Tag Archives: faith

May 6, 2014 · 8:00 AM

The Mom Who Risked It All

Today, I want to take a closer look at the mother of Moses. The Bible doesn’t say a whole lot about her, but her actions speak volumes. We know that she and her husband were Levites which was the priestly lineage of Israel. Moses, being born to them would be a priest. He would serve in the role unlike any other. His work was not only in the sanctuary, but also he served outside of it as a leader of the people. He led them out of physical bondage as well as spiritual bondage.

I wonder what it was about him that his mother saw. The scripture says in Exodus 2 that when he was born, “she saw that he was a special baby.” My hope is that most mom’s would look at their baby’s and see something special about them. For so e reason, the Bible calls out that there was something different about him. There was something worth risking their lives for. The Pharaoh had given the order that every newborn, Hebrew boy should be tossed into the Nile river. Anyone who defied the Pharaoh would surely be punished.

Another thing Moses’ mom did was to keep him hidden for three months. She did what she could to protect her baby. She was somehow able to keep him a secret from everyone. Every mom has a God-given instinct to protect their children. Mom’s do what they can to protect their own. It’s a special gift that shouldn’t be over looked. Mom’s are the protectors. When a child is scared, they call out for mom. When a child is hurt, they cry out for mom. Moses’ mom was just like any other mom out there, she wanted to be her child’s protector.

When she could no longer keep it quiet that she had a little boy, she had to make a tough decision. She had to let go of her prize possession in order to save him. She knew when it was time to let go. She built a floating basket big enough for her 3 month old, laid him in it and put it in the Nile. She knew her daughter was small enough to hide in the reeds, so she sent her to follow the baby until he was safe. She knew that Pharaoh lived just down stream from them and if he saw or heard the baby, he would kill him.

It just so happened that Pharaoh’s daughter was going to take a bath in the river at the same time Moses was floating by. She didn’t have her father’s heart. She had a mother’s heart that broke when she heard the baby crying and saw him. She must have seen what his birth mother saw and she decided to adopt him. When the sister saw he would be safe with her, she approached the princess. She asked if she would like her to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for her. When she brought back Moses’ mom, the princess agreed to pay her to nurse and raise the boy until he was weaned.

God does so e mysterious things, especially for mom’s. I believe they hold a special place in His heart. Stories like this one rarely mention the father. Some of the greatest leaders of the Bible were heavily influenced by their mom. In this case, Moses had the influence of his birth mom who instilled his heritage in him. He also had his adoptive mother who kept him save until the time came for him to step into that priestly role. The Israelites needed a leader. They needed someone to rescue them from slavery and they found that in Moses. History changed not just because of Moses, but also because his mom risked everything for his survival.

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May 2, 2014 · 7:50 AM

Robbed At Gunpoint

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 “Hurt Healer: reaching out to a broken world” by Tony Nolan. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

I was driving out in the middle of nowhere when I came to a four way stop intersection. I looked to my left for oncoming traffic and then to my right. When I looked right, there was a man standing there with a gun up to the window. He demanded my car. My first thought was to punch it. He must have seen the look in my eyes. He said, “If you hit the gas, I’ll shoot. Put it in park and get out.” What could I do? I got out. He walked around the car and hit me in face with his gun. He then punched me in the stomach and when I bent over, he kneed me in the face. I don’t remember much after that.

I woke up in the middle of the road at this intersection not knowing really where I was. I was covered in blood and hurt all over. I could barely move. I reached for my phone, but it was gone. There was no one for miles. I passed out again from the pain. I woke up to the sound of a car coming. I could hear the tires hum against the pavement. As he slowed down, he moved out of the lane I was laying in. Finally, I had hope as he pulled up next to me. He sat up in his car to look out his passenger side window and see me. It took everything in me to say, “Help,” but it came out as a whisper.

He turned his head back to the road ahead of him and started driving off. I remember seeing a fish on the back of his car and a bumper sticker that said, “God is my co-pilot”. I tried to say, “I’m a Christian too,” but he was gone and I didn’t have the strength. I laid my head back down and waited. My mind began to wonder what would happen if a wild animal came up to me. How would I defend myself? As my mind ran with all these scenarios, I heard another car coming. I began to hope again and tried to turn on my side. It hurt so badly, but I was able to do it.

This man was wearing a suit and was in a nice car. He was in the lane next to me because I was still in the road. I tried to wave to get his attention, but he didn’t even look my way. He was willing to go around me, but not look at me. I began to cry as he drove off. Every time my body moved as I tried to catch my breath, it hurt even more. I’m not sure if I was crying from the pain, the disappointment or the fear of dying there on the road. The sun was going down and so were my dreams of being rescued. I knew if it got dark, the chances of someone seeing me before they hit me were minimal. I prepared for the worst.

As it got dark, I could hear music far off. As it got closer, I could tell it was heavy metal. It was loud and over powered the sound of the car’s engine. As it got closer, I just knew this guy was going to hit me. I saw the headlights coming right for me and his hands beating the steering wheel. I thought, “This is it. I’m going to get killed by a punk after all this.” At the last second he swerved and hit his brakes. The car came to a screeching halt. He jumped out and ran over to me. “Are you ok, dude?” I could barely talk. He picked me up, put me in his car and drove me to a local doctor’s house.

The doctor took care of me, and nursed me back to health over a few weeks. When I was finally able to leave, I asked what did I owe him. He politely said, “Nothing. The guy that brought you in gave me his credit card and told me to charge it all to him.” I protested, but he wouldn’t let me pay. I asked about overages too. He said the guy told me that when he came back through here, he’d pay anything else that the card didn’t cover. I was shocked. Of all the people I thought should help me that day, it was the one I least expected.

Hopefully, by now you recognize my story as the parable of the Good Samaritan told through the eyes of the victim. How many hurting people do we drive by each day? They may not be physically beat up and laying in the road, but they are mentally and spiritually beat up and laying in our path. They call to us for help, but we look away or worse, see them and then ignore them. This world is full of broken people who need a neighbor, who need someone to show mercy and need help getting back up. It’s our responsibility as Christians to be the ones who extend grace and mercy even to the ones we don’t like or have nothing in common with. That’s what being a Christian should be about. Today, let’s get free of religiosity and pride. Let’s get our hands dirty helping others.

If you would like to win “Hurt Healer” by Tony Nolan, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (May 3, 2014) who has liked my page. If you have already liked my page and enjoy reading these daily devotionals, you are already entered. Please invite your friends to like my page so they can receive encouragement from God’s Word too.

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April 30, 2014 · 7:48 AM

Prayer For Wisdom

Heavenly Father,

I want to start this prayer by saying, “Thank you.” There is so much in my life to be thankful for. You have blessed me in so many ways that I often over look some of them and treat them as ordinary. The truth is, nothing that comes from you is ordinary. Nothing you give me is common and I don’t want to treat it as such. When I sit down and think of all the ways you bless me daily, it gets overwhelming. I don’t deserve your goodness, but I’m thankful for it. I can’t repay you for the blessings. I can only offer a heart full of gratitude.

I confess that I don’t always appreciate the gifts you give. In fact, sometimes I even complain about people and things you bring into my life. I lose perspective on why you bring them into my life. I forget that you want me to make an impact on them by treating them with your love. I look at them as problems, distractions or annoyances. I don’t want to think about people or things in my life like that. I want to love them the way you love me. I want to treat them like you treat me, but I need your help to do that. Open my eyes to see beyond the distractions so I can see their needs. Give me wisdom in how I react and treat them.

You said in James 1:5 that if I lacked wisdom, I could ask you for it. Today, I’m asking for wisdom. I need divine wisdom for the situations I’m facing, for how to handle the relationships you’ve given me and with making decisions about my future. I can’t see very far into my future, but you already have it scripted out. My future is already history to you. I just want to make sure that I make the best decisions so I can have the future you have planned for me. I don’t want to make decisions based on knowledge. I want to make them from a position of wisdom and understanding.

I know that you have plans for me. I know that you want what is best for me. I understand the mindset of a father who wants the very best for his child. I know the love that pours out of me towards my own flesh and blood. If I feel this way about my own child, how much more do you feel for me? I can’t even grasp the depth of your love and desires for my life. I can’t comprehend the magnitude of what you want for me. Just like my child doesn’t understand the full concept of my love for him, I don’t understand the full concept of your love for me. I want to, but I don’t have the capacity.

Help me to live my life out of gratitude for all you’ve done. Show me the paths you want me to walk down in order to receive the future you’ve written out. Give me the courage to make the hard decisions that I have to make in order to be where you need me to be. Let your peace reign in me when the hard times come. Help me to make right decisions based on your wisdom instead of my emotions. Lead me along the paths of righteousness. Open my eyes to see people you’ve placed on my path to help along the way. Open my hands to give away what you ask me to give away. Open my mouth to speak wisdom into other’s lives and open my ears to hear your voice above all else.

I ask these things in Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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April 24, 2014 · 7:53 AM

Broken Vessels

I was listening to Tullian Tchividjian speak about the disciples that Jesus chose. He mentioned that Jesus didn’t choose religious or wealthy men. He chose men who had nothing to bring to the table. He also said that God doesn’t need perfect vessels to carry out His will, He needs broken ones. There’s a lot in just those few statements that speaks to me. I think that the 12 men whom He chose to give His life changing message to says a lot about who God is and what He sees in people.

I was teaching a sales skills class by Brian Tracy recently and he talked about he studied companies with the lowest turnover in employees. He found that those companies had one thing in common: they didn’t hire based on qualifications. Instead, those companies hired based on attitude. I think God does the same thing. He doesn’t care what credentials you hold, how many times you’ve failed, how little you have to offer or how much you make. What He cares about is your willingness to do what He asks.

When Jesus chose the disciples, He pretty much walked up to them and said, “Come follow me.” They didn’t ask Him who He was. They didn’t say, “Let me finish doing this task.” They didn’t ask to go say goodbye to family and friends. They dropped what they were doing, left family and friends to follow Jesus. They were chosen because their attitudes were the type that was willing to do whatever a God asked without worrying about everything else that typically stops us from doing His will.

These men were not perfect either. Peter had a big mouth. Thomas was a skeptic. Judas was self righteous. Matthew was a tax collector who had cheated people. The list goes on. God does not choose people to carry out His will based on what they offer. He chooses people based on their inabilities. If we could do everything He asked on our own, where would faith come in? If we were confident enough to say what He tells us to say, we would think we were doing it in our own strength. If we had the credentials and expertise, pride would swell up in us. Instead, He finds broken and chipped vessels to put together to do His will so He can get the glory.

Have you limited yourself in what you feel God has called you to do because you don’t have the skills or ability? Have you thought God wanted you to do something that was over your head but turned Him down because you couldn’t do that on your own? You don’t have to have a degree in Public Speaking to share what God has done for you. You don’t have to have a Masters in Anthropology to help the needy. You don’t have to have a Doctorate in Theology to discuss with others what you found in God’s Word. You simply have to be a vessel that’s been broken and ready to use by Him for His purpose and His glory. He will give you all you need to be successful in your calling.

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April 23, 2014 · 7:49 AM

Prayer For Difficult Times

Father,

Some days I feel like David. It seems like the world is chasing me and I’m in an endless cycle of running for my life. I try to hide out in caves of seclusion, but the darkness can be unbearable and lonely. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown and fear of dropping the ball keep me from doing everything I should. I feel like I’m juggling everything and barely keeping it together. I worry that if I drop something, everything will all come crashing down. It’s overwhelming at times and my mind rarely gets to rest. I need your help.

Like David, I reach out to you in my despair. I call on your name to be my refuge when others are attacking me. I know that you are my rock when everything else seems to slip beneath my feet. You are the one who holds me in your hands when I miss the mark. I thank you for being my shield that protects me from the fiery darts that the enemy throws. You give me strength to stand when that’s all that I can do. You have never failed me nor have you ever left me alone. I’m asking that you continue to stand by my side.

When I feel you standing with me, I get encouraged. I know that nothing can come against me that will defeat me. I know that even though I can’t see the path to my victory, it’s already won. Just because I can’t see how you will move or act on my behalf, it doesn’t change the fact that you will. You have always come to my rescue in my time of need. You have been the one constant in my life that I always knew would be there no matter what. Your hand has guided me through tough times in the past and you will continue to guide me no matter what I face.

I pray that you would help me to keep my thoughts on you as I face these struggles. Help me to keep my eyes fixed on your promises rather than my circumstances. Your truth is greater than what my reality tells me. Your Word is the light to my path that shows me where to go when I can’t see what my next step should be. Above all else, I will hold on to you through difficult times. You are the anchor that keeps me from going out to sea when the storms of life try to put me on the bottom of the ocean floor.

Thank you for hearing my prayer. You are a faithful God who is concerned about my life, my needs and the things that I face each and every day. Because I know you hear me, I know that you will answer me. I love you for all that you’ve done, all that you’re doing and all that you’re going to do. I know that you love me despite all I’ve done or am going to do. Your love and concern for me has nothing to do with my actions. You simply love me and care for me because you created me and I am your child. Help me to be at peace just in knowing that. Calm my fears, help me to catch my breath and to walk in your strength.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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April 22, 2014 · 7:47 AM

Nothing Is Too Hard For God

A friend of mine asked me to pray for his brother who was sick and being taken to the hospital. When he told me the diagnosis, I replied, “That’s not too hard for God.” The truth is that there is nothing too hard for Him. When we hear a diagnosis, run out of money, get our hearts broken, lose our job or anything else that affects the way we live, we tend to look at it with our human eyes. We see the impossibility of recovery instead of the God who makes all things possible. We see the negative instead of the positive.

We get so used to walking by sight that we box God in. We tell Him what He can do and can’t do. We limit His ability to make a way where there seems to be no way. We look at the situation we are trapped in and desperately try to find a way out, but all we see are blocked paths. Sometimes that’s the way it is. There’s no way out. “When God closes a door, look for a window” is not in the Bible. God allows us to be in those moments where there’s no way out so that He can show us that He’s still in charge. He wants to remind us that He is able. He wants to grow our faith.

Nothing drives us to our knees faster than being in a no way out situation. Nothing makes us depend on God more than to have no power over a situation. The Israelites were up against the Red Sea when they were leaving captivity in Egypt. Pharaoh and his army were closing in fast. There was no where to turn, no weapons to fight with and panic was setting in. They were exactly where God led them, yet they were cornered into a desperate situation. Instead of crying out to God, they complained and said they would have rather died as slaves than to be killed in the wilderness. They would have rather gone back to a life of sight than a life of faith.

In Exodus 14:13-14, Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent (ESV).” Think about that in the situation you are in today. Don’t fear. Don’t panic. Stay calm and trust God. He will work for you today. Then it says that The Lord will fight for you. He will fight your battle so you don’t have to. You only have to be silent. Just stand back and watch God work.

He sees your situation. In fact, it’s part of His plan for your life. He’s growing you through the tough times. When your back is against the wall and there’s no way out, that’s when God does the most amazing things. It takes us not acting in fear in those times to see the victory. It takes us holding on to God’s Word to get us through. The outcome may not be the way we thought it should have happened, but it will happen the way God intended it to. No one in Israel thought The Lord would part the Red Sea. His answer may not come in the way you think it will, but it will come right on time. Remember, there is nothing too hard for God.

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27 ESV)

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April 14, 2014 · 6:48 AM

Holy Week: Day 1

This week I’m going to follow the last week of Jesus before His crucifixion. I believe there are some important things that we can find when we trace His final steps. It started and ended on a Sunday and that’s what I’ll be covering. Yesterday was Palm Sunday. We also know it as the triumphal entry. Jesus was coming from Bethphage and He sent a couple of disciples over to a nearby village. He told them there would be a donkey and her colt, and then He asked them to bring them to Him. He said to tell anyone that asks, “The Master needs them.”

I think the donkeys represent you and I. We are stubborn at times. We don’t always want to do what God asks us to do when He asks us. We are tied up with things that prevent us from doing everything we could do for God. It takes one word from Jesus to set us free. Others may try to stop us and keep us from serving the Master, but He needs us. We’ve got to learn to be obedient when He asks and live our lives so that we won’t get entangled by the things of this world.

The next thing Jesus did was to ride the colt into Jerusalem. As He did, people began to take off their cloaks and lay them on the street in front of Him. Other climbed trees and cut down Palm leaves to lay in His path. As He rode through the city, they cried out, “Hosannah to the son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of The Lord.” As I think about the clothing being laid in the streets, I think of God’s provision. In Matthew 6, Jesus said, “If God clothes the grass of the field, will He not much more surely clothe you?” We have to learn to recognize that what we have has been given to us by God and we need to lay it at His feet to give back to Him.

Jesus then rode the colt all the way to the temple. When He went in, He became angry and drove out “all who bought and sold in the sacred place.” He said to them, “The Scripture says, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer.'” In the New Testament, our bodies are the temple. They are sacred and should be treated as such. We should think of the things we allow in them that would upset Jesus. What do we put in our minds, our hearts or our souls that keep us from being houses of prayer? What are the things that distract us from communing with God. We’ve got to chase those things out of our lives and return to prayer.

In Jesus’ final week before the crucifixion, He started setting the donkey free to use it. He then accepted the praise of His people as He rode through. From there, He cleansed the temple setting the stage for the week that was to come. For us, we can reflect on that to see how God wants to use us. We can look into our lives for the things that tie us up. We can look at all we have and offer it back to Him as a praise offering. Finally, we need to let Him cleanse our temples. Ask Him to show you things in your life that need to be cleansed. There is so much God wants to do for us and through us, but we’ve got to be free and ready when He comes.

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April 10, 2014 · 7:49 AM

Replacing Trust

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How many times does God ask us to do something and then we see if it’s feasible before trying to do it? We try to get all our ducks in a row before “stepping out in faith.” It’s not really faith if we set everything up ahead of time to ensure our success. We trust in the things we see and know versus the unseen. We end up doing it in our own strength instead of His strength. We then wonder where our reward is for such an act of faith. The truth is we have our reward because we did it in on our own instead of trusting in Him.

In the last chapter of II Samuel, God was upset with Israel. David sent his army commanders out to do a census so he would know how many warriors he had. His officer replied, “May your God multiply people by the hundreds right before the eyes of my master the king, but why on earth would you do a thing like this?” He resisted David because he knew what David was doing and it wasn’t right. After years of serving God, walking with Him and talking with Him, David was still tempted to walk by sight.

David reiterated his command and sent the men out. In verse 10, it says, “But when it was all done, David was overwhelmed with guilt because he had counted the people, replacing trust with statistics.” The man, who once was indignant because an entire army was afraid of a giant defying his God, was now in the shoes of the army. He forgot that holy fire that he once had that wasn’t afraid of anything that came against God’s people. As he got older, he trusted God less and relied on what he knew instead. He forgot that God won his battles, not his numbers.

I think of my child who is willing to jump off of anything when I’m around. He trusts that I’ll catch him. As he gets older, he’ll try to push me away while he jumps off of things. He’ll get bumps and bruises and finally he’ll quit taking those leaps. His fear of gravity will overtake his trust in me. We do the same thing to God. We take leaps of faith early on in our walk with Him. We’re amazed when He catches us. Then we start trying to act independently of Him. We try to do acts of faith without Him. We fail and our pride gets bruised. We ask God where He was and why He didn’t catch us when we were doing things for Him. We then quit acting in faith all together. We end up only doing things for God where we are guaranteed success.

God asks us to trust Him completely. He asks us to trust a Him blindly. When we take those leaps, there is a time when we are free falling. Our stomach is in our throat. Our adrenalin is rushing. We are wondering if God will catch us because our destiny is not in our hands. That’s where God wants us to live. That’s where He wants our faith. He doesn’t want us to trust in statistics, numbers, things we can see or our own strength. He wants us to trust in Him alone. If He calls you to do something, don’t trust in what you see or try to make things work. Take the step of faith and have that child like trust that your Father will catch you.

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April 9, 2014 · 7:53 AM

Calling Me Out Of Darkness

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Lord,

I want to say, “Thank you,” because you’ve given me another day to walk this earth. It’s not something I take lightly or for granted. Because of what you set in motion so long ago, the sun came up this morning. Sometimes it reminds me that I have so much to do. Sometimes it reminds me of the problems I have to face. Sometimes it’s an unwelcome light because the night was too short. Each time it rises though, it reminds me that you are in control of everything that goes on in my life and in this world.

I know that because you live in me, there is nothing I will face today or any day that is stronger than me. There is nothing that is able to defeat me because you are greater than anything that will ever come against me. Sometimes I lose sight of that and start to feel defeated. Sometimes I think that the whole world is crashing down and it will take me down with it. In those times, I ask that you would remind me of your promise to never leave me nor forsake me. Remind me of who I am in you. Remind me that I am more than a conqueror through you.

When I think of the story of my life, I think of all the ups and downs, the good times and the bad times. Through it all, you have constantly been by my side. At times I couldn’t see your hand at work. All I could see were the problems that had me closed in on every side. Looking back, I can see your hand on me even in the darkest of nights. I can see that you were developing me and pushing me to grow closer to you. Like a seed under ground struggling to break through the dark, dirty soil trying to get to the light, you were using the dark times to strengthen me and to push me toward your light.

I have always grown the most when I couldn’t see the light. It was hope that helped me push through the hard places. At times it seemed like I would never come out of the darkness, but you were there with me, encouraging me, pushing me and calling me into your marvelous light. You weren’t content to leave me as a seed sown in soil laying dormant. Your plan for my life is to use the dark places to grow my roots in you. To make me stronger once I reach the light. To have me firmly planted so that when the winds of life blow and the rain beats down on me, I’ll look back, remember what you’ve done in my past and my roots will hold strong.

I don’t know what the future of my story looks like, but with each sunrise, you give me one more day to live it out. You give me one more chance to trust you, to open up and share your beauty. Keep writing my story as you always have. Keep giving me opportunities to grow and to trust in you more. Let the water of your word feed me and strengthen my roots. Let your face shine on me and draw me closer to you. Let the story of my life show that you are a faithful God who never abandons His children and calls them out of darkness into light. I love you with everything in me.

Thank you for all you have done and are going to do in this story.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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April 8, 2014 · 7:52 AM

Wreck Me, Jesus

I was touched this week when I watched a video of Carlos Whittaker trying to make a music video. The video shows them setting up to shoot his video and the beginning of him singing his song “God of Second Chances”. Not long after he started singing, a homeless man walks onto the set in front of the cameras to listen. Instead of stopping the song and asking him to leave because he’s messing up the shoot, Carlos sings to the man. After a few seconds, the man kneels and begins to cry. Not long after that, he joins in on the song and freestyles a new verse.

It’s a beautiful video to watch, but it challenged me as a Christian and a person. I’m a perfectionist and want things to happen the way I imagine them. I’m quick to bulldoze people that get in the way of what I’m trying to do or who mess it up. I rarely look at them the way Carlos looked at this man. He didn’t quit playing and ask him to get off the set. He didn’t pout and say, “Dude, you’re ruining this.” Instead, he turned away from the camera and played for an audience of one. He was sensitive enough to God’s spirit to recognize this man needed the song more than he needed to record it.

I’m sure you’ve read similar circumstances of a homeless man walking into a church and sitting in the aisle. People started to murmur and complain. Finally one went to a deacon and asked him to do something. The deacon walked up to the man and sat beside him for the rest of the sermon. Another story I heard of was how a prostitute in Vegas went into a church and got saved. She was so excited, she brought several other prostitutes the next week. The people in the church were worried about their teenage boys and husbands. They told the pastor, “Do something or they’re going to wreck what we’ve got here. They’re going to mess things up.” The preacher said, “I hope they wreck us.”

You see, hearing these stories and watching this video are reminders to me that I’m not that different from the Pharisees. I like to think I am, but in these situations, I would have acted just like them. I wouldn’t have had the patience of Carlos, the sincerity of the deacon or the audacity of that pastor to look beyond the physical to see the spiritual needs. I let my schedule, my dreams, my ideas, my visions and my preconceived notions override the spirit of God in me. I get caught up in trying to do everything right for God, that I forget to do what’s right for God. Jesus spent a lot of His time doing things that upset people with my mindset trying to show them another way.

My prayer today is that God would wreck me and you. May He blast through the things that keep us from really seeing what He’s called us to do. May He tear down our dreams of perfectionism. And may He open our eyes to the lost who need us to be Jesus to them. I hope that each of us will look past the religious ways to do things and start meeting the needs of those that walk onto our set, sit in our aisles and bring their out of place friends into our lives. I don’t want to do things the way I want to do them anymore. I want to do them the way God wants to do them. I want to be more like Jesus in meeting the needs of others and less like the Pharisees. Thankfully, we serve the God of Second Chances and He will help me.

Click here to watch the video I’m talking about.

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