Tag Archives: giving god your best

February 20, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Offering God Excellence

I heard the story of a carpenter who spent his whole career working for one builder. When it came time to retire, he spoke to his boss. The builder begged him to stay on for one more job. Reluctantly he accepted even though he didn’t want to. During the whole job, his heart wasn’t in it. He cut corners and did some shoddy work. When the house was finished, he called the boss to come do a final walk through. After walking through the house, the builder turned to the carpenter and handed him the keys. He told him that he had been a good worker all those years and wanted to gift him a house. The carpenter was very thankful, but all he could think about was how he was going to have to live in a house where he cut corners and did shoddy work.

In Genesis 4, we read the story of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve. Both were raised in relationship with God and knew Him. Cain became a farmer and Abel a shepherd. The Bible doesn’t tell us if they gave offerings to God often or if the offering in this chapter was the first one. Both decided to give God an offering from their work. Verses 3-4 say, “When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock” (NLT). Cain gave from his harvest, but not really his best. That’s why God rejected his offering. It was a half hearted gift while Abel brought his best.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever you do, do well.” I believe excellence is a choice. Every day we’re faced with the opportunity to give God our best or something less than that. Our offerings to God are more than our money. Paul said in Philippians 2:17 that our faithful service is an offering to God. Everything we do for God should be done from our best efforts. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it can’t be our leftovers. Look at your life and the service you’ve been offering God. Is there room for improvement? Find ways to give God excellence in your life. When you give Him your best, He honors you and blesses your life.

Photo by Marten Bjork 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 19, 2025 · 5:40 AM

Prioritizing What Matters

John Maxwell says that if you don’t have a plan for doing what’s most important to you, you’ll spend your time reacting to what’s important to someone else. How many times have you gone to bed wondering where the day went and of all the things you still needed to get done? When we live without prioritizing the things that are important to us, the things we need to get done are sacrificed. Many times we sacrifice our quiet time with God. It starts as, “I’ll just double up tomorrow.” The next thing you know days, weeks and months go by and you’ve missed the most important thing of your day. In times like that, I have to refocus my attention on the eternal things because of the demands of the physical things. I have to put things into perspective and make my commitment to what lasts forever.

In Acts 6, the Early Church was growing by the thousands at a time. The disciples were trying to manage everything, but found themselves drowning in the administrative side of the Church. A group of non-Hebrew Jews came to them to complain that their widows weren’t receiving help. In that moment, they realized that they were spending their time on everyone else’s priorities, and were neglecting their prayer time and the preaching of the Word. They decided to delegate some priorities, like caring for widows, so they could focus on what was most important. In verse 4, they said, “But we will [continue to] devote ourselves [steadfastly] to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (AMP). The solution pleased everyone there. It’s amazing what happens when we prioritize the eternal over the physical. God rewards us for diligently seeking Him first.

Psalm 5:3 says, “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will prepare [a prayer and a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].” David writes in this psalm about the distractions in his life and the enemies who pursue him. He prioritizes seeking God first though. He commits to meeting with God in the morning with a heart that is prepared to pray and to listen. He’s not just trying to check off a box by reading a chapter a day. He came with a prayer prepared and with time set aside to wait on the Lord in order to hear from Him. It’s a great model for all of us. Don’t just try to get through your quiet time in order to get to your day once you’ve prioritized it. Take the time to really pray and to wait for God to respond. When we seek His kingdom first, all these other priorities will fall into place and be given to you.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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January 11, 2024 · 5:30 AM

Before You Start

I, like you, have a pretty busy day and week ahead of me. From the moment I woke up I started thinking of all the things I need to do to accomplish everything today. My mind races to find solutions to scheduling conflicts, deadlines, and how to be in two places at once. I’ve got a to-do list a mile long and a very short time to accomplish it. With all of that happening, do I have time for God?

It’s tough not to put God on a back burner on busy days. He’s the easiest one to “reschedule”, but He’s the last one I need to reschedule. “He’ll understand”, I reason in my mind. “I’ll read my Bible and pray later,” I tell myself. The truth is that I won’t have the time later either. If I don’t make Him a priority right now, I won’t make Him one later. If I don’t slow down now and take time to reflect on Him and His Word, I won’t do it.

God told David in Psalm 46:10, “Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God” (TPT). David was a king and I’m sure he had a lot on his plate too. He would cry out to God in times of need and celebration. He would throw those 911 prayers up to Heaven like you and I often do. “God, I have a lot to do today. Help me to get it all done”, is what we pray. God wants more than that. He wants us to stop, take a moment and spend some time with Him.

In the world we live in, it’s easy to mix up the temporary with the eternal. It’s easy to reverse their importance. Today, stop, breathe, meditate on His Word, and thank Him. Rest in His arms before you do anything else. Give Him more than a 911 prayer and truly thank Him for another day of life. Thank Him that you even have things on your schedule. Know that He is God and really that’s what matters more than anything else I’ll accomplish today.

Photo by Aaron Burden 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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December 19, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Offering God Excellence

I heard the story of a carpenter who spent his whole career working for one builder. When it came time to retire, he spoke to his boss. The builder begged him to stay on for one more job. Reluctantly he accepted even though he didn’t want to. During the whole job, his heart wasn’t in it. He cut corners and did some shoddy work. When the house was finished, he called the boss to come do a final walk through. After walking through the house, the builder turned to the carpenter and handed him the keys. He told him that he had been a good worker all those years and wanted to gift him a house. The carpenter was very thankful, but all he could think about was how he was going to have to live in a house where he cut the corners and did shoddy work.

In Genesis 4, we read the story of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve. Both were raised in relationship with God and knew Him. Cain became a farmer and Abel a shepherd. The Bible doesn’t tell us if they gave offerings to God often or if the offering in this chapter was the first one. Both decided to give God an offering from their work. Verses 3-4 say, “When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock” (NLT). Cain gave from his harvest, but not really his best. That’s why God rejected his offering. It was a half hearted gift while Abel brought his best.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever you do, do well.” I believe excellence is a choice. Every day we’re faced with the opportunity to give God our best or something less than that. Our offerings to God are more than our money. Paul said in Philippians 2:17 that our faithful service is an offering to God. Everything we do for God should be done from our best efforts. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it can’t be our leftovers. Look at your life and the service you’ve been offering God. Is there room for improvement? Find ways to give God excellence in your life. When you give Him your best, He honors you and blesses your life.

Photo by Avi Richards on Unsplash

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September 13, 2019 · 6:06 AM

Acts Of Worship

One of my favorite authors says that he takes off his shoes when he sits down to write because he considers that place holy ground. He says that he worships God with each keystroke. I’ve often thought of that and wondered, “What are my acts of worship? Do I take them as seriously as He does?” I don’t think we have to remove our shoes for every act of worship, but I do think we need to recognize when we are worshiping God. Worship is more than a slow song at church. It’s an act of love done to honor God that’s often a sacrifice of some kind. It requires a conscious effort on our part to put God’s needs ahead of our own.

When’s the last time you worshiped God with your life? Any act of obedience with the right heart is an act of worship. Consider all that God has done for you. There is nothing you can do to repay Him, but you can thank and honor Him by living your life in a way that pleases Him. You can rescue those who are perishing spiritually and physically as a way to worship Him. We don’t worship to earn our salvation though. It is the response of a grateful heart. Each act of worship is different because each of us have different skills and burdens that drive our worship. The important thing is to make sure we offer these things consciously as worship to God. Whether you’re working to end human trafficking, giving your tithe, serving the homeless or staying home to raise your children, do it as an act of worship and God will bless it.

Here are some Bible verses about worshiping God.

1. Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.

ROMANS 12:1 AMP

2. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

John 4:23 NLT

3. Worship GOD if you want the best; worship opens doors to all his goodness.

Psalm 34:9 MSG

4. Therefore, I encourage the men to pray on every occasion with hands lifted to God in worship with clean hearts, free from frustration or strife.

1 Timothy 2:8 TPT

5. Let us be thankful, then, because we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him, with reverence and awe.

Hebrews 12:28 GNT

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

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