Tag Archives: Devotional

September 5, 2014 · 5:37 AM

Made Whole Again

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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 “Free To Live: The Utter Relief of Holiness” by John Eldredge. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

One of the most well known nursery rhymes in the English language is “Humpty Dumpty”. As you know, “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.” I’m guessing Humpty lived out the rest of his days broken or missing pieces. All we know is that he couldn’t be put back together.

When we’ve fallen or have been broken, we are left not feeling whole. A part of us is missing. My wife and I were talking about the grieving process after a divorce where one party left the marriage. It’s very similar to grieving a lost loved one except you still know this person is around. You’ll still see them so you never get closure. You never get put back together again. We feel a similar brokenness when we’ve let down God in a major way. We can feel like there’s no going back and that our soul can’t be put back together again.

Just because all the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t seem to out you together again, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. I Thessalonians 5:23 says, “May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it! (MSG)” God can make you whole again. What is impossible for man is possible with God.

While man can’t do put you together by himself, God can work in partnership with men (and women) to help restore you. When someone falls spiritually, scripture says, Galatians 6:1 says, “If anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual should restore him.” God uses us to help that person get back up while He does the mending of the soul. When someone is broken from a divorce, a lost loved one or for some other reason, there are Godly counsellors who help restore you while God finishes the work inside.

There isn’t a person who has ever lived or ever will live whom God cannot restore or put back together again. Even though we feel like we are broken into a million pieces and that we will never be whole again, God is able to do it. That scripture in Thessalonians said that God makes everything holy and whole. He didn’t make exceptions. If you are broken, God can heal you emotionally and spiritually. He can make you holy again no matter what has happened to you or what you’ve done. You simply have to go to Him and ask Him to help. It may take a while, but you can be put back together again,

If you’d like to win “Free To Live” by John Eldredge, then leave a comment on this post or a Facebook post that says you’re broken right now and need prayer or that says you were broken, but now are whole. Tomorrow, September 6th, 2014, I will randomly choose a winner from one of the people who comments today. If you haven’t done so, be sure to sign up to receive these devotions by email and like my Facebook page here.

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August 22, 2014 · 5:00 AM

Right Words At The Right Time

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On January 5, 2014, a twelve year old girl died from complications with pneumonia. As her devastated parents went through her belongings, they found she had written several letters to friends. In those letters, she had written one to herself. The envelope said, “To be opened by Taylor Smith on: April 13, 2023 ONLY!” They opened it and shared it with others. I won’t tell you everything it said, but if you’d like to read it all, I’ll post a link at the bottom of this devotion.

The paragraph that caught my attention from this tween talking to her 22 year old self said, “I was in Cranks, Kentucky for my first mission trip. I’ve only been back for 6 days! Speaking of, how’s your relationship with God? Have you prayed, worshipped, read the bible, or gone to serve The Lord recently? If not, get up and do so NOW! I don’t care what point in our life we’re in right now, do it! He was mocked, beaten, tortured, and crucified for you! A sinless man, who never did you or any other person wrong!”

She finished the letter with, “But remember, it’s been 10 years since I wrote this. Stuff has happened, good and bad. That’s just how life works, and you have to go with it.” I was moved by the whole letter, but these parts in particular. Her words to herself were meant to be read in private, but I’m glad they’re in the open now. Who knows what her life might have been like? She didn’t know, but she knew that life had it’s ups and it’s downs and that she would face them. She also knew what was most important in life: a relationship with God.

Words are powerful. We have so many opportunities to speak life into others. We can build them up by just offering a few words of kindness and encouragement. You never know what someone else is truly facing and how impactful your words can be. Proverbs 25:11 says, “The right word at the right time is like a custom made piece of jewelry.” One version says they’re like “apples of gold in settings of silver.” They’re beautiful. They’re life changing. You have the ability and opportunity to speak into your own life or of others each day. Let the words you choose be the right ones.

The link to the full letter is here.

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August 21, 2014 · 7:37 AM

Little Things Make Big Messes

I always thought I was a person who had been faithful in the little things until I read the final chapter in “Good to Great in God’s Eyes” by Chip Ingram. The last chapter is about developing great habits and in it he lists six great habits to adopt. One of which is “Do your own dishes – The principle of responsibility”. He wrote about putting up your folded clothes instead of leaving them out, washing your dishes instead of putting them in the sink and putting your dirty clothes in the hamper instead of on the floor. Each one hit home because I’m guilty of all of them.

If that wasn’t enough, he then wrote, “We usually don’t make a conscious decision to expect others to clean up our messes. It’s a habit. But behind that habit is an assumption that it’s up to someone else to make our life work.” Subconsciously we leave things out, put dishes in the sink and throw our clothes on the floor in hopes that someone else will do it. When they don’t do it, we get exasperated and huff and puff while we have to do it. Am I the only one like this?

These small examples are part of a bigger problem. The attitude of expecting others to make our life work bleeds into our spiritual life too. We expect our pastor to be in charge of our spiritual growth. We expect them to read the scripture to us instead of looking it up ourselves. We get upset when we don’t get anything out of the service, yet we put nothing into it. All of these are “little” things, but they prove to God that He can’t trust us with the big things. We can’t grow because we don’t have any roots.

Zig Ziegler once said, “If you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves.” There are so many little things in our lives that we’ve left undone. When they become big things, we wonder where God is in our mess. We expect Him or someone else to come save us because we’ve come to expect others to clean up our messes. We are the ones who made them, yet we feel it is God’s responsibility to clean them up. Then, when it’s not cleaned up immediately, we get upset with God for not answering.

Our messes are our own responsibility. We create them because we haven’t learned to be faithful in the little things. Today, look at your life to see what little things need your attention. If you’re in a big mess, trace it back and you will see that it started with something little. Once we learn to do the menial tasks, God can trust us with more important tasks. I know I still have lots to work on in this area myself. I can’t expect God to do more through me than He’s doing right now until I learn to take care of the tasks I thought didn’t matter.

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August 15, 2014 · 7:30 AM

A Proverbs 31 Woman

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 “The Measure Of Success: Uncovering The Biblical Perspective On Women, Work, & The Home” by Carolyn McCulley and Nora Shank. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

I’ve always heard people talk about a “Proverbs 31 Woman”. My mom was described as one. I’m sure someone you know has been described as one as well. To some guys, she seems as mythical as a unicorn! To others, like me, we’ve seen them firsthand in our home or we’re married to one. In any case, I want to share a few of my favorite verses in that chapter and my thoughts on them.

She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks. (Verse 15)

When I read this, I think of my mom. I don’t care what day it was, if I got up early, I would find her on the couch with a cup of coffee and her Bible. She spent hours reading, marking, dog earring and putting notes in her Bible. She spent time gathering spiritual food for herself and the household. She had us memorize scripture and quite it to her. She wanted to make sure that each of us knew the Bible inside and out. A Proverbs 31 woman trains her family to gather spiritual food.

She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm. She tastes and sees that her gain from work [with and for God] is good; her lamp goes not out, but it burns on continually through the night [of trouble, privation, or sorrow, warning away fear, doubt, and distrust]. (Verses 17-18)

A Proverbs 31 woman is mentally, physically and spiritually tough. She knows that raising a family is hard work and she’s up for the challenge. She does the things necessary to help herself to be prepared for what God has called her to do. She reads books on parenting, managing money, raising responsible kids as well as finding time for herself and her husband. There’s a certain instinct in women that can sense danger. I love that this says, “Her lamp goes not out.” My wife can be fully asleep and wake up if our son isn’t breathing right. I’ve slept through him falling out of the bed and hurting himself. God has given Proverbs 31 women an instinct to protect their own.

Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised! (Verse 30)

To me, inner beauty is far more important than outer beauty. If you ever saw the movie “Shallow Hal”, they did a good job of showing this. Hal was so concentrated on physical beauty that he couldn’t see inner beauty. He got hypnotized and saw women from the perspective of their inner beauty instead. This verse tells me that’s how we should see Proverbs 31 women. They are women who care about eternal things rather than the temporal. When she learns to worship God with all she has, her inner beauty can’t help but shine through into her outer beauty. Such a woman is to be praised and honored. She should be cherished and not objectified.

If God has blessed you where you have a Proverbs 31 woman in your life, honor her today. Let her know you are appreciative of all she does. When you read the whole chapter you will see that she works hard, gets up early, stays up late, finds time to balance her life, her relationships and her spiritual life. If you are called to be one, keep fulfilling your God given tasks. It’s not impossible for you to be this woman. You may feel like you fall short more often than not, but I am confident that if it’s your desire to be this kind of woman, God will give you the strength to do it. You were made in a His image after all. You are a strong and capable person who is an heir to the King of Kings. You are loved by a God All Mighty and His grace is sufficient for you!

If you would like to win “The Measure Of Success”, go to my Facebook page here and tag the Proverbs 31 women in your life. Tomorrow (8/16), I will select one person randomly who has tagged someone else to win the book. I will then post it on my site. If you haven’t liked my Facebook page, please do that as well to be able to see when new posts come out.

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August 13, 2014 · 7:34 AM

Unanswered Prayers

Garth Brooks sang a song called “Unanswered Prayers” in the 90’s. In it he tells the story of how he and his wife ran into his high school flame. He remembered how he had prayed every night that God would make her his. He promised he’d never ask God for anything again if He would just answer this one prayer. As they talked he realized they were very different people. When he walked away, he thanked God for his wife because God knew what He was doing after all. He then finishes the song with, “Some of God’s greatest gift are unanswered prayers.”

I don’t know about you, but I find myself asking God for a lot. I have a specific time of prayer dedicated to just asking God for things I need, my family needs or that my friends need. A lot of times they go unanswered, they are delayed or answered in a way that I wasn’t even praying for. I’ve had some of my most passionate prayers feel like they were falling on deaf ears. I’ve felt like my tears were for nothing. I’ve even been mad at God for not answering my prayers the way I thought they should have been answered. Thankfully, God is patient with me.

Have you ever read “If you give a mouse a cookie”? It’s a children’s book that says if you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll want a glass of milk. If you give him some milk, then he’ll want something else. If you give him that then he’ll want another thing. The book goes full circle to where if you give him this final thing, he’ll want a cookie. And if you give him a cookie, he’ll want some milk. I wonder if God looks at some of our prayers that way. We ask for something we don’t really need or is unhealthy for us and when we get it, He knows it will lead to needing other things that will create a cycle.

We don’t have the ability to see the cycle, but God does. He knows just what we need. James 1:17 says that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father. He wants to give us good things, but we don’t always ask for those things. James 4:3 says, “And when you ask you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure.” When I think of the prayers that aren’t answered, I try to go back and look at my motives. I try to think of why I wanted that so badly. Then I look at what a God did instead and I see that all along, He knew what He was doing.

You may be struggling with unanswered prayers right now. I’m not saying your motives are wrong or that you’re asking for your own pleasure. I’m saying that you should trust God to answer them His way. Say what Jesus said on His prayer, “Not my will be done, but yours.” Give God the freedom to answer your prayers the way He sees fit. He’s going to do it His way anyway. Giving Him the freedom helps you to accept it and helps to give you perspective. Who knows? Garth may be right. Some of God’s greatest gifts just may be unanswered prayers.

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August 11, 2014 · 7:47 AM

Greater Dreams

I recently heard a preacher say, “Our dreams must be greater than our memories.” Immediately that struck a chord with me. As I continued to think on that phrase and ponder it’s implications, I began to think of examples in the Bible where that was true. I thought of several examples, but the one that stood out to me the most came from the book of Exodus. The Israelites had moved to Israel about 400 years earlier to escape the famine, but they never returned to the land God promised Abraham. Now they had become slaves in a land that was not theirs.

In Exodus 6, God spoke to Moses to tell the people that He would deliver them from slavery and would take them to the land He promised Abraham. When Moses told them what God said, they didn’t even listen. Verse 9 says, “They didn’t even hear him – they were that beaten down in spirit (MSG).” The dream of being free had been forgotten, but God wasn’t done. He wanted to revive that dream. He kept at them until they began to dream again. It culminated with them walking out of Egypt and heading for their Promised Land.

It didn’t take long after they were freed for their memories to become greater than their dreams. In Exodus 16, they began to cry out, “Why didn’t God let us die in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat?” They forgot that dreams require sacrifice. It’s hard work to make a dream become reality. Instead of putting in that hard work to realize the dream, they did something much easier, they remembered how easy it was before. Given the choice of working hard to achieve their dream or to relax and go back into slavery, they would have rather chosen the later.

It’s easy to sit in judgement thousands of years later, but are we really that different? We have each been given unrealized dreams that we are no where near accomplishing. Why? Because it’s easier to sit and talk about the vision for our life than to accomplish it. It’s not hard to dream. It’s hard to make it a reality. As soon as it gets hard, we start remembering how “good” we had it before. The dream we were given by God gets overpowered by our selective memories of the past. We agree to forfeit our freedom for a meal. So we turn back to go the Land of Ease instead of to the Promised Land.

The dream God has given you will not come without sacrifice. It will not bloom unless it is tended to. It requires you to get up from where you are, to take that step of faith you’ve been afraid of and to move in the direction God tells you to go. It won’t be easy, but nothing good ever is. There will be roadblocks along the way, but don’t let them stop you. Keep the dream God has given you at the forefront of your mind. Don’t let the enemy bring up old memories. Keep pushing them back until you’ve arrived at your destination. When you get there, those old memories won’t be the ones that will make you wish you had never left, they will make you glad you did.

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August 7, 2014 · 7:49 AM

The Valley Of Blessing

In II Chronicles 20, several armies declared war against King Jehoshaphat at the same time. It says he was terrified when he heard the news. He immediately began to beg The Lord for guidance and asked everyone to fast and pray with him. The people came to Jerusalem to pray with him and to be ready to fight this vast army that had risen up against them. While they were praying, a man spoke up and said, “Don’t be afraid! The battle is not yours, but God’s.” He also told the people they were to march out to the battlefield, but that they wouldn’t even have to fight.

When they showed up to the battlefield, the other armies had been fighting each other and not one was left alive. The Israelites walked through the valley and gathered up all the spoils. It took them three days to collect it all. On the fourth day, they decided to call that place the Valley of Blessing. After that, no other armies wanted to face Israel and the story ends with, “Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.” Not only had God fought his battle and given him the spoils, He gave him peace and rest.

When I think of valleys, I don’t think of blessings. I think of difficult times, dark times, hard times, wandering aimlessly, and pain. What I see in this story is that God can take our valleys and turn them into blessings. We don’t have to be terrified of them because the battles that we face there are not ours, but God’s. He is the one who goes before us. He’s the one who fights on our behalf. We look at the odds and think, “There’s no way.” God looks at the odds and think, “Nothing is impossible for me.”

I like that King Jehoshaphat had the people meet him in Jerusalem. The very name of that city means “God will see to it”. They were reminded of that while they were praying and fasting about what to do in the valley. They knew they were out numbered. They knew there was no way for them to win the battle. Fear had taken over. In the middle of all that anxiety, God reminded them that He would see to it. All they had to do was show up ready to fight. When they acted in obedience to the Word of God, their enemies were defeated and they gathered the spoils. What should have been a valley of defeat turned into a valley of blessing.

You don’t have to be afraid of whatever valley you’re facing today. God sees that the odds are against you. He sees the impossibility of your situation. He wants you to turn to Him in prayer so He can remind you that He will see to it. He will be the one who goes before you. He will be the one who says, “This is my battle not yours. Show up for the fight and watch what I do.” As verse 20 says, “Believe in The Lord your God and you will be able to stand firm.” No matter what enemy rises up against you, God will see to it that the place you are afraid of will be turned into a valley of blessing.

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August 6, 2014 · 7:44 AM

Be In The Moment

On my last trip to Haiti, there was a young lady on the team who brought a video camera. She wanted to film the different things we did on the trip and would then make a video for us. Throughout the trip, I would tell her, “Get your camera ready. You’re going to want to get this! Sit in this side of the truck, the view will be better.” Then at some of the places we were, I’d look at her and she wouldn’t have her camera out. I’d go up to her and say, “Can you get this? I think this would be great for the video.” She would oblige most of the time.

After one such incident where I noticed she didn’t have the camera out, I asked her after, “What’s going on? You’re missing some key moments of this trip.” She simply responded, “I’ve learned that it’s ok to just be in the moment sometimes. I don’t have to capture everything. Some moments should just be shared among us and not with everyone else.” In those few sentences, I’ve learned so much because I’m a go, go, go kind of person. I rarely stop and smell the roses. I hardly stop and celebrate success.

I think it’s part of today’s culture to be that way. When we do something good at work, instead of celebrating, our leaders say, “Nice. Now prove it wasn’t a fluke by doing it again. This time do better.” In our lives, we are off to work first thing, we power through lunch taking calls, after work we grab the kids, eat fast food, take them to practice, run home, bathe, homework and get to bed just so we can do it again tomorrow. We’ve forgotten how to be in the moment. We’ve forgotten that’s it’s ok to breathe and relax sometimes. We’ve forgotten how to have fun.

Ecclesiastes says there is a time and season for everything. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. I believe there’s even a time to relax and enjoy moments. I believe God set this example in creation. The Bible says that on the seventh day, God rested. I think after all that work, He wanted to take a moment to soak it all in and to enjoy it. When we don’t stop and enjoy moments, we run the risk of getting stressed and burned out. That doesn’t help us or those who are close to us.

I can tell you that things will still go on. Things will still happen even if you take a break, this world has gone on for years before you were here and it will go on for years after you’re gone. Things can still turn out fine even if you take time to just be in the moment every now and then. That video that she produced was amazing. It captured our trip perfectly even though there were moments that didn’t make it into it. Those of us who were in those moments have a certain bond that only we share because we took the time to be in the moment.

If you’d like to watch this 4 minute clip from our trip, you can watch it here.

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August 5, 2014 · 7:54 AM

Connecting With God

In almost every sales class I’ve been in, one of the most important things they teach is to connect. If you can’t connect with the other person, there can be no trust. Without trust, there can be no relationship. There are lots of ways to connect with someone especially when you find common ground. It’s the same way in our relationship with God. He’s looking for a way to connect with each one if us. He’s trying to build common ground because He wants to have a relationship with each of us.

When you read in the Old Testament, the priests were Levites. They were the ones who were set apart to connect with God on behalf of Israel. If you had to atone for sins, you had them sacrifice for you. If you needed an answer from God, you asked them to intercede. Only the High Priest could enter the holiest part of the temple to speak with God. The Levites were a special tribe who had the distinct honor of being priests and connecting Israelites with God.

In Genesis 29, you read the story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah. God saw that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so he opened her womb so that she could bear him children. One of those children she named Levi. When you look at the meaning of the name Levi, it means “to connect”. I find it interesting that God chose the children of the tribe whose name meant connect in order to connect with His children. His plan to connect with His people was in place even before Levi was born.

Today, you and I have the ability to connect with God on our own. We don’t need a priest from Levi to offer sacrifices or to inquire with God on our behalf. Since Jesus came to this earth, He made a way for us to connect with God. I Timothy 2:5 says there is only one God and only one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ. Jesus has taken the place of the Levites in connecting us with God. He has built the trust necessary for us to have a relationship with God. He built the common ground necessary by becoming human.

God knew that it would be difficult for people to connect with Him if He hadn’t walked in our shoes. He sacrificed all He had just so He could empathize with our struggles and build a relationship with us. Just like any relationship, it takes two parties coming together. He’s done His part to connect with us. What are we doing to connect with Him? What are we doing to grow the relationship. If you want a deeper relationship with Him, you’re going to have to do the things that build connections and trust in your relationship.

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July 17, 2014 · 6:43 AM

Living A Significant Life

I’ve never met anyone who said, “I don’t care if my life doesn’t matter.” Each of us in some way want our lives to matter. We want to live significant lives. We want to make a difference. When we die, we want the world to be different because we were here. I believe that’s how most of us, if not all of us think about our lives. When we feel like we are making a difference, we are riding high. We feel most insignificant when we don’t think anyone notices us or that we aren’t making a difference. We feel worthless when we aren’t appreciated. Our feelings are tied to how significant we think our lives are.

If we want to live significant lives, we should see what God says about it. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves (feeling very insignificant) in the sight of The Lord, and He will exalt you (He will lift you up and make your lives significant) (AMP).” So the way to really live a significant life is to feel insignificant in the sight of The Lord. It’s when we humble ourselves before God that He can begin to do something significant with us. Until then, we are out seeking to live a significant live to get the glory ourselves.

When we humble ourselves, we let God know that we understand we are nothing without Him. We show Him that we recognize that all we have is given to us by Him. Being humble in His sight is understanding that our talents, our jobs, our income, our skills are all a gift from Him. It’s not because of anything we’ve done. It’s not because we are self made people. Our lives can only become eternally significant when we stop and recognize that He is the source of everything we have. When we recognize that, we won’t be out seeking glory for ourselves. We’ll be doing things for His glory.

It’s hard for us to think that way because it’s the opposite of what we know in this world. Our culture says that we should promote ourselves, get all the praise we can, get recognized at every opportunity in order to feel significant. But God says it’s not until we feel insignificant that we can be significant. He says if we seek out praise for ourselves, we have our reward. We then have to choose, are we after a temporary praise from people or are we after the eternal praise from God? The significance of your life rests in how you answer that question. Charles Studd wrote, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”

If you’re living your life to be significant so people will know your name, your memory will be gone not long after you die. If you’re living your life so people will know His name, what you do will be remembered for eternity. Our search for living significant lives begins and ends with being humble in the sight of The Lord. He can’t lift us up until we’ve recognized our lowly estate. If you truly want to leave the world different than when you came, do everything for God’s glory, not your own. Seek to make Him known instead of yourself. That’s how you live a significant life.

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