Tag Archives: Devotional

February 3, 2020 · 5:58 AM

Owning Your Growth

From the very beginning of the Bible, we learn that God is a gardener. It says in Genesis that He planted a garden in the middle of creation. He didn’t simply speak it into existence like everything else. He took the time to plan and decide where He would plant each tree. He carved rivers around it to water it so that it would remain fertile. He walked in it every evening to enjoy it and to care for it. Then He placed Adam in there to be its caretaker. I think growth occurred naturally in that time because when Adam and Eve were removed from the garden, God told them that from now on they would have to sweat to get growth. There would be thistles and other things that would compete for the resources that he would grave to remove in order to achieve optimum growth. It then says that Adam began to cultivate the ground as soon as they left the garden.

God put the desire to create growth in each one of us. Some of us grow gardens. Some of grow families. Some money. In any case, if you look at your life, you’re spending a considerable amount of energy trying to achieve growth somewhere in something. Where we focus our time and energy is really what’s important to us since time and energy are our most precious commodities. What is it that you’re trying to grow? Will it matter for eternity? Is it only for your benefit? Each of us have to look at our lives to see if we’re growing the right things, and if we are doing the right things to create that growth.

2 Peter 3:18 says, “But continue to grow and increase in God’s grace and intimacy with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” (TPT). Growth in maturity of our faith is required of each of us. Your Faith is not your pastor’s garden to tend. It’s yours. This message was from Peter, who was the head of the Church at the time. He was telling believers everywhere to own their growth. What are you doing daily to own your own growth? We must make sure we’re watering our lives with God’s Word. We have to pull the weeds of doubt constantly. We need to have a plan for the areas we need to grown in. If you’re going to own your growth, you’re going to have to start cultivating new ground in your faith and do the work of a gardener. Your pastor can give you the tools, but you must do the daily work.

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January 31, 2020 · 5:59 AM

Be Alert

When I was a teenager, I was part of a scouting program at church. One of the things that was taught to us each week was the code of core values that each one of us were to adopt into our lives. To this day, I can recite all eight, and still try to live by them. The very first one was, “Alert – He is mentally, physically and spiritually alert.” I believe there is deep significance in this one for everyone, and that we should all live by it. To be mentally alert is to pay attention and to guard our mind. We have to be careful what we all into it. To be physically alert is to pay attention to our surroundings so we can keep ourselves and others out of danger. Spiritually alert is very similar. Instead of looking into the physical realm, we need to be alert to things happening in the spiritual realm.

Jesus and several authors of the New Testament warm us to be alert, to pay attention and to be vigilant. Each one of us must be aware of danger and opportunities around us. We’re not mean to drift along life being carried by its current. We must live intentional lives paying attention. We are to fight the enemy when he shows up, rescue the lost when our paths cross and ready to give an answer for the hope that lives within us. We cannot let our guard down ever. When we do, our enemy will strike or we may miss an opportunity to lead someone to salvation. Being alert is a core value that every Christian must have and incorporate into their lives.

Here are some Bible verses on being alert.

1. Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8 AMP

2. But since we belong to the day, we must stay alert and clearheaded by placing the breastplate of faith and love over our hearts, and a helmet of the hope of salvation over our thoughts.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 TPT

3. Remember to stay alert and hold firmly to all that you believe. Be mighty and full of courage.

1 Corinthians 16:13 TPT

4. Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don’t forget anything of what you’ve seen. Don’t let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you’ve seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 4:9 MSG

5. Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people.

Ephesians 6:18 GNT

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January 30, 2020 · 5:40 AM

A Change Of Clothes

I can easily recall several times in my life when my clothes were so filthy I couldn’t wear them inside. I was playing in the woods as a kid once, and I found a bucket of tar. I popped the lid off and had a lot of fun…until I got home! When I was 16, I got a job washing garbage trucks. Yes, they wash them each night like you wash your car. My clothes were so nasty, I had to ride in the back of the truck and change out of them in the garage. Also, when I was 20 years old, I visited a church in Garbage City, Cairo, Egypt. My clothes smelled so putrid that it made people sick to smell them.

Why am I telling you this? It’s because spiritually we wear clothes very similar to each of those situations. Isaiah 64:6 says, “We’re all sin-infected, sin contaminated. Our best efforts are grease-stained rags” (MSG). The Amplified Version calls them “polluted garments”. Our efforts to be good in order to get to Heaven look and smell like the clothes I was wearing on those days. Our efforts will never change our spiritual clothes. That’s something only God can do.

Zechariah had a vision of Joshua, the priest and leader of Israel. He was standing in Heaven before God and Satan was there to accuse him. Zechariah describes it this way in chapter 3 verses 3 and 4, “Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes. The angel said to his heavenly attendants, ‘Take away the filthy clothes this man is wearing.’ Then he said to Joshua, ‘I have taken away your sin and will give you new clothes to wear’” (GNT). Where our works create filthy rags, God’s work clothes us in righteousness.

Isaiah 61:10 says, “I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels” (NLT). It is God who dresses us. It is God who does the work of salvation. We simply need to present ourselves to Him, recognizing our clothes are filthy, and ask Him to change our spiritual clothes. God can take our putrid, sin stained clothes and exchange them for His righteousness. We will then be able to approach His throne of grace with all boldness clothed in righteousness.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other writing 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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January 28, 2020 · 5:49 AM

Yielding To God

One of the questions I like to ask groups is, “What motivates you more, pain or pleasure?” Honestly, the rooms are usually split on the question until I probe deeper. To those who say pleasure, I ask, “Why are you not on a beach somewhere right now?” It’s because the have to work right now. Then why not leave? It’s because the pain of losing their job keeps them from walking out and going to something pleasurable. Pain, or the threat of pain, is a far greater motivator than pleasure in our lives. That’s why since the beginning of time parents have used it to motivate their kids to obey through pain or threat of pain. Even God, our Heavenly Father, uses pain to motivate us and develop character in us.

Years ago I took an about face in my faith. I professed Jesus with my mouth, but my life was anything but living for Him. God tried the gentle whisper and conviction of the Holy Spirit to warn me to turn back around, but I failed to listen. As time went on, I started going through painful experiences, one after another, as God was trying to get my attention. He kept going until I couldn’t take it anymore and finally said, “Ok, God, you win. I give up.” Even though I turned back around, I still lived with the consequences of that period of my life, but God used them to develop character in me that was missing. He fundamentally reshaped me through the pain of that time. Like a good parent, He didn’t give up. His love kept coming after me and doing whatever it took to bring me back.

Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now all discipline seems to be more pain than pleasure at the time, yet later it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who yield to it” (TPT). It’s only when we yield that He can create the transformation in us. As long as we’re fighting and running from His purpose or calling on our life, He will do whatever it takes to bring us home so we can fulfill our purpose. Thank God He doesn’t stop chasing after us no matter how far we go. It’s a good thing, though it doesn’t seem like it at the time, that He will do whatever it takes to get your attention. I was pretty stubborn, but I’ve learned that the sooner we yield, the faster we see the harvest of His work in our lives.

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January 24, 2020 · 5:49 AM

Receiving Mercy And Grace

Mercy and grace are two words we use a lot whenever we are speaking Christianese. Do we really know what they are though? To me, mercy is not getting what we deserve when we’ve done something wrong, while grace is getting God’s favor that we don’t deserve. To receive mercy, we have to understand we’ve done wrong, own up to it and ask for it from the person whom we’ve offended. So many times we want mercy, but don’t want to own up to our mistake or admit it was our fault. To receive grace, we have to understand our shortcomings and our weaknesses. We have to know that we simply can’t do everything on our own and that we need divine assistance.

To receive both mercy and grace, we have to make an admittance so we can get the things we need, but don’t deserve. Pride will keep us from receiving both. That’s why God resists the proud, but accepts those who are humble enough to know and admit that they need Him. God is rich in mercy and full of grace that He wants to give us. We must go to Him and ask for both because every one of us need them. It’s when we recognize our weakness and go to Him that His grace is sufficient for us. We must quit trying to do everything on our own and in our own strength and learn to receive and trust in His mercy and grace.

Here are some Bible verses on mercy and grace.

1. So now we come freely and boldly to where love is enthroned, to receive mercy’s kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness.

Hebrews 4:16 TPT

2. GOD is all mercy and grace— not quick to anger, is rich in love.

Psalm 145:8 MSG

3. But God’s mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:4-5 GNT

4. But He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 AMP

5. When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

Titus 3:4-5, 7 NLT

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January 23, 2020 · 5:45 AM

Habitual Fellowship

A phrase that stands out to me, when reading about great men of faith in the Bible, is they “walked in habitual fellowship with God.” Each time I read that phrase, it calls out to me and dares me to do the same. To walk in habitual fellowship with God is to be in constant communication with Him and to live in a manner that is pleasing to Him. The men in the Bible who did this, found great favor with God.

Noah was one such man. The time period he lived in was like no other. There was no one else on earth who feared God or lived righteously. He had no church to find shelter in. He had no Christian friends who could encourage him and pray for him. He was the lone believer in a sinful world. Imagine your life without the help from your church or Christian friends. Imagine having no one you could go to for prayer when you needed it. How long would you last?

This was Noah’s situation and instead of throwing in the towel, he doubled down on his relationship with God. Genesis 6:9 says, “Noah was a righteous man [one who was just and had right standing with God], blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked (lived) [in habitual fellowship] with God” (AMP). If he was the only blameless person and he could walk in habitual fellowship with God, then you and I can too. We can find the strength within ourselves to be in constant communion with God. We can find time to pray and read His Word each day.

Merriam Webster defines “habitual” as, “Doing something regularly or repeatedly.” These men of faith regularly and repeatedly met with God and He rewarded them with favor and by making covenants with them. The God who made covenants with them still wants to make covenants with us. He’s simply waiting for those of us who will dare to enter into a habitual fellowship with Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (NLT). If you will fully commit to Him in habitual fellowship, He will give you the strength you need to live for Him every day.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other writing 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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January 21, 2020 · 5:59 AM

A Useless Life

Have you ever considered what your epitaph might say? There are some pretty unique ones out there. There are some funny ones like Merv Griffin’s that says, “I will not be right back after this message.” Others are more sentimental expressing love for family. Some denote anger because they felt abandoned in their final days by those they loved. Epitaphs can be as unique as the individual, but one epitaph I have never seen reads, “Here lies a person who lived a useless life.” The truth is that what’s not done for eternity and others is often useless. The last thing I would ever want is to have lived my life only to get to Heaven and find out my life had been useless for God’s Kingdom.

The book of Titus is not a book most of us know well. However, in it Paul gives instructions on the importance of discipleship and teaching others how to live for God. In his closing statements, in Titus 3:14, Paul writes, “Our people must learn to spend their time doing good, in order to provide for real needs; they should not live useless lives” (GNT). One translation says, “unproductive lives.” God’s idea of a productive and useful life is one that helps others find Him, provides for the needs of others and brings people into a mature faith. I know that doesn’t encompass all of it, but Paul’s message to Titus was that he should be doing these things and helping other believers to do them as well.

1 Corinthians 3:13 says, “And the quality of each person’s work will be seen when the Day of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone’s work; the fire will test it and show its real quality.” That Fire will reveal whether we lived useful or useless lives. Every one of us will stand before Jesus on that day with our lives and the things we did presented to Him as an offering. Will the things you’re doing now survive that fire? We must live our lives with that fire in mind. There’s an old poem by C.T. Studd that reminds us, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” If you haven’t been living with the end in mind, you can start today and still have an offering that will survive that fire and show your life wasn’t useless.

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January 17, 2020 · 6:01 AM

Standing Your Ground

I used to love playing King of the Hill. The struggle to maintain your position while people try to knock you off balance was fun for me. You’d have to brace yourself when you saw someone coming at you. The other thing you had to be good at was deflecting them as they hit you. Using their momentum against them was always to securing your spot on the hill. Inevitably you’re knocked off the spot, and then someone else occupies what was once yours. When that happens, it’s time to go on the offensive so you can take it back. It’s the classic game of standing your ground.

As Christians, our enemy roams around like a lion trying to intimidate us so we will back down and give up ground. Sometimes he comes at us with a full on assault doing everything he can to get us to give up ground, but like Jesus, we can hold our ground during these times by using the Word of God. We are to hold up our shield of faith in God’s Word when these attacks come. We need to use the whole armor God gave us to stand up to the devil when he is trying to take ground. It also takes a strong will and determination to stand up and say, “No more! I refuse to give up this land. You cannot have it!” I believe the Holy Spirit, who is our sword, gives us the courage and the strength to stand up and fight back. We have all authority through Jesus’ name, so stand up to the devil, resist his advances and he will flee.

Here are some Bible verses on standing your ground.

1. So then, surrender to God. Stand up to the devil and resist him and he will turn and run away from you.

James (Jacob) 4:7 TPT

2. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT

3. With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

1 Corinthians 15:58 MSG

4. Wickedness does not give security, but righteous people stand firm.

Proverbs 12:3 GNT

5. Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil.

Ephesians 6:11 AMP

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January 16, 2020 · 5:30 AM

Stand Strong

One of my favorite people in the Bible is Gideon. I’m reminded of his story so often because I find myself in need of all the lessons it teaches. In Judges 6, the Bible explains that times were bad in Israel. The Midianites were destroying crops, killing animals and harassing the Israelites. There wasn’t anything anyone could do to stop them. The Israelites lived in fear because of all the bad things that were happening. If they had grain, they had to thresh it in hiding. If they had goats, they had to keep them hidden. Anything in the open would be taken.

Gideon was threshing his grain in the bottom of a wine press so no one would see him. An angel appeared and called out to him, “Mighty hero, The Lord is with you.” Gideon, who was hiding because he was afraid of the Midianites, didn’t think twice about the angel calling him a hero. What caught his attention was that the angel said, “The Lord is with you.” He took a double take at the angel and must have thought this guy didn’t know much. How could he say that when so many bad things were happening?

He confronted the angel and asked, “If The Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Have you ever felt that way? When everything in life is going wrong and you feel abandoned by God. It’s an uncomfortable place. A dark place. Fear of the future grips your mind. You find yourself constantly worrying about things that you have no control over. You feel like God has forgotten you or worse, abandoned you in need. Your mind tells you that God doesn’t care. That He doesn’t see you in your pain.

In this verse, the angel reminds us that God’s presence in our lives isn’t proven by our circumstances. Our lives can be falling apart and God can still be with us. We’ve somehow come to believe that God is with us when things are good and has abandoned us when times are bad. His presence is with you no matter what. He is with you even when you can see His hand or feel His presence. He is with you when your life is so dark that you can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. He is not only with you, He’s preparing you for greatness in those times. Greatness doesn’t come from an easy life. It’s forged in the darkness and in the fire.

Whatever you are facing today, I say to you, “Mighty hero, The Lord is with you!” You may not feel like a hero, but you’re still standing through everything. You may not feel like The Lord is with you, but He has never left your side. He has been standing next to you through everything you have faced and everything you will face because He will not abandon you. He will not forsake you. He will not forget you. He will deliver you when the timing is right. He will lead you to better times when you have learned all He wants to show you in the dark. Stand strong today because The Lord is with you.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other writing 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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January 15, 2020 · 5:53 AM

Keep Failing

Several years ago I decided I was ready for the next step in my career. I wanted to be the General Manager of a retail store. I put on my suit, rehearsed answers of my achievements, thought of people I had helped get promoted and confidently walked into the interview. The District Manager followed the script for a little while then said, “I hate these questions. They don’t really tell me anything. Tell me about a time when you failed.” I sat there with a blank face. My heart was pounding. I thought, “A failure? Why does he want to know about my failures? Is he trying to keep me from the job?” As I searched for a good failure, I asked him to repeat the question. I gave him a failure when everything turned out good, but he wasn’t satisfied. He wanted one where I crashed and burned because he wanted to see how I responded to it.

Our past failures are something that so many of us try to hide. In fact, we are so afraid of failure that we typically won’t ever put ourselves in a position to fail at doing something. We try to stick with what we know so we’re always succeeding. What I’ve learned, and the point my District Manager was trying to find out if I knew is that failure is the greatest teacher. It is also the path to grace. If we never fail, we have no need for grace. If we never try to do something beyond our abilities, we also keep our faith small by never trusting God to do something through us. God rarely calls us to do things that we can do in our own strength and abilities because He knows pride is always knocking on our door waiting to take credit for our successes. But, when we do things beyond our abilities, it forces us to seek and rely on Him.

James 1:5 says, “And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace” (TPT). God doesn’t ridicule our failures. He’s not waiting to strike us down when we fail either. He sees them as opportunities to grow us and to lavish His grace on us. When we’re called to something greater than our abilities, seek His wisdom first, then step out in faith and do it. If you fail, it doesn’t mean you didn’t hear God or that He didn’t come through for you. It quite often means you and God have two different definitions of failure and success. Don’t let what you think is a failure keep you down. Get back up, trust His grace and keep walking in faith because to keep playing things safe is truly a failure.

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