Tag Archives: Devotional

April 17, 2013 · 8:35 AM

Spiritual Apnea

One of the things you may not know about me is that I have sleep apnea. What happens is that when my body is at rest, the air pressure outside my body is greater than on the inside causing me to not only snore, but also can deprive my brain of oxygen. To fix the problem, I sleep with a CPAP machine and mask that pushes air into me. The machine creates a positive air pressure in me so that the pressure inside is greater than the pressure outside.

You and I walk in a world that is constantly trying to force us and to shape us into its mold. We are pressured from every side to compromise, to give in or up and to conform to its ways. Romans 12:2 tells us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” It’s a clear command that we are to resist the pressures that are on the outside.

Sometimes the outside pressure is stronger than our inside pressure to resist. When we give in to those pressures, our spirit is deprived of the things it needs to stay strong and healthy. We start to exhibit the side effects of spiritual apnea. We fall asleep spiritually, our prayers cease to have the power they once had, our faith begins to wane. We eventually allow this to be the norm for our spiritual life. There is no growth only maintenance.

The good news is that God has given each of us His Holy Spirit to create a positive pressure in us to combat the external pressures of this world. Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” God has given us the power, ability, efficiency and might to combat the pressures that come against us. Just like I have that CPAP machine, if I don’t use it, it’s wont help me create a positive pressure inside. We can be guilty of having the Holy Spirit and not using the power He has given us to have a positive pressure.

II Corinthians 4:7-8 tells us, “This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side, but we are not crushed.” The power and pressure God has given us will not allow us to be crushed by this world. His desire is not to just equalize the pressure between our inside and the world, but to create a greater power and pressure in us that extends into the world. We are not to maintain, but to advance. We are to conquer.

Romans 8 says that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. God wants you to walk in victory today. We were not made to be defeated. Quit living like you’ve been defeated today because that’s not who you are in Christ. Change your mindset, access the power of the Holy Spirit that is dwelling in you and go create positive change today in your world. You have the power and ability according to what we read. Now walk in faith believing in the victory God has given you.

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April 16, 2013 · 8:15 AM

Taste and See

A few weeks ago some friends and I went to dinner. One of the people with us was younger. At the restaurant he was asking what we thought about the choices on the menu and what he should get. He decided on the surf and turf. I complimented him on his choice. When they brought us our meals, he immediately went for the lobster. He asked, “How do I get it off the tail?” As I was beginning to tell him, he stabbed the tail with the fork, grabbed the shell and pulled.

He successfully had removed the whole tail. Before I could congratulate him on his feat, he shoved the entire lobster tail in his mouth, chewed a couple of times and swallowed. I sat there in shock. I said, “You aren’t supposed to eat it like that. This is something you take your time with. You savor it. You dip it in the butter and enjoy it. If you’re going to eat for the sake of getting full, go to McDonald’s. If you want to experience a meal, you eat this. It’s more than eating. It’s enjoying your food.”

Many of us approach reading God’s word the same way he ate his lobster. We stick a fork in it, read a bunch, comprehend little, chew enough to swallow and move on. We don’t enjoy the Bible. We read it out of spiritual duty. We say, “A chapter a day keeps the devil away.” Is that really the case though? Are we really getting anything out of it when we do it as a chore?

David said, “Oh taste and see that The Lord is good.” He understood what it meant to take your time in God’s word and to enjoy Him. He let God’s word sink down into his spirit. He often talked about meditating on God’s word. That’s how he got it into his spirit. He knew there was more than just reading. There was tasting, savoring and enjoying to what God says. He took his time, thought about what God was saying, how it applied to him and how he could use it in his life.

Each day when I read the Bible, I try to do the same thing. For years I was guilty of the chapter a day mentality. It was a box I had to check off in order to be a Christian. Now I know better. I don’t put a time limit on God nor a chapter or verse limit on Him either. I get to a quiet place, calm my my mind and emotions. I pray, “God, speak to me today through your word. Direct me to what you want me to see. Help me to read it like never before and to see things I’ve never seen before. Help me to make connections in your word that I’ve not seen in years past.”

I encourage you to do the same thing. If you find yourself doing a chapter a day or trying to read through the Bible in a year, ask yourself why. Are you trying to say you’ve read the whole Bible? Are you plowing through the goodness like my friend with the lobster tail or are you enjoying it? Take time today to look at God’s word with different eyes. Meditate on a verse all day. Chew on it. Think about what God meant, how it was directed at you and how you can apply it to your life. His word will become alive in you. Who knows, you might even end up with a heart after God like David.

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April 15, 2013 · 7:53 AM

Moving Day

Today is the first day in a new office. There’s first day jitters like I experienced as a kid on the first day of school. All the familiar faces will be here, but it will be in a new environment. Boxes will need to be unpacked. Desks will need to be arranged. You’ll have to find out where everyone sits so you can find them when you need them. There’s a sense of excitement and nervousness at the same time. I can’t wait to go see the new place.

I wonder if that’s what Heaven will be like. It’s the familiar faces we’ve known just in an unfamiliar setting. We’ll get acquainted with how the streets of gold are layer out. Find our bearings around the sea of glass. Walk in awe through the pearly gates as we wonder in amazement at a place that was designed just for us. There’s a home there built with us in mind. Designed specifically to our standards. I can’t wait to go see it.

Jesus said in John 14 that He is preparing a place for us. In verse three, He says, “When everything’s ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me.” Just like at work where we’ve been anticipating this move, we need to be anticipating His return. We don’t know when He’ll come for us or when our life will be over and we go there. The important thing is to be ready at any given moment.

You don’t realize how much stuff you’re holding on to until it’s time to move. I threw away so much stuff last week because I realized I really didn’t need it. I started thinking about how much stuff in my own life that I’ve been holding onto that I need to release. Things like forgiveness for those who’ve wronged me, grudges against others who’ve made me angry, resentment for not being dealt a hand as good as others in life and so many other things we pack into our lives and hold onto.

When we hold onto those things, our hands aren’t free to receive all that God has for us. God has great things in store for each of us, but so many times we haven’t freed ourselves of the things that so easily weigh us down. We haven’t given them over to God and we end up putting ourselves into a yoke of bondage. God’s desire is that we live free of any yokes, especially those that are self imposed.

If you were moving to Heaven today, what would you need to pack and what would you need to throw away in your own life? What have you been holding onto that you don’t need? Why hold onto it any more? Free yourself today from those things that weigh you down. You will find freedom when you release them. God has already offered us freedom. He’s just waiting for us to take off the unnecessary weights and things that hold us down. Walk in freedom today!

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April 11, 2013 · 8:47 AM

Pray Like Rain

Last night I got to hear Doug Stringer from “Somebody Cares International” preach. One of the things he said really stood out to me. He said, “Prayer is the rain in our lives.” It’s what waters the seeds we’ve planted. It’s what makes things grow. I loved this analogy because so many of us plant seeds in our lives or into the lives of others and wonder why they don’t grow.

To me, he answered the question. We don’t water them enough with prayer. Planting a seed is not enough. If it is not watered by you or someone else, how can it grow? I Corinthians 3:7 says, “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” It’s our prayers that water it and move God to grow it.

In my personal life, I’m not a big fan of rain. When I wake up in the morning and hear rain, I know immediately that 30 minutes just got added to my commute. Rain creates traffic. It also creates the beautiful flowers we see each Spring. We have a saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” We endure the rainy season to enjoy the beauty of Spring. So it is in the spiritual realm.

The rain from our prayers create traffic. I don’t mind spiritual traffic though. Traffic is a sign that things are moving. Things are happening. That kind of thing gets me excited. Spiritual rain also causes the seeds in our lives to grow and produce fragrant flowers in our lives or in the lives of others. The difference is we create the rainy season. If we aren’t experiencing many flowers or growth, chances are we haven’t been creating rain through prayer.

Things don’t just happen because we were faithful to plant seeds. We must pray through that season to make things grow. We read in Daniel 10 where Daniel needed an answer from God. When things didn’t happen, he didn’t quit praying. Instead, he prayed more. He prayed for 3 weeks for this one answer. Finally an angel showed up in verse 12 and said, “Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in Heaven. I have come to answer your prayer.”

Just like if you were planting a garden, you can’t plant the seeds and water it once. You have to keep watering them daily, even when you see the sprouts come up. You keep watering until you receive the harvest. If you stop any time before then, you run the risk of no harvest or a small harvest. Seeing growth should encourage us to pray even more, but for some reason it has the opposite effect. We see growth and think we can stop praying, but we can’t.

Today, I want to encourage you to keep praying even if you haven’t seen growth yet. Who knows what battles in the spiritual realm that God is fighting just to get that seed to sprout. Just because it hasn’t broken the surface yet doesn’t mean it isn’t growing or God isn’t moving. Keep watering it with prayer. And when you start to see the results of your prayer, keep watering until you get your harvest. Then, start the cycle again. May you never leave a rainy season in your life and always see your seeds grow!

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April 9, 2013 · 8:03 AM

Purposeful Prayers

When you read the Gospels, it’s clear that Jesus was a man of prayer. He often went away from the group to pray. I’m sure He prayed a lot with His disciples and in front of them. It was one such occasion a disciple asked Him to teach them to pray like Him. I’m sure they could tell there was a difference in His prayers compared to theirs. There was power and authority in His prayers.

They wanted that and so should we. After the question was asked, I’m sure all the disciples and everyone sat up and started to really pay attention. Now I’m not going to go into the Lord’s Prayer and break it down here, but I’m going to talk about the importance of not only praying, but praying with a purpose. I think we as Christians miss out on this and our prayers lack power because of it.

When I send an email to my boss or any other person with a title higher than mine, I sit down and think through what I want to say and how I want to say it. I think about what questions they might have that will need to be answered and how they might take the wording. I also try to keep the email as succinct as possible so they can get the info they need and then move on.

Why don’t we take such great care when we are crafting a prayer to the God of Creation? Why do we think it’s ok to just throw something together and hope He hears it and responds to it? I’m not saying that those prayers shouldn’t exist or we shouldn’t pray them, but when it comes to prayers of authority and meaning, we need to think through what we’re saying. The example He gave us was succinct, meaningful and to the point. He didn’t fill it up with the word “God” or “Lord” every other word. He thought through the prayers and prayed with purpose.

I grew up where the faster and louder the prayer was the more others and hopefully God would get excited about it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with those prayers either. What I’m talking about is your every day communion with God. Where you spend time with Him and talk with Him. Slow down. Listen to what you are about to say to Him. Think through how you want to say it and then speak it to Him. It doesn’t have to be super fast. He’s got time.

There are lots of ways to pray and I’m not saying any of them are wrong. God is happy when we speak to Him. But if you’re like the disciple who asked Jesus to teach him to pray knowing that there’s another level, I encourage you to start practicing slowing down your prayers and being more contemplative with them. If we take time to think through what and how we should say something to others, we should do the same for God. Purposeful prayers are powerful.

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April 8, 2013 · 8:20 AM

Don’t be a Ye

This weekend was an exercise of faith for me. We were trying to raise money for a trip to build an orphanage in Haiti. We pre-sold BBQ tickets and Saturday was the day for them to pick it up. When I went to buy the meat, I decided to buy almost double what we had sold. I was believing that we could sell extra to people driving by. At the end of the day, I still had about 4 briskets left. The plan was to then sell plates after church on Sunday.

As I was prepping everything during church, my wife walked in and saw all of the meat. She immediately said, “I hope God honors your faith.” I told her that when it came to faith, I didn’t want God to call me “Ye”. We read all over the four Gospels, in the old King James, where Jesus would say, “Oh Ye of little faith.” Jesus was almost upset by the lack of faith especially when it came to His disciples.

I want to have the kind of faith that when I believe and ask God for something, He says, “Uh oh. I gotta go to work now. Chris is believing again.” I believe that if God gets upset with a lack of faith, He must get motivated by a lot of it. The thing that always makes my mind go haywire is that when I think I have a lot of faith, God looks at it and it’s not even the size of a mustard seed.

It makes me wonder, “How much faith is truly possible?” I must be limiting my own faith somehow. I can’t tell you the last time that I told a mountain to move and it did. Unless of course you consider 40 pounds of beef a mountain. Because that moved faster than I could anticipate. I was in position to block the exit doors of the church to redirect them to buy plates when I realized that people were automatically walking over there. I mentioned it to a few people as they left and when I looked back over, the mountain of plates was nearly gone.

As people walked up to the counter and the plates were gone, we apologized for having sold out. Many people that didn’t get a plate still offered money to help our team go. When all was said and done, we sold nearly 200 pounds of beef. God didn’t have to call me “Ye”. Instead, He acted on my faith and moved. He acted on our group’s ability to show up and work to be there when God moved.

That’s one of the great things about faith. Not only are we to believe, but we are required to do things with it. Peter had to get out if the boat. Martha and Mary had to roll the stone out of the way for Lazarus. Gideon had to step onto the battlefield with 300 men. Abraham had to climb the mountain without a ram. And you and I have to do the same. James says that faith without works is dead. Are you acting on your faith or just sitting their “believing” or hoping God moves? Trust that He will and work like He’s going to answer.

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April 5, 2013 · 7:44 AM

Smacked by God

My brother said I could share what happened to him yesterday. He was pulling into a fast food restaurant with his son to grab lunch. As he was turning in, a lady whipped in front of him nearly hitting them. She was in a hurry to eat as well until she got in the drive through line. Once she got there, she started using her phone. The line would pull forward, but she was oblivious. She’d look up and notice and then pull forward.

After what seemed like an eternity and I’m sure 10 minutes of complaining about her, they got to the window to get their food. He handed his card to the person at the window and they said, “Actually, the lady on front of you paid for yours. It’s free.” He looked at my nephew and said, “That’s how God disciplines us. It’s in love, but it hurts.” They then laughed the rest of the day about how he had been behaving and how God smacked him.

A lot of times, each if us let our pride, anger or selfishness get in the way of our attitudes. We let those things change who we are into people we don’t recognize. We complain, scream, argue and find fault with others. One little, insignificant in the face of eternity event happens and sets us off. We let it dominate our thoughts, our attitude and our actions. Before you know it, we aren’t in control anymore. Our blood is boiling for what seems justified at the moment, but not long term.

Thankfully, God cares about us and usually will do something to end it. In this case, and I think in most cases, a little dose of humility was in order. But God didn’t just impugn him to humble him. God blessed him and at the same time showed him the error of his ways. That’s what I love about God. He doesn’t act like us or think like us. If I were in charge, I don’t think I would have blessed him for how he was behaving. Thankfully I’m not God.

In Isaiah 55:8, The Lord says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” He loves each one of us individually and corrects us how He sees fit. He knows if we need to be beaten over the head with a 2×4 because He can’t get through to us any other way (guilty). He knows if we need a gentle, quiet rebuke. His discipline always fits the situation and the person. No matter how He does it, it’s always done in love with our best interest at heart.

Hebrews 12:5-6 says, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when He corrects you. For The Lord disciplines those He loves.” If God corrects you or disciplines you, don’t get angry at Him. He loves you enough to correct you and to point you in the right direction just like a parent would for their child. Accept it in love, laugh about how you were behaving and then make the adjustment so He doesn’t have to do it again.

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April 3, 2013 · 7:57 AM

The Purpose in Pain

I had the privilege several years ago of watching a skilled potter work. He took a dark lump of clay and threw it on his spinning wheel. He had to make sure it was centered so it didn’t fly off at high revolutions. As it spun, he dipped his hands in water and began to apply pressure to the spinning lump. It immediately began to change. It grew taller and thinner as he worked with it. Every few minutes, he would stop, pull out a knife and dig into it. He could feel rocks in the clay and needed to cut them out or the vessel would crack later in the fire.

He then took a utensil and placed it in the center of the clay as it was spinning. He began to hollow it out. As he did, he would throw the extra clay in another pot. Once it was hollow, he began to really change the shape. You could now imagine a jar or a flower vase. My mind saw it all painted with gold accents. He then took a pointed utensil and began holding it to the side of the creation. He started making designs on it as it spin. It was really a work of art.

It reminded me of Isaiah 64:8. It says, “We are the clay and you are the potter. We are formed by your hand.” As I think back on my life and the things I’ve endured, I remember that potter with his knife and his utensils. I see times where there were rocks in my life that needed to be cut out. Having a knife stuck in you hurts. Especially when it’s the potters knife. The one you trust. At the time I couldn’t see that He was making sure I wouldn’t crack later.

I think of the times in my life when I was hollowed out. My life felt empty inside. I watched as my life was picked apart and thinned out. My wife left. My friends left. My business left. I had nothing. Now I realize that it’s only when I have been hollowed out that I can truly become a vessel that He can fill up. I was full of myself and things that didn’t matter. He had to empty me so He could fill me. At the time I couldn’t see that He was preparing me to be used by Him for His purpose.

At the end of the demonstration, he held up one of the most beautiful pieces of pottery I had ever seen. I started calculating how much money I had so I could buy this piece. I wanted it so badly. I had picked out the perfect place in my house. I was ready to get into a bidding war until he did something I’ll never forget. He crushed it. My heart sank. He had spent almost an hour meticulously creating such a beautiful vessel. Wasted time, effort and hope. He then said, “Everything I’ve done to this vessel means nothing until it goes through fire. Only then will it really be worth something. Until then, it is easily crushed.”

God allows us to walk through fire in our lives. He allows difficult things to happen because if we don’t, we will easily be crushed when it is time for Him to use us. He made us a promise though in Isaiah 43:1-2. God says to you, “I have called you by name; you are mine… I will be with you… When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up.” There is a purpose to the fires in your life. There is meaning in being hollowed out. There is hope when you’re in the fire. God is at work in you and thinks you are a vessel He can use. Don’t jump off the wheel, dodge the utensils He uses or be afraid of the fire. They’re for your benefit.

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April 2, 2013 · 7:55 AM

Lord Help!

I love Psalm 107. It talks about people in all kinds of situations and were all at the end of their ropes. He talks of those who were wandering aimlessly, those who were hungry, those who were having difficult times that caused them to live in darkness and gloom, those who have turned from God and rebelled, and those who were enduring a storm longer than they thought it would last. In each case, the people cried out, “Lord help!” And He came to the rescue.

In their cases and in most of our cases, we wait until it is an act of desperation to call out to God. It must be the way he hard wired us. We try to do everything on our own and in our own strength. I’m the first to admit that I’m the same way. I don’t think it’s so I get the glory and not Him. It’s more of an “I can do this” attitude. I don’t need anyone’s help. I got myself in this mess and I’ll get myself out.

Meanwhile, God is patiently waiting for us to call out, “Lord help!” He wants to rescue us. He wants to deliver us. We say, “the Lord is my shepherd,” but we don’t let Him shepherd us. We don’t let Him lead us to the still waters or the green pastures. When we go our own way and fall into distress, He is there looking for us to lead us back to safety. He’s not content to leave us in our situation simply because we’re headstrong and moved away from the pack.

What I’ve never understood about God is how He continues to love me no matter how far or often I move away from the heard. It’s a love I don’t deserve. None of us do. We all do things that get us in the situations listed in this Psalm. There also times where life just happens. There’s nothing we can do about it and don’t feel like we deserve it. Even in those times we have a choice. We can either have a pity party while life continues to rain on us or we can cry out, “Lord help!”

Psalm 145:8 says, “The Lord is close to all who call on Him.” He is waiting for us to call on Him. We often think we’re too far away from Him or done so much that we can never go back. I’ve been there. I was embarrassed and didn’t want to deal with facing those whom I thought I had let down. When I was near my lowest a friend said, “Boy, what are you doing? You need to get your butt back in that church where people know you and love you!” I gave every excuse I could as to why I couldn’t, but none were good enough.

Don’t let pride stand in your way of calling out for the Lord’s help today. Don’t make excuses why you can’t go home. His ear is listening for your voice. His eyes are searching all over for you. Jesus said that He would leave the 99 to find just one. You. You mean the world to Him. Don’t delay. Cry out today, “Lord help!” I promise you that He will come running to you. He will save you and rescue you.

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April 1, 2013 · 7:41 AM

Seeing Isn’t Believing

Yesterday we celebrated Easter. To me it’s the most important day in Christianity. If Jesus had not died and resurrected, His birth would have been pointless. Even His death was not enough. His resurrection not only showed He had paid for our sins, it proved He had power to do so. It was in the resurrection that victory was won. We don’t have to live defeated lives. We have a victorious savior who fights for us.

I can imagine that Sunday morning in Jerusalem. Since Friday evening at sunset, they had not been able to do anything about Jesus’ death. They had all day Saturday to sit and wonder about what just happened. They were in shock. A week before, Jesus had triumphantly entered Jerusalem. Surely He was about to set up His earthly kingdom and overthrow Rome. His death was a pill they couldn’t swallow.

They had barely enough time to get Him into the tomb on Friday before the Sabbath began. They needed to embalm Him better and find a more long term solution for His grave. This tomb was simply borrowed in order to house Him until other arrangements could be made. So Mary Magdalene and some others went as dawn was breaking in order to get an early start. They were unprepared for what they found.

The stone had been rolled away and the tomb was empty. She ran back, woke the others up and told them. They ran to the tomb expectantly. When they saw the empty tomb, they remembered what they had read in the scriptures and what Jesus had told them. They went away believing, but Mary stuck around. She was distraught. With tears coming down her face, she looked in the tomb again.

Two angels were sitting where Jesus had been laid. They asked her why she was crying and she told them. She then turned around and walked out of the tomb into the garden. She saw someone else who asked her why she was crying. She said, “Sir, if you have taken Him away, please tell me where you have put Him and I will go and get Him.” Then she heard, “Mary!” It was Jesus who was talking to her. She then recognized Him, grabbed Him and hugged him tightly.

I started thinking, “How many times does God show up in our lives and we don’t recognize Him? How often are we seeking Him or His will when He is right there in front of us?” We search for Him and think we know what we’re going to find, but we aren’t really looking. Mary had allowed her mind to cloud her vision. She couldn’t see the Savior standing there in front of her because her mind wasn’t open to it. The disciples didn’t see Him when they went looking, but they believed anyway. They found their answer in the empty tomb.

What are you looking for? What are you believing God to do? Are you allowing your mind to control what your faith sees? Or are you like the disciples who didn’t see what they were looking for, but believed anyway? Jesus said it best in John 20:29. He said, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” We don’t have to have that face to face meeting like Mary did in order to believe. The truth is that many of us have had that experience and didn’t recognize Him. Trust God today to bring you the victory even when you can’t see Him.

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