This week Kevin Durant, of the NBA’s Oklahoma Thunder, won the league MVP. In his 25 minute speech, he thanked coaches and other players by name and told how they has helped him. The room was captivated. Then, through tears, he turned to his mom and thanked her. He told how she was a single mom raising two boys. He told how they had to move from apartment to apartment sometimes with no furniture or beds. He told how she did what it took to make ends meet and even kept him off the streets. He then looked at her, with tears in his eyes, and said, “You’re the real MVP.”

I don’t know why, but listening to his speech reminded me of the widow woman in I Kings 17 that Elijah approached. He had been camping out by a brook and ravens had been bringing him food. Because of the drought, the brook dried up. God told him to go to a nearby town and that a widow would feed him. As he traveled he became both thirsty and hungry. He had worked up quite an appetite by the time he arrived at the town. As he walked up to the city gate, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called out to her to bring him a drink. As she turned to get the water jug, he added, “And bring me some bread too.”

The motherly instinct kicked in now. She didn’t mind getting this stranger water. There was plenty of it, but the bread was a different story. She let him know that she barely had enough for one meal. She was going to feed it to her son and then they were going to die of starvation. Her son must have been pretty young. He wasn’t out gathering sticks for her. She was gathering the sticks, she was going to build the fire, she was going to cook and she was going to share it with him. I’m sure she had played out their death a thousand times. This last bit of bread represented hope. It represented one more day of life and now this stranger was asking for it.

Being the good mom she was, she explained why she couldn’t give up their last meal. But Elijah spoke to her and gave her a promise from God. He told her not to be afraid and that God would cause there to be flour and oil in her jars until the rains came and crops were produced. She had to make a choice. Was this man really from God? Were his words really what God said? What if I give our last meal to him and God doesn’t come through? I’m sure there were lots of doubts and scenarios going through her mind. In the end, she went for the long term solution versus the short term gain. She gave up everything for her son in order to trust God to help them live.

So many moms out there are faced with life and death decisions like this widow. They choose not to eat so their kids can. They don’t know where the next meal will come from. They work, but it seems like it’s not enough. The widow showed that if we continue to work, but also do all that God asks, He will provide. He will make a way where there seems to be no way. I know several people who have been to this desperate point. They trusted God and miraculously groceries showed up on their door step, someone paid for their groceries at the store, or money came in from seemingly no where. Moms who trust God when there seems to be no way are the real MVP’s of this life.

Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread. (Psalms 37:25 NLT)

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