Tag Archives: love

April 18, 2014 · 7:03 AM

Holy Week: Day 6

20140418-070135.jpg

Jesus didn’t get to sleep on His final night. The mob had taken Him to Pilate after the Sanhedrin held a mock of a trial and convicted Him. Pilate was wise, but he was also a people pleaser. I learned a lot about him last year and wrote “Playing Pilate”. After He found out that Jesus was from Galilee and not being a person who wanted to condemn an innocent man, he sent Him to Herod who was over Galilee. Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time. Many people think of Jesus as a good man, a prophet or just a good teacher. When we don’t see Him as God’s Son, we dismiss Him so we won’t have to deal with the consequences of condemning Him.

Herod was excited to see Jesus. He had heard about the miracles and demanded to see one. He treated Jesus like a court jester or magician. Jesus only had entertainment value to him. Jesus didn’t say a word even as they mocked Him. The dressed Him as a king to make fun of Him and sent Him back to Pilate. He tried again to release Jesus finding no guilt in Him. The crowd yelled out, “Crucify Him!” Pilate decided to flog Jesus and release Him, but the crowd went nuts. They cried out for Barabbas, the worst criminal they had, to be released instead of Jesus. Pilate argued with them, but to no avail. He released Barabbas and sentenced Jesus to die. Just like the crowd traded the murderer Barabbas for Jesus, we can trade our worst sins in for the work He did on the cross.

Luke 23:26 says, “As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the country side. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. He was taken away from his two sons and led up To the top of Golgotha along with Jesus. You and I are modern day Simons. We are to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus just as he did. We need to crucify our flesh and its desires so that we will do what God’s Spirit wants us to. That cross may lead us away from the ones we love, but we must follow Jesus wherever He leads us.

Verse 32 says that there were two thieves who were led out to be executed with Him. After nailing all three to their crosses, the crowd started scoffing and making fun of Jesus. “He saved others, let Him save Himself if He is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldier joined in and messed with Him. One of thieves called over to Him, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself – and us, too, while you’re at it!” The other criminal protested and said, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes.” He then looked at Jesus with repentance in his voice and said, “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Which thief are you? We are all hanging on a cross. Either we have no fear of God and treat the crucifixion as ordinary or we realize our sins will cause us to miss Paradise and we ask Jesus to let us into Heaven.

At noon, the whole earth was covered in darkness for three hours. Jesus cried out, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands.” He then said, “It is finished!” He gave out His last breath and died. The curtain in the Temple that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The captain of the guard at the cross knelt down and said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” After piercing His side to ensure He was dead, they released His body to Joseph of Arimathea to have it buried before the Sabbath began at sundown.

Just as the Israelites leaving Egypt were backed into a corner at the Red Sea, Jesus, who was leading us to freedom, was cornered. Things weren’t happening in either case the way the people thought. The Israelites thought they were just going to March away free with no problems and the disciples thought Jesus was going to set up an earthly kingdom. There was a barrier to freedom in both cases: the Red Sea. For Israel, He parted it so they could walk through it to freedom and closed it on their pursuer. For us, we have to walk through the Red Sea of Jesus’ blood. It will cover out sins and set us free. We just have to walk through it to get our freedom from our past. God will enclose our sins in His blood, no matter how bad they are. If you have not walked through His Red Sea, all you have to do is pray. Tell Him you recognize what He went through and that it was for your sins. You will be set free from the burdens you are carrying.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 28, 2014 · 4:21 AM

Changed Through Serving

20140328-051556.jpg

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 “No Longer A Slumdog: Bringing Hope To Children In Crisis” by K. P. Yohannan. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

On our last full day in Haiti, we started off by climbing the mountain in front of the guest house. It was as much a spiritual journey as it was physical. We walked through a poor neighborhood on the side of the mountain and then followed the rocky path up. We had to stop several times to catch our breath. It was good to see how far we had gone and then be able to look at the top to know where we were going. It reminded me how we often grow weary doing good. We get tired in our walk with Christ. We hit plateaus at times, and at others, we have steep climbs to make in a short amount of time.

When we got to the top, there was a spot where a church was being built. There were two ladies and a man who were up there singing and praying over the community below. When we walked back down the mountain, there were more people along the path who were also singing and praying. It challenged me to pray for my community, city, work place and wherever else God has me. The sound of prayer was inspiration on such a tough journey. It reminded me that prayer gives us strength where ours runs out.

After we arrived back at the guest house, we loaded up the team and headed for Roboto. It’s the poorest part of Gonaives. The students got out of the truck and immediately started filling plates with the rice we brought. We then went class to class giving these students the only meal they will receive for the day. It was incredible to watch these students serve the poorest of the poor in the Western Hemisphere. They truly were the hands and feet of Jesus and brought light into such a dark place.

After we finished feeding and playing with the children, we went to the Gonaives orphanage to pick up the children there. For the first time the children were going to visit the Myan orphanage. They climbed the trucks like they were jungle gyms. As we drove over the mountain to Myan, the kids were smiling ear to ear. There was laughter and excitement. When we pulled into the gates, they jumped out and immediately began playing with each other. It was beautiful to watch orphans from both our orphanages playing together for the first time.

Before we left, we went out of the gates to where we were breaking ground for a school building. While the construction team was digging up the ground for the foundation, they came across another foundation that was a part of a nearby wall. The contractor researched the history and found that there was a French fortress that had been built on that spot in 1802 that enslaved Haitians. Over 200 years later, an orphanage and school are being built on that very spot and is setting Haitians free! Our God new 200 years ago that we would hear the call to defend the orphan and would build in that spot.

God moved in our hearts on this trip. He called several to be missionaries and others into ministry. I watched as God took kids who were timid and opened them up to share what He has done in their lives. This experience has wrecked their lives because they’ve done what James 1:27 calls true and undefiled religion. They have cared for orphans and widows. They have helped push back the darkness in Haiti with the light of Jesus. Not only have we been changed because we were here, Haiti is different too. We now have a 14 hour journey home where each one will tell their story and others will catch the vision.

If you would like to win “No Longer A Slumdog” by K. P. Yohannon, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (March 29, 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.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 21, 2014 · 7:47 AM

How To Be A Better Spouse

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. To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of “The Power of a Praying Husband” by Stormie Omartian. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

“If I ever get the chance again, I’m going to put my wife first. I’m going to be the spiritual head of my household. I’m not going to take her for granted. I’m going to be the husband she needs me to be. I’m not going to fight her over things that don’t matter. I’m going to put her needs above my own. I’m going to pray for her daily.” These were promises I made to myself over ten years ago after my ex-wife walked out. I knew the mistakes I had made as a husband and the fruit that it bore was more than I could handle.

I learned a painful lesson in 2003. Afterwards, I had a lot of time to think about how the previous four years had gone, where our relationship turned, things I could have done to avoid where we ended up and what I should have done. I can tell you that could haves and should haves don’t repair broken relationships. As I laid there in that empty bed each night, I replaced the could haves and should haves with promises of what I would do in the future. I mapped out what I needed to do to be a better husband next time. I spent time learning what Paul meant when he said, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church.”

Ultimately, it boils down to putting your spouse’s needs above your own. You have to sacrifice yourself (what you want) for what’s best for the relationship. Christ could have stayed in Heaven and left us in a broken relationship. He could have divorced us, gone to another planet and started over. He didn’t. He wasn’t content with the way things were. If He had it to do over, He would come down to us, show us the love He’s always wanted to show us and do what was necessary to mend the relationship.

He put aside His pride of being the King of Kings. He laid aside the fact that He was Lord of Lords. He became a helpless human, walked in our shoes, humbled Himself and sacrificed everything for us. He did what’s required of us in any relationship that’s going to work. He put the needs of the relationship above His own needs. He became our advocate and our intercessor. He prays daily to the Father for you and me. In the same way, we have to humble ourselves enough to honor the other person in the relationship. We have to lift them up in prayer daily.

I used to pray that God would change my wife to fit my needs. Now, my prayer is, “Lord, change me and help me to be the husband she needs.” I’ve discovered that when I’m the person my wife needs me to be, she wants to be the wife I need her to be. If the two are ever to become one, they both have to move into the person that the other needs. They have to make decisions based on what’s best for the couple, not the individual. Otherwise, they will always be just two separate individuals who are stick together trying to go in different directions. That won’t work. Trust me, I know.

If you would like to win “The Power of a Praying Husband” by Stormie Omartian, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (March 22, 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.

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 14, 2014 · 7:00 AM

I Choose To Love

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. To celebrate, I’m giving away “Unglued: Making Wise Choices In The Midst of Raw Emotions” 6 session DVD by Lysa TerKeurst. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

20140213-225449.jpg

A friend of mine, who has been married for almost fifteen years, was talking with me about love and marriage. She told me that several years ago her husband left her. Instead of moving on, she held onto her love for him and decided to win him back. She tried everything she could think of. Month after month passed and he wouldn’t break. He wanted to be free to do his own thing and told her he didn’t feel it anymore. Even when he dated other women, she hung on to her love for him. Four years went by before he realized that he would never find anyone to love him the way she did.

They started dating again and recommitted their marriage. They’ve been together several years since that separation and their marriage is stronger than ever. I asked her how because I couldn’t understand. Her answer was simple, yet difficult. She said, “I choose to love him. When he makes me mad, I tell him that I choose to love him anyway. When he leaves clothes on the floor instead of in the hamper, I choose to love him. When he forgets important dates, I choose to love him. When we get in heated discussions, I choose to love him. No matter what happens, it’s my choice to love him or to let the other things control my thoughts.”

She gets what a marriage relationship is all about. It’s not about feelings, because those go away. It’s not about looks, because those go away. It’s not about feeling trapped. It’s about making a daily choice to stay in love. It’s about making a choice to fight for the relationship you are in and fighting off the temptations that try to pull you out of it. It’s a choice to find new ways to keep the flame burning. It’s a choice to look beyond the things that drive you nuts and to focus on the qualities you love. It’s not easy to make those choices.

In fact, I tell people who are getting married that marriage is the hardest thing they will ever do in life. They will have to fight for that relationship every day for the rest of their life. They will have to set boundaries to protect their love. They will have to communicate when they don’t want to. They will have to force themselves to eat crow even when they think they’re right for the sake of the relationship. They will have to lose the mentality that they are two separate people and adopt the idea that they are one and a house divided cannot stand. They will have to choose daily to be in love with the same person day after day, year after year, decade after decade. Love is worth fighting for.

No marriage is perfect because it involves two imperfect people. It takes both of them freeing themselves of selfish motives and putting the other’s needs above their own. It takes one person carrying the heavy load while the other can’t or won’t. It takes understanding that marriage is not 50/50, it’s 100/100. Both parties have to give it their all for it to work. Marriage comes down to making the same decision day after day, year after year, decade after decade. Both parties have to choose to love the other more than they love themselves every day, not just on days where Hallmark tells them to. They have to put thought and effort into the relationship 365 days a year. Love is a choice.

If you would like to win the “Unglued” DVD by Lysa TerKeurst, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (February 15, 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.

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 11, 2014 · 7:25 AM

The Garment Still Fits

I was speaking with a friend who is a pastor a while back. We were talking about ministry, living the Christian life and the struggles faced by those who walk away from their faith for a period of time in their life. I shared with them my story and my calling. I talked about how in the past I couldn’t see how God could still use me since my calling came before my falling away. I felt like I needed to be perfect to fulfill the role God had designed just for me and I had wrecked it. For a long time that is what kept me up at night. I knew there was no way God could use me after how I had lived.

They shared with me the story of their child who has walked away after having been raised in church. They told me about the struggles they face, not just as a pastor, but as a parent who has a child not walking in the way they were taught. With tears in our eyes I began to share my journey back and how I’ve come to the point that I believe God can still use me despite my past and how He can actually use that to His advantage. They looked at me and said, “it was no surprise to God that you walked away or came back. He knew what paths you were going to take. He took that into consideration when He designed your robe of righteousness. And you know what? The garment still fits.”

When you look at Ephesians 2:10, you see that we are God’s masterpiece. He has created you and I with a purpose in mind. When a sculptor is creating a piece of art and they come to an imperfection in the stone, they don’t start over. They don’t even try to cut that part out of the stone. They take those blemishes, those imperfection and they incorporate it into the art work. The imperfections that threaten the future of the masterpiece are what make it unique and are what really sets it apart as a work of art. The sculptor starts each project knowing there’s no perfect stone and knows they will have to work with imperfections to make each piece work.

The second part of that verse says, “He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” He knew long ago the life each of us were going to live. He knew long ago each of us would mess up. He knew we would have imperfections, sins, disabilities and doubts. He designed all of that into the plan He made for each one of us. It doesn’t matter if you found out the plan He has for your life before you walked away, after you walked away or are seeking it out. He has built the plan for your life around the things that would happen to you and the paths that you would take. He took all that into consideration and the garment still fits you.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 19, 2013 · 7:53 AM

The Everlasting Father

This week, I’ll be breaking down Isaiah 9:6 piece by piece. It says, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (NLT)”. Today, we’ll look at Everlasting Father.

20131219-075306.jpg

I remember how my life and thinking changed the day my son was born and I became a father. A minute before my son was born, I had an idea of what being a father was. The minute after he was born, I knew. My whole way of thinking and reason for living changed in an instant. Suddenly, I had an awesome responsibility to protect and shape his life. Who he becomes is largely dependent on what I do as a father. He will mimic what I say, treat others how I treat them, base his idea of love on how I love his mom and act the way I do.

When I think of myself and my role as a father, I begin to see the relationship God wants to have with each one of us. As a father, He wants to protect us from the things that would harm us. He wants to point us in the right direction and to shape our lives. He wants nothing but the best for you and me. He wants us to talk like He talks, treat others the way He treats them, act like He acts and love like He loves. His desire is for us to mature and to develop into the people that He dreams of us becoming.

When I think of myself in the role of a child, I begin to see how my actions are not much different than those of my two year old. He tests every boundary. When I say, “No”, he looks at me and struggles with the decision to do it or not. He weighs the consequences of being disobedient versus doing what I say. He throws fits when he doesn’t like what I have to say. He also runs and jumps into my arms when he’s afraid. He gives me hugs and kisses to show his affection for me. He has no idea of the real dangers around him because I’m looking out for them.

As an Everlasting Father, we don’t have to worry that He’ll disappear on us or leave us. He will always be there to look out for our well being. He sees the dangers around us in our lives that we don’t see. He tells us no to keep us from injury or harm. Like a two year old, we stomp our feet and argue with Him because it’s not what we want to hear or do. We are often disobedient and suffer the consequences of those actions. That doesn’t change God’s love for us as children. In His love, He continues to correct us and to shape our lives so that we can be the people who He wants us to be.

I believe God positioned Himself as a father so that we could see how He sees us. He wanted us to see what it feels like to give out unconditional love, to experience the satisfaction that can only come from a child climbing into your arms and saying, “I love you.” He wanted us to see that He only wants good things for us. In doing so, He sometimes has to say, “No” in order to make sure we are on the right path and protected from danger. He gives us good things and has our best interest at heart always. He is your Everlasting Father who loves you.

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 20, 2013 · 7:38 AM

He Loves Us Anyway

I’m broken this morning by the goodness of God. I’m overwhelmed at how much He loves us. The more I think about it, the more broken I become. The David Crowder song “How He Loves Us” is playing in my mind and I keep breaking down as the lyrics sink in. “He is jealous for me, loves likes a hurricane. I am a tree bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.” Today, I’m that tree that is bent over because I’m blown away at how much He loves us. We’ve not given Him any reason to. We’ve done everything that we can to push Him away, but He loves us anyway.

That kind of love is hard for me to grasp. How can He still love us when we treat Him like a genie, hurt others that He loves dearly and live our lives for ourselves? Just about everything we do should give Him a reason not to love us. Yet He shows His mercy in each sunrise. He offers His grace with each new dawn. How many mornings have I just taken His love, grace and mercy for granted? How many times has He painted the sky with His love for me and I missed it because I was too busy looking for other things besides Him? But He loves me anyway.

The song “The More I Seek You” by Kari Jobe comes to mind. “This love is so deep, it’s more than I can stand. I melt in your peace, it’s overwhelming.” I’m experiencing those feelings today, yet I believe it should be an every day thing. I should be overwhelmed day by day at just how good God is to me. I should be overflowing with thankfulness at the blessings He’s given me. I should be thankful for breath and life each morning. I should be honored that He spends time with me each day and walks with me. Instead, I treat those things like an all too familiar routine of motions that I go through each day. Even then, He loves me anyway.

When is the last time you stopped and just rested in God’s love? When is the last time you went swimming in His grace? Have you stood still long enough for Him to give you the embrace He wants to give you? His arms are open wide and He’s looking right at you today. His eyes are filled with love for you. He’s calling out your name. Can you hear it? He wants so little from us and yet offers unending love so freely. He’s patient when we’re too busy to stop and let Him love us. He’s good to us when we’ve done nothing to deserve it. He doesn’t care how many times we’ve brushed Him off or pushed Him aside. He loves you more than you are capable of understanding. No matter what you’ve done, He loves you anyway.

9 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 12, 2013 · 6:25 AM

Bringing Hope to Haiti

20131112-071848.jpg

Day two in Haiti started off at Faith, Hope, Love orphanage and infant rescue center. When we arrived, most of the kids had already left for school. The few that remained touched my heart. One child had hydrocephalus, another had lymphoma in his eyes and the other had brittle bone disease. As I saw the little girl with this bone disease laying in her crib, my heart broke. She was so thin and frail. She had no strength to move. As the others walked on to see the rest of the orphanage, I stayed behind to pray for her.

She reminded me of my spiritual state. I was helpless without Christ. I had no strength without Him. He had to come into my life to give me the strength I needed to survive. It was He who pulled me from my broken state where I couldn’t stand, lifted me up and provided the strength to move. It is with proper nutrition that both she and I have a chance. Mine comes from God’s Word and spending time with Him daily. Without that, I would die spiritually. For her, a doctor called yesterday and agreed to give her a feeding tube so we can get her the nutrition that she would die without.

After we left there, we drove out of Port au Prince to the site of the mass grave for all who died in the earthquake of 2010. As we stood on this field, we were reminded of that tragic time in this country when over 100,000 died in one day. We heard stories of bodies being drug into the streets. Trucks would come and get a load of bodies and dump them in this field. Other trucks would come take rubble to the site and pile it on top of them. They did this for days. It was a grim reminder of what had happened. One of the team members asked me, “Could you imagine the memorial in America if 100,000 died in one event? Think of what we did for 9/11 for 3,000.” Here, because of poverty, they just dumped in a field and covered them.

We left there and began our long, bumpy trip to Gonaives. We rode in the back of the truck, sitting on our luggage, enjoying the beautiful Haitian country side. Mountains. Farms. Broken roads. Check points. Markets. They were all on our path. The sites, sounds and smells make this ride so memorable. Where we would place multimillion dollar homes with a view, they have piecemeal shacks with rusted tin roofs not even facing the ocean. What a stark contrast of cultures between theirs and ours. The average Haitian makes in a week, less than most of us make in an hour.

Once we arrived in Gonaives, we unloaded our bags at the guest house, said hello to familiar friends who live here and headed out to Myan where we are building an orphanage. As we drove down the long dirt road and went side to side looking for a smooth surface (which didn’t exist), people cheered and waved. We weren’t just building an orphanage in this rural community, we were bringing hope. The well that was completed yesterday will keep this community from having to walk six miles with a 5 gallon bucket to fetch clean water. The gardens we will plant will supply nutritious food. The orphans will hear about Jesus and change the spiritual landscape of this community. What we are building with concrete and mortar is creating hope.

As we exited the truck, kids came running out of no where. Dirty, half naked and smiling they came and held our hands. They walked us up Prayer Mountain and listened as we shared the vision of this property with our team. They sat in our laps as we prayed over them, their community and the future possibilities of this orphanage. When we finished, the kids sang “This is the Day That The Lord Has Made” in their native Creole. They were singing a song about a God they had never known before we arrived last year.

When they finished singing, the kids instinctively grabbed us by our hands and led us to the orphanage. There were chains of 5 or 6 people long as we made our way down the hill and through the gates. The men at the site worked until there was no more daylight. We checked the well to see how deep the water was and to get a sample. We toured the unfinished buildings and made a plan for how we could help. We told them to come back on Thursday for medical treatment and check ups. We danced and played with the kids before we had to leave. We arrived back at our house in time for a typical Haitian meal, had a church service on our balcony and went to bed. Our hearts are full and the work is just beginning.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 17, 2013 · 7:50 AM

Rejected By The Church

I read an article yesterday about a teenage orphan in Florida who decided to be proactive in finding adoptive parents. He chose to go to church and address the congregation in order to see if someone would make him their child. He was born to a woman who was in jail and immediately taken into social services. The only thing his mom gave him was his name. He spent most of his life being angry at his situation and pushing people and prospective parents away hoping his birth parents would show up one day.

While searching for them, he found out that they were both deceased. He had to make a choice to continue being angry or to let it go. He chose the latter. His grades began to improve and he began to become the person he knew he was inside. His comments are what stuck out to me the most in this article. He said he had never had a home or felt loved. He said, “I’ll take anyone. Old young. Black, white or purple… I would be appreciative.” And then the article finished with him saying, “I know God hasn’t given up on me. So I’m not giving up either.”

My mind wants to go in so many ways with this. His whole life, all he’s wanted is what all of us want, to be loved. He wanted it from his birth parents, but now that’s not a possibility. He now will take it from anyone. Thankfully he reached out to a church. Sadly, no one offered to adopt him. I’m hoping at least someone there had a burden to show him love, to accept him for who he is, and to begin to fill the void in his life. He knows he’s going to be on his own in a couple of years and would love having the support of a family. That’s something most of us take for granted.

He said that he’d take anyone. He’s like a lot of people in this world. They’re broken and hurt. They’re looking for a place to belong. Are our churches a place where people like him can find refuge from their pain? Or are they a clique for the self righteous who feel they’re better than others? Have we become like the Pharisee in Luke 18 who looked up to Heaven and said, “I thank you, God, that I’m not a sinner everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give you a tenth of my income”? Have we become so caught up in our traditions and rituals that we’ve turned a blind eye to those reaching out to us?

This kid found rejection where he should have found acceptance. He found doubt in a place of faith. He was looking for love and walked away empty handed. May God forgive us for all of the times people like him have walked through our doors and walked out alone. May He open our eyes to those who come in this week and give us the courage to be His hands and feet. May we be His expression of love and acceptance to those the world has rejected. May we be a safe haven for those who need to find a refuge. If God hasn’t given up on them, neither should we. Let’s open our eyes today and find someone who needs love and offer it to them. Both of your lives will forever change.

If you’d like to read the article I referenced, you can read it here.

Update: Over 10,000 people have now inquired about adopting this young man! See that article here.

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 15, 2013 · 8:16 AM

Mediocrity Is A Choice

When I used to work with new hires at my company, I would have to give out a celebration of knowledge (test) at the end of each week. All it took was 80% to pass and they could take it as many times as they wanted. Once they passed, they’d raise their hand and I would go record their score. I used to love walking up to a person with an 80% and ask, “Is that enough for you? Is barely getting by how you live your life?” Some would accept the challenge and go for 100%, but many others said, “I passed. What else do you want from me?”

I see the same thing among many Christians. They know there are deeper levels of commitment and the ability to be more like Christ every day, but they choose not to. They are content with where they are. It frustrates some believers who are always pushing for that next level, and it can also be cause for others to live mediocre lives. They say, “Im doing enough to get to Heaven, why try harder?” They don’t see how doing more can deepen their roots because they don’t see the value in it.

Going beyond a basic commitment to Christ requires a lot more faith, time and effort. Many Christians are content to wander the desert like the Israelites. They’re no longer living in bondage, but not quite living in the Promised Land that God desires for them to live in. They spend years going in circles receiving food from God, but never really go anywhere. They’re content to wander because they know there’s hard work on the other side of Jordan.

Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m not saying you earn your salvation through works. I am saying that there is a life untapped by many Christians where living an overcoming life is the normal. So many of us look at that land like 10 of the spies did and think, “There are giants over there. I’ll get squashed if I try to go fight them.” Meanwhile God is wanting to make Himself more evident in our lives and is calling us to go fight those giants in His power.

Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” Joshua and Caleb thought they could. The other 10 thought they couldn’t. Both were right. In their own strength, they couldn’t defeat the giants in that land or tear down the walls of cities. Joshua and Caleb didn’t look at it as their strength. They looked at what God was capable of and knew they could be victorious. Ultimately, they were the only two who were allowed to go into that land and to posses it. They were right. God’s strength was enough to win the battles.

Where do you find yourself in these two scenarios? Is it enough to wander through the desert of this life and to make it to Heaven? Do you want something more? Do you want to be an overcomer in this life and take your walk with God to another level? The choice belongs to each of us. Both require a commitment, one is just deeper and more involved. I believe God’s desire is that all of us find the Promised Land in our lives and He wants to move us from wandering to living on purpose.

What are things you’ve done to move away from mediocrity and into an overcoming life?

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,