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August 4, 2025 · 5:57 AM

Fighting Fear

Fear is one of our greatest enemies. It distorts the truth about who we are. It can make us feel less than who we are. It can also cause us to doubt our own strength and capabilities. Fear will also interject itself into how we see God and our relationship with Him. It causes doubt, gets us to question God’s plan and blinds us to our identity in Him. Ultimately it keeps from reaching our potential and achieving all God created us to do. We must not let it gain a foothold in our lives. It’s lies spread and hold us back. Thankfully perfect love casts out all fear.

In Judges 6, we meet Gideon, and immediately we can see how fear is driving his decisions and has distorted his view of God, as well as his own identity. He is threshing grain in a wine press so he isn’t seen by his enemies. When the Angel of the Lord show up, He spoke to Gideon’s identity by calling him a mighty warrior and reminding him that God is with him. The fear in Gideon questioned God plan in their current situation. The angel spoke to his identity again and told him he was being sent to deliver Israel. When Gideon questioned it again, the angel said, “I will be with you” (NLT). The Lord continued to be patient with Gideon as he transformed him into the warrior God created him to be.

In Isaiah 43:1 the Lord says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.” God knows that we all face fear in one way or another. His truth will drive out fear from your life and will help you see your true identity in Him. You have been called by name and belong to Him. He will not abandon you in your time of trouble. He sees your potential and calls it out the same way He did to Gideon. You may not see it in yourself right now, but listen to the voice of truth over the voice of fear. The goal of fear is to bring insecurity in every area of your life, but God’s love brings confidence, freedom and victory. It’s a process to let go of fear, but God is patient and will walk with every step of the way as you fight fear.

Photo by Bruno do Val on Unsplash

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August 1, 2025 · 6:01 AM

Meaningful Prayer

Sometimes when people ask me what I do for a living I tell them, “I teach the younger generations how to talk to people.” With all the means of communication we have today, we’ve lost the art of talking. We’ve gone from having meaningful conversations to text acronyms with emojis. The problem is that many of us have done the same thing in our prayer life. We’ve gone from having meaningful conversations with God to short quick prayers when we need something. Just like with people, a lack of meaningful conversations results in a shallow relationship. The truth is that our prayer life is a reflection of how much we value spending time with God. I believe God is calling us back to meaningful prayer times where we grow our relationship with Him.

Here are some verses on meaningful prayers:

1. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2 ESV

2. Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!

Matthew 26:41 NLT

3. Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life.

Philippians 4:6 TPT

4. First of all, then, I urge that petitions (specific requests), prayers, intercessions (prayers for others) and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all people.

1 Timothy 2:1 AMP

5. I am passionately in love with God because he listens to me. He hears my prayers and answers them. As long as I live I’ll keep praying to him, for he stoops down to listen to my heart’s cry.

Psalms 116:1-2 TPT

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.

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July 31, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Invest In Prayer

A few years ago I left corporate America to be self employed. My 401k money was sitting there and I needed to roll it into an IRA. I did it in January of 2020. They put everything into a money market account until I chose what funds to invest in. After a few weeks, I made my choices and moved the money into them. The next week the markets began crashing due to Covid. My money was shrinking at an alarming rate. I called my advisor in a panic wondering if I should put what was left into the money market. He reminded me that I was in it for the long haul. Then he encouraged me to keep investing even when times were bad. In fact, I’ll get the best return on my investment when I buy funds at their lowest.

Jesus was a person who invested. No, he didn’t invest in a stock market. He invested time in prayer. You’ll constantly read in the Gospels where Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to invest in prayer. Almost every time you read that statement, major miracles occurred. You can also read how on the night He was betrayed, He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He was constantly making deposits in prayer. He understood that no matter what was going on in His life, He needed to be investing time in prayer. He didn’t panic or even look for some to blame. He looked for God’s presence instead.

Ephesians 6:18 says, “With all prayer and petition, pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people” (AMP). It’s always a good time for us to invest in prayer. Nothing in your life will pay greater dividends than spending time in God’s presence. If you’re facing adversity, invest more time in prayer. If you want to do greater ministry, invest more time in prayer. If things are going well, invest in prayer. You will only receive dividends according to what and where you invest. Prayer is something that pays dividends now and throughout eternity.

Photo by Arina Krasnikova on Pexels.

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word. 

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July 30, 2025 · 5:40 AM

Creating Eremos

When was the last time you got alone and quiet without distractions? No phone, tablet, computer, TV, radio or people. With all the technological breakthroughs of the last century or so we have advanced in so many areas and made life better. However, with the invention of all these things, we have lost our ability to be alone. The quietest place on earth is at the Microsoft headquarters. The anechoic chamber has six layers of concrete and steel. It’s suspended by springs to eliminate ground vibrations and it’s fully padded with foam. It’s designed to absorb all sound. The problem is most people can’t stay in there for more than 30 minutes because it’s so unnatural to the modern person.

In Luke 5:16, and throughout the Gospels, it says, “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray [in seclusion]” (AMP). The Greek word for wilderness that was used each time Jesus did this is eremos. We have translated it as wilderness, but it’s more than that. It’s not just a lonely, quiet place, it describes a place of encounter, formation and communion with God. It was a set apart place from all distractions where He could hear God’s voice without the noise from the world. In this eremos, He met God to get clarity and renewal. If He made it a point to find these places often in a less distracted and connected world, how much ,ore should we make time for it?

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus encouraged us to do the same by saying, “But when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.” We must find our own eremos where we can meet with God. It may not feel comfortable at first, but keep going to it. The goal isn’t external silence, but internal stillness. Jesus is inviting us into God’s presence where we can be still, know He is God, rest in His presence and find renewal for our soul. Creating your own eremos is critical to your spiritual growth and relationship with God.

Photo by Bruno do Val on Unsplash

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July 29, 2025 · 5:26 AM

Approaching Jesus

I love the story of the parents who had a child that was learning to play piano. They wanted him to love it so they took him to see a famous pianist in concert. Just before the concert began, the child slipped away. While they were looking for him, they heard “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star being played from the piano on the stage. They were mortified. As they scrambled to get to the stage, security officers and stage hands alike began to move towards him as well. Just then the maestro appeared and began playing the song with the child. He encouraged the kid to keep playing until the song finished. The audience was treated to the best version they’d ever heard of the song, and the kid was encouraged to keep learning piano.

In Matthew 19: Jesus was teaching a crowd and answering their questions about God’s Law. Just then a group of parents brought their children to Jesus to bless them and pray for them, but the disciples kept them away and reprimanded them. The disciples thought they were protecting Jesus’s time and dignity by keeping unimportant children away. However, Jesus replied, “Leave the children alone, and do not forbid them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (AMP). Jesus affirmed their value, though they were considered the least in society. He also made it clear that no one is to be held back from being able to approach Him.

Hebrews 4:16 says, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (NLT). You may at times feel unworthy or too unimportant to take your requests to God, but approach Him anyway. Shame my try to tell you you’re unworthy to talk to Him, but go to Him in prayer anyway. Others may try to make you feel like you’re not enough, but Jesus bids you to come anyway. You can boldly go to His throne room where you will find grace, receive a blessing and be loved when you need it most. When you feel like you’re a nuisance, Jesus will see your value and come along side you to encourage you. Don’t let anyone or anything keep you from approaching Jesus,

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July 28, 2025 · 5:40 AM

Valuing Prayer

Years ago I did a research paper on D.L. Moody. One of the things that stood out to me was his emphasis on prayer. Ne believed that prayer is the key to a vibrant spiritual life. He also understood that prayer has the power to move both God and people. When I read that he often spent up to eight hours a day in prayer, I was challenged. Prayer wasn’t just an optional thing he did every now and again. It was critical, to his relationship with God and his ministry. His prayer life created a constant connection and conversation with God. It also was the power behind his ministry. He had found that behind every great move of God was a person, or group of people, who persevered in prayer.

In Daniel 6, we read the famous story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den that most of us learned as a kid. He had an excellent spirit about him, and as verse 4 puts it, he was faithful, responsible and trustworthy. When the other officials tricked the king into creating a law that no one could pray to anyone but the king, Daniel still went home to pray to God three times a day. He valued his prayer time with God more than his own life. When he was thrown into the lion’s den, God met him there and shut the mouths of the lions because of his faithfulness to God and prayer. The king then made a decree for the people of his nation to fear and honor God.

Colossians 4:2 says, “Be persistent and devoted to prayer, being alert and focused in your prayer life with an attitude of thanksgiving” (AMP). Imagine how much would change if we each had a persistent and devoted prayer life. Daniel and D.L. Moody were able to change their nation because of their attention to prayer. I’ve always taught that we have time for what we value, and I believe it’s time we as Christians returned to valuing prayer in our lives. If God is truly the most important relationship in our life, we will make time to converse with Him. The depth of our relationship with Him is in proportion to our prayer life. We must have focused, purposeful prayers if we want to grow spiritually, be effective in our work for Him and see another great move of God in our world.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.

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July 25, 2025 · 5:48 AM

Hallelujah

On one of my trips to Israel, we were taking a boat across the Sea of Galilee singing praise and worship. As we came to shore, there was a group of Asian women waiting to board. They said something to us, but it was clear we didn’t speak each other’s language. Then one of the ladies pointed at us and asked, “Hallelujah?” We smiled back and shouted, “Hallelujah!” They shouted back, “Hallelujah!” In that moment we recognized each other as belonging to Christ through a universal word that simply means, “Praise God!” No matter where you are or what you’re going through, praising God invites Him into your situation. Simply say, “Hallelujah anyway!”

Here are some Bible verses using Hallelujah:

1. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with obedience], Who delights greatly in His commandments.

Psalms 112:1 AMP

2. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

Psalms 106:48 AMP

3. After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,”

Revelation 19:1 ESV

4. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever!

Psalms 106:1 AMP

5. Let everyone everywhere join in the crescendo of ecstatic praise to Yahweh! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Psalms 150:6 TPT

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July 24, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Seeking More

One of a kid’s favorite games is hide and seek. Since we had some kids over recently, we encouraged them to play inside. The last one caught got to be it each time. On one occasion, the youngest player got to be it. After a few minutes of trying, she couldn’t find anyone. She was ready to quit. We encouraged her by setting a timer, offering hints and walking with her. She found no one. After the timer was up, we had her call out, “Marco!” The older kids responded, “Polo!” She began seeking again and was able to find them. I realized at that moment that each person has a different ability and threshold for seeking.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him” (TPT). Each of us are called to continually seek Him even after we’ve found Him. There are greater depths of Him to know beyond what we find on the surface at salvation. He’s not asking us just to find Him. We’re to know Him as well. We can’t just give up or stop seeking Him after salvation. We need to seek the different aspects of who He is because we’re going to need them as we go through life.

Psalm 105:4 says, “Seek more of his strength! Seek more of him! Let’s always be seeking the light of his face.” Seeking more of who God is should be a daily discipline for believers. Our personal revival starts with seeking these different aspects of who He is. When we go through dry times in our relationship with Him, the root cause in a lot of cases is that we have quit seeking Him. He wants to be found. He wants to reveal more if Himself to you, but you must move and seek Him. We have a promise in James 4:8 that says if we will draw close to Him, He will draw close to us. Seeking Him is the pathway to the closeness we’re looking for.

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word. 

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July 23, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Healing Amid Hardening

Quenching steel is the process that rapidly cools the steel after it has been heated to a glowing malleable state. In that form it is soft and vulnerable. Plunging it into oil creates a dramatic shift in its temperature and hardness that gives it strength and hardness. It can be done in either oil or water depending on the steel. If it cools too fast, the steel can crack. If it cools too slowly, the steel might not harden enough. Oil absorbs heat at the right temperature and forms a blanket around the steel initially, cushioning the shock. This helps the steels structure heal properly as it realigns. 

There’s not a person in the world who hasn’t gone through hard times. Some of us have been pushed to the brink of what we could handle. We’ve felt broken, alone and wondered why it was happening to us. When we don’t heal properly, we carry those wounds with us into our relationships and jobs. We project hardness to keep people away, but the truth is we are broken on a level that may not be visible to the eye. We need the oil of God to come and heal us. We need to get to a point where we open ourselves up to Him and allow Him to pour His oil into the places others can’t reach. His healing is perfect. It does leave a scar, but that is so you can share what He has done, and others will find their healing in your scars.

I love the story of the Good Samaritan. When the Samaritan found the wounded man, he had compassion on him, bandaged his wounds and poured oil into them to bring healing. God calls you and I to be the oil bearers for people who are hurting and broken. 2 Corinthians 1:4 says, “He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us.” If God has brought healing into your life, you have a responsibility to pour oil into the wounds of others who need healing in the midst of their realignment. There’s power in your testimony and your scars. There’s healing amid hardening.

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July 22, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Without Excuses

Years ago I taught a class where I posed a series of “what if” or “if only” questions. I would write their answers on the board. If only I had more time. If only I was paid more. If only management would do this or that. The answers were flowing until I stopped and read them their answers. I asked them what their answers looked like. When no one answered, I simply pointed out that their answers were excuses to not do things. They were things that were holding them back from their potential and keeping them from moving up. Some times those answers are right, but when we allow them to hold us back, they become excuses.

There were many people in the Bible who gave God excuses as to why they couldn’t do what He asked. Moses said he stuttered and wasn’t a good orator. Jonah said he didn’t like the people God called him to minister to. The people who wanted to follow Jesus, but first wanted to go back to bury the dead or get their inheritance. Even Jeremiah gave an excuse that he was too young to call his nation back to repentance. In Jeremiah 1 God told him that He had set him apart and called him to the nations. In verse 6, Jeremiah gave the excuse, “O Sovereign Lord, I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” (NLT) These are some big names in the Bible who tried to use an excuse to hold them back from their purpose and calling. Thankfully God didn’t accept of their excuses.

In Jeremiah 1:7-8 God replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” He went on to say that He would put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth and empower him. It’s got me thinking about the excuses I’ve used with God. Maybe you’ve given Him some too. If God has called you to it, He will empower you and help you do it. You haven’t messed it up nor have you done anything to remove His calling. It’s time we owned up to our excuses and allowed God to help us do what He created us to do. Start living your life without excuses.

Photo courtesy of Max Andrew on Pexels.

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