Tag Archives: Devotional

February 3, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Spiritual Refreshing

When I was in high school, we would have 2 hour practices after school. Coach always started and ended practices with running. He would say, “Since we aren’t the tallest team, we are going to be the best conditioned team.” There were some brothers on the team who lived in some apartments across from the school. While running on hot afternoons, we would say to each other, “Hey, once this is over, let’s go jump in the apartment pool.” The thought of jumping into that cool water was often enough to keep us going.

There was something about diving head first into that water after practice that was so refreshing. We would swim from one end to the other under water to make sure our whole body got cooled down. It was so refreshing, and we needed that because a couple of us worked jobs in the evenings. After all day of school and a two hour practice, we still had a four hour shift to complete before coming home and doing homework. Refreshment was needed.

There are times when we need spiritual refreshing as well. Sometimes things seem to hit us one after the other. It feels like we never get a break from it all. Other times, we face the consequences of our actions, and those can lead us to spiritual exhaustion. The Bible says we can have spiritual refreshing in those times too. If you’re mentally, physically, and spiritually exhausted, you may need to repent in order to experience a refreshing.

Acts 3:19 says, “So repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God—seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day]” (AMP). When you repent, it’s like jumping into that pool after a two hour practice on a hot afternoon. God brings a refreshing into your life that also brings spiritual strength with it. Just like everything else in Scripture, the first step in activating God’s promises starts with you taking the first step.

What in your mind or life do you need to change today in order to return to God’s way of thinking?

If you haven’t been living for His purpose and you’re worn out, pray that God would help you to return to living for His purpose.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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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February 2, 2022 · 5:41 AM

Testimony Night

I miss testimony nights at church. When I was growing up, at least one Sunday night a month, we would have testimony night. People would line up waiting to tell, what God had done for them. There was always one lady who would get up and say the same thing each time. Sometimes kids would get up there and freeze when it was their turn, but there were always people who called out specific things God had done for them. On those nights, we left church with our faith boosted because we knew God had answered prayers for people we knew. Those services were a way to remember what God had done in the lives of people.

I think that’s why the Psalms resonate with so many of us. They’re prayer requests and testimonies of God’s faithfulness. A read through them is like going to testimony night. David, and the other authors, were so good at calling out all God had done for them. Sometimes they would write about the faithfulness of God from the times of old. Men and women would build altars to God as a way to honor Him and to remember what He had done for them so that future generations would know. Even the Passover meal that is still celebrated today is a way to look back and remember what God did.

Exodus 13:14 says, “And in the future, your children will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’ Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery’” (NLT). Future generations need to know about God’s faithfulness to you. What are you doing to record it or remember it for yourself? Keep a journal, write them an email or record a video of it, but do something that tells of the goodness of God. Be specific about what He’s done for you, the prayers He’s answered and the dreams He’s fulfilled. We don’t build altars anymore, nor do we have testimony night. We need to do something to create reminders for ourselves and future generations that God answers prayers and is actively involved in our lives.

Photo by Abhishek Yadav on Unsplash

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February 1, 2022 · 5:54 AM

Give Something

It wasn’t that long ago that there were national headlines that read, “Philadelphia Subway Riders Witness Rape, But Did Nothing.” There is some dispute over those headlines, but there were a number of people there who were so busy on their phones that they didn’t even notice it happening right by them. Someone needed help, and no one ingervened. It reminds me of a TV show I’ve watched called “What Would You Do?” They have hidden cameras and have actors playing out different scenarios where someone needs help. Most people don’t get involved because it’s none of their business. The ones that do help, tell the reporter that they had to do something because no one else was.

In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. A person had been beaten up and robbed on a busy road. People may have witnessed it, but did nothing. The next part is just as shocking. A priest sees the man lying there naked and beaten up, looks at him and walks by on the other side. Then a person who worked in the Temple came by, saw him and walked away. The least likely person to help walked by, saw him, had compassion on him and helped him. Jesus asked the crowd who acted neighborly towards the injured man. When they told Him the Samaritan was, He told them to go act the same way towards people.

Proverbs 3:27 says, “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person” (MSG). In order to help others, we need to be aware of our surroundings and the people around us. We are God’s hands in a broken world. So many people that you know are in need of help one way or another. We can’t hide behind the excuse that we don’t know how to help them or we don’t have enough. If the boy that had the five loaves and two fish had looked at what he had compared to the crowd, he would have thought the same thing. However, when he was willing to help, Jesus took what He had and made it more than enough. Give what you can (listening ear, money, a room, etc.), and let God do the rest.

Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash

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January 31, 2022 · 5:49 AM

Imperfectly Perfect

Almost all of us have something we don’t like about ourselves. We can be very critical of ourselves and often see ourselves in a negative light. Whether it’s aN imperfection, a defect, a tick or impediment, it’s important to remember that God doesn’t see that the same way you do. We often see these things as limitations or as distractions, but God sees past those things we dislike about ourselves. He even has a way of wanting to use us for His purposes that may even expose that thing we struggle with. What we see as a hinderance, He sees as an opportunity for us to trust Him and rely on Him rather than ourselves.

In Exodus 4, God is calling Moses to be His spokesperson to Egypt on behalf of the enslaved Israelites. One slight problem though: Moses has a speech impediment. He stutters. He uses that to try to disqualify himself from being used by God. It doesn’t work. In verse 9, God says, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say” (NLT). Notice how God doesn’t heal the impediment. He has the ability to, but He doesn’t. He wanted to use Moses despite the issue, and He wants to use you too.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” You are His masterpiece, imperfections and all. What you see as an imperfection, He sees as a priceless work of art that is able to be used for His purposes. We must learn to see ourselves the way He sees us. We can give excuse after excuse to Him about how He has the wrong person or how these imperfections limit our ability to be used by Him, but His purpose will prevail. What you see as a limitation, He sees as an opportunity to trust Him. You are not defective. You are a masterpiece created with a purpose. Like Moses, we need to submit to it despite our “flaws”.

Photo by Anita Jankovic on Unsplash

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January 27, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Finding Your Encourager

I’ve always heard that each of needs someone in our life who is mentoring us to help pull us up to that next level. I’ve also heard that each of us needs to be mentoring someone who needs help getting to where we are now. What I really don’t hear much about is having someone in your life who is at the same place in life as you. All three roles are important, but I think this role is the most important. This is the person you do life with. They’re the one who is in the trenches with you when life gets ugly. They’re the one who won’t let you give up because they know your potential and challenge you to fight another day. They’re also the one that sharpens you by disagreeing with you at times to help you see through other lenses than your own.

This kind of relationship isn’t easy to have, which is why many of us don’t look for one. This person is more than a friend. They’re a pusher. Friends usually avoid conflict of any kind with you and keep the peace. This person isn’t afraid to speak the truth in love that you need to hear. They’re not going to disappear when times get tough or be too busy when you fail. They hold a mirror up to you, not to embarrass you, but to challenge you to be all that God created you to be. They don’t just cheer you on either. They remind you of why you do what you do.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble” (NLT). This isn’t just talking about a friend. This is talking about your encourager, the one I’m describing. If you haven’t identified your encourager, ask God to show you who it is. Look at the Kingdom connections around you and find that person. If you know who it is, thank God for putting them in your life. Make sure they know you’re thankful too. They’ve helped you succeed when you’ve felt like quitting and stood by you in the hard times. In return, be the encourager that they need as well and fill that role in their life because we all need that person in our lives.

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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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January 26, 2022 · 6:00 AM

Break The Mold

If you grew up in the United States, you more than likely had some Play-Doh at some point. My mom actually made ours. That stuff was and is one of the greatest tactile learning experiences. It’s soft and squishy, yet satisfying to play with. They make all these different toys to play with it. My son has one where it’s a head and you fill the teeth with the Play-Doh. There’s another one I’ve seen where you put the Play-Doh in the top and pull down a lever. The Play-Doh is then squeezed out all these different shaped holes. It doesn’t matter what the shape or mold is, Play-Doh will fill it and take that shape.

In 1 Samuel 8, Israel demanded a king. Up until that point, God had been their leader since He led them out of Egypt. He used people like Moses and Joshua, then judges and prophets to guide them. They didn’t like that they were different from all the other countries of the world. They went to Samuel and told him they wanted to be like world. He prayed and God granted their request, but He warned them first about what would happen. Verses 19-20 say, “The people paid no attention to Samuel, but said, ‘No! We want a king, so that we will be like other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight our battles’” (GNT). They wanted to be like Play-Doh and take the shape of the mold of the world around them.

Romans 12:2 warns you and I of this same mentality. It says, “Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes” (TPT). Paul is warning us not to be like Play-Doh where we are being squeezed into the mold of this world. We are called to be set apart. To live differently. God has always wanted His people to be peculiar. Our flesh wants us to blend in and be like the world, but God has so much more for us if only we will let Him be our guide rather than the world. The Holy Spirit in you is greater than the world and the molds it wants you to fit into. He empowers us to live outside of this world’s mold. It’s time we break the mold of living like the world and live Spirit led lives.

Photo by Franco Antonio Giovanella on Unsplash

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January 25, 2022 · 5:55 AM

Finding Peace In Problems

I remember growing up in church watching people equate hardships to being out of God’s will. There was a family that joined our church’s ministry staff, and they seemed to run into problem after problem. Their car broke down, their house had issues and so on. I remember standing in their living room hearing the father say, “We must have missed God. He’s trying to tell us this isn’t where we’re supposed to be. Otherwise we wouldn’t be having so many issues.” I was shocked. I thought they were a perfect fit for what we needed. They used Jonah as an example of why things were going badly. I could have bought it if they had gone the opposite of where they felt God calling them. I tried to explain that hardships and problems don’t mean you’re not in God’s will.

David was a person whom God had anointed to be king. He was in God’s will as he waited to ascend to the throne. He didn’t try to kill Saul and take it before God gave it to him. Yet, somehow, he was on the run for years. He fled Israel to get away. He had to pretend to be insane so the Philistine king wouldn’t kill him. He then ended up in the cave of Adullum. It was a dark time in his life. 1 Samuel 22:2 says, “Everyone who was suffering hardship, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. There were about four hundred men with him” (AMP). Instead of being sent angels or people to comfort him, God sent people who were going through the same thing. That’s not what he pictured when he thought of being king, but that’s what God had in mind to prepare him for the throne.

In that cave, David wrote Psalm 34. Verse 19 is one of my favorites in this chapter. It says, “Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous, But the Lord rescues him from them all.” You and I are not promised sunshine and rainbows in God’s will. We’re going to face difficulties. We’re going to be in some dark caves so to speak. God doesn’t promise us a life without hardship and pain. Instead, He promises to rescue us from the cave and those problems. Also, the answer may not look like what you think it should. God knows where we are, what we’re facing and what we need. Cry out to Him, listen for His voice and follow where He leads. His will isn’t a place of perfect peace. It’s a place where we have peace no matter what we’re facing.

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January 24, 2022 · 5:48 AM

The Place Of Preparation

The story of Joseph in Genesis is one of my favorites. As a late teenager, his brothers beat him up, threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery. The brothers told their dad that he was killed by wild animals. God was with Joseph through the trials he endured giving him favor with the people he met. Things were going well with Potiphar, but his wife wanted Joseph. When he refused her, she accused him of trying to rape her. Without a trial he was sent to prison for life. Many years later the pharaoh’s wine bearer and baker joined him in prison. For a long time, Joseph waited on them. They both had a dream one night, Joseph interpreted them and they came true. It was two more years before Joseph would be freed from prison and placed second in command to pharaoh.

After nearly twenty years since his brothers sold him, they traveled to Egypt looking for food. Joseph recognized them, but they didn’t recognize him. They were hungry and out of options. They begged Joseph for food, but we’re treated harshly by him. After accusing them of being spies Joseph put them in prison for three days. He released all but one as an incentive to get them to bring their other brother to Egypt. When Jacob found out, he was distraught. In Genesis 40:36 he said, “You have bereaved me [by causing the loss] of my children. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin [from me]. All these things are [working] against me” (AMP).

Many times as God is working out His plan in our life, things appear to be working against you. For years nothing seemed to be going right for Joseph. For years Jacob grieved his son and then ran out of food. In those moments, the feelings of doubt, fear and that everything is against you are normal. In the case of Joseph and Jacob, they were in a place of preparation. We don’t see them curse God or even question Him. I’m sure they spent many sleepless night crying out to God wondering why. However silent God might have been, they stayed faithful in that place and God honored it. He honors our faithfulness as well. The place of preparation can be dark, lonely and hopeless, but while everything seems to be working against you, God is working things out for your good.

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

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January 21, 2022 · 5:33 AM

Restoring What’s Broken

Because of sin, every one of us are born into this world with brokenness. It takes a different form in each of us, and the longer we live, the more brokenness we can experience. Different interactions and circumstances can cause that brokenness to spread and effect more parts of our lives. It began in the Garden of Eden, but so did the cure. God promised to restore our relationship with Him by sending us His only Son. Even though that’s primarily what we think of Him restoring, He’s capable of restoring so much more than our broken relationship with Him. He wants to restore every part of your life.

Here are some Bible verses on the things God can restore.

1. I have suffered much, O Lord; restore my life again as you promised.

Psalms 119:107 NLT

2. But you, O Lord, are always my shield from danger; you give me victory and restore my courage.

Psalm 3:3 GNT

3. Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert.

Psalms 126:4 NLT

4. Restore joy to your loving servant once again, for all I am is yours, O God.

Psalms 86:4 TPT

5. This prayer made in faith will heal the sick; the Lord will restore them to health, and the sins they have committed will be forgiven.

James 5:15 GNT

This is a small sampling of things listed in the Bible that He restores. Ask Him to restore your broken places today.

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January 20, 2022 · 5:30 AM

The Bread Of Life

Not long ago, I read the story of a fisherman who was forced to move because of a house fire. In the move, he asked his aunt to hold onto his good luck charm, which he had kept under his bed for over 10 years. He took her a 75 pound pearl that his boat anchor had caught on all those years ago. Each day, he would touch it before going fishing hoping it would bring him luck so he could catch a lot of fish. It turns out, as he’s struggled to make a living for the past ten years, he’s been sleeping over a $100,000,000 pearl! He had no clue what’s its value was as the world’s largest gem quality pearl.

That story reminds me of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Mark 6. There were hungry people and it was getting late. The disciples asked if they should spend 200 silver coins to buy food for everyone. That’s when, in verse 38, Jesus asked them, “How much bread do you have?” (GNT) They went to check and came back to tell Him, “Five loaves.” Jesus then had them seat everyone. He broke the bread and the two fish they had, fed all 5,000 men (plus women and children), then took up 12 baskets of leftovers.

When Jesus asked how much bread they had, they had already seen Him heal the blind, raise the dead, cure leprosy, and so much more. In fact, they had just returned from being sent out to the towns and villages performing miracles themselves. They knew the power of God was with Jesus and had flowed through them, but it never crossed their mind to ask for a miracle for a crowd. Until this time, with the exception of the wine in Cana, most miracles had been for individuals. But to me, the question of how much bread they had was Jesus testing them.

They had more than five loaves. They had the Bread of Life with them and not one of them thought to include Him in the number of loaves of bread. Whenever you add Jesus to whatever you have, you will always have more than enough. We can’t stay in the same mindset they had. We can’t look at physical problems expecting spiritual results unless we are willing to add in the Bread of Life to the equation. We can’t see through blocked roads, huge obstacles, or insurmountable odds because we’ve been keeping Jesus under our bed as a good luck charm. He’s worth more than $100,000,000. He’s the answer to your struggles. Give what you have to Him and watch Him multiply it.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

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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