Tag Archives: ministry

October 9, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Renewing Your Calling

Several years ago, I was running from my calling, living in sin and making some pretty dumb decisions. My life started to spiral out of control. I started to lose things and people that I wanted to hang onto, but I couldn’t stop the madness. When my first wife told me she was leaving me, it was a wake up call. Up to that moment, I always felt like I could get back to where I needed to be in my life, but when that happened, I felt like I had even lost the calling of God on my life. It was too much for me to have lost that too. Some time later, I explained to a friend how I had lost the calling of God on my life and my purpose. He asked, “Who do you think you are that you have the power to revoke God’s purpose and calling on your life?”

I wonder if David felt the same way after he had his affair with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. Maybe Peter did too after he denied Jesus three times. I can hear him beating himself up saying, “You we’re going to be the rock that Jesus built His Church on. You blew it!” Yet, despite both of their failures, and public ones at that, God continued to use them. David and Bathsheba later had a son they named Solomon. He became Israel’s next king and was the wisest person to ever live. Peter, after being restored by Jesus, went on to lead the Early Church and turn the world upside down. Despite their failures, God never removed their calling or purpose.

Romans 11:29 says, “For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn” (NLT). To me, that’s pretty clear that no matter what I’ve done, God designed me with a purpose and no matter what I do, He’s not going to withdraw it. If you’ve been hearing that voice inside telling you that it’s too late or you’ve done too much for God to ever use you, combat it with this verse. God uses our failures and humanity in our calling. He has a way of using them to humble us, to make us approachable and as a testimony to others that God can use or save anyone. No one is beyond His love or ability to forgive. No one is beyond His ability to use. You and I lack the power to revoke God’s calling though we may run from it for a lifetime. God’s plan for you is still in place. Quit running from it or believing the lie that you’re damaged goods. God’s not done with you yet.

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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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July 22, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Without Excuses

Years ago I taught a class where I posed a series of “what if” or “if only” questions. I would write their answers on the board. If only I had more time. If only I was paid more. If only management would do this or that. The answers were flowing until I stopped and read them their answers. I asked them what their answers looked like. When no one answered, I simply pointed out that their answers were excuses to not do things. They were things that were holding them back from their potential and keeping them from moving up. Some times those answers are right, but when we allow them to hold us back, they become excuses.

There were many people in the Bible who gave God excuses as to why they couldn’t do what He asked. Moses said he stuttered and wasn’t a good orator. Jonah said he didn’t like the people God called him to minister to. The people who wanted to follow Jesus, but first wanted to go back to bury the dead or get their inheritance. Even Jeremiah gave an excuse that he was too young to call his nation back to repentance. In Jeremiah 1 God told him that He had set him apart and called him to the nations. In verse 6, Jeremiah gave the excuse, “O Sovereign Lord, I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” (NLT) These are some big names in the Bible who tried to use an excuse to hold them back from their purpose and calling. Thankfully God didn’t accept of their excuses.

In Jeremiah 1:7-8 God replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” He went on to say that He would put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth and empower him. It’s got me thinking about the excuses I’ve used with God. Maybe you’ve given Him some too. If God has called you to it, He will empower you and help you do it. You haven’t messed it up nor have you done anything to remove His calling. It’s time we owned up to our excuses and allowed God to help us do what He created us to do. Start living your life without excuses.

Photo courtesy of Max Andrew on Pexels.

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July 3, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Calling All Workers

I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but around here construction has been booming since Covid started. New homes are being built as fast as they can, existing homes sell the day they go on the market and remodels are happening everywhere. That’s created a couple of problems. The first is that supply and demand has driven the cost of materials sky high. The second is that there is a shortage of workers to do the work. Construction companies are begging for workers. With the lack of workers, jobs aren’t getting done as quickly as they should and people have to wait for months to get their projects done. Every day people are praying for workers so they can complete their jobs.

Not long after Jesus started His ministry, crowds started showing up. They would search for Him early in the morning and stay until late in the evening. He could barely get any rest or time alone. Some days He was so busy He didn’t get to eat. Instead of being overwhelmed at the crowds, He had pity on them. His heart was filled with compassion because of their great need for salvation as well as physical healing. In Matthew 9:38, as He looked at the crowd, He turned to His disciples and said, “Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest” (GNT). He and His 12 disciples were busy every day with the work of God’s Kingdom so much so that John said if all the miracles Jesus did had been recorded, all the books in the world couldn’t contain their stories.

This is where you and I come in. We have two parts in this. One, we are to pray for workers to gather in the harvest as Jesus commanded us to. The other is to recognize we are the workers. Ephesians 2:10 says, “He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing” (MSG). Each of us were created to work in His Kingdom, but few of us are doing the work. He didn’t mean that we should all work at the church. He meant that everywhere you go, and especially at your job, there is a harvest that needs to be brought in. Instead of just praying for workers, we should be like Isaiah and say, “Here am I send me.” There is a harvest ready to be brought in right now, and God is looking for us to step up and do the work He’s called us to.

Photo by Warren 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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June 26, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Watering Seeds

For the past few months we’ve been driving to Dallas. Along the way, there is a stretch of farmland where people are growing fields of corn. As the summer has progressed, some of these fields went from green to having some brown spots to turning yellow. The drought did a number on some fields. In a few instances, we’d see a dry field next to a green one. We would be sad about them losing an entire crop, but also see that the neighboring crop was full. They both went through the same drought, but one farmer watered their crops and the other didn’t.

Through the New Testament, Jesus often referred to us as farmers and seed spreaders. He talked about our return on those seeds as well when it came to harvest time. However, there may be some fields you’ve tilled and planted without seeing a harvest yet. I’d like to encourage you to take the step of watering them. 1 Corinthians 3:7 says, “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow” (NLT). Watering is part of the process many of us forget about. Seeds don’t grow to maturity and crops don’t produce unless they’re watered regularly.

Years ago, I heard Doug Stringer with SomebodyCares.org say, “Prayer is water for the seeds you plant.” In Jewish tradition, after Passover, they pray for dew to cover the ground where their crops are planted. Then as Sukkot passes, they pray for rain at harvest time. These festivals were created by God and remind us that we need to pray for God to water your seeds and to cause them to grow. He’s reminding us that our work isn’t done once we’ve planted seeds. If you’re waiting on a harvest from seeds you’ve planted and are wondering what’s taking so long, start watering them through prayer. Your seeds are not dead. They could be just waiting on some water.

Photo by Elibet Valencia Muñoz 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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June 25, 2025 · 5:33 AM

The Dominion Mandate

In Genesis 1:28 one of the first directives God gives mankind is a dominion mandate over the earth. That word dominion means to exercise authority, to make productive through the cultivation process and to steward well what had been given to them. I believe that mandate continues to this day, but also extends to the areas of our lives and gifts God has given us. Imagine how your life would change if you exercised authority over your thoughts, your flesh and your time. What would change if you began to cultivate the relationships God has given you, your finances, resources and talents? We are called to be stewards of all God has given us.

I love the story of Nehemiah. He did all these things well because he took the dominion mandate seriously. He was a cupbearer to the king. He cultivated that relationship to the point that the king financed his calling. When he returned to Jerusalem, he found that the walls were in torn down with rubble everywhere. He exercised authority over the situation and the people responded. They took what was broken and rebuilt the walls of the city in a short amount of time. The city had not been productive and couldn’t grow because of the lack of protection. By stewarding his vision, organizing the people and taking dominon over the situation, Jerusalem became a vibrant city again.

Proverbs 13:23 says, “Abundant food is in the fallow (uncultivated) ground of the poor, But [without protection] it is swept away by injustice” (AMP). There is so much untapped potential in our lives because we fail to take dominion and leave it uncultivated. There are places in our lives that are like Jerusalem before Nehemiah showed up. They’re without protection and need the walls rebuilt. Where in your life do you need to begin taking dominion? What do you need to cultivate in order to change fallow ground into fertile soil? Where do you need to be exercising your God given authority? You have been given a dominion mandate by God. Don’t settle for fallow for fallow ground into the land God has given you.

Photo by Mark Stebnicki on Pexels.

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May 20, 2025 · 5:35 AM

God’s Training Ground

One of the things God does is shape us in unseen moments. I talk to so many people who share wisdom with me that fought battles in obscurity. One person recently shared how her mom abandoned she and her brother when she was a teen. She raised him like she was a single mom as she put herself through college and taught Sunday school. Her husband told me that he found out about that while dating her. He realized the character she had because she had and knew that was shaping her to be a great mother and wife. She had men who wouldn’t date her because she was raising her brother. Now they have grown children of their own and decades of marriage behind them.

In 1 Samuel 17, Goliath was taunting the army of Israel and defying God. All of their untested and untrained warriors fled in fear. For forty days he came out twice a day challenging them, but no one rose to the occasion until David showed up. In verses 34-36 David told Saul, “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God!” (NLT) David’s confidence came from private victories in battles where he learned to trust God. He knew God would show up and defeat the giant.

1 Peter 5:6 says, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” We often want greater exposure without having through God’s training ground of obscurity. We want public victories without winning private battles. However, we must remain humble and learn to trust God in the dark before He shines the light on us. Obscurity is not abandonment. David’s years of watching sheep even after he had been anointed king, were used to grow and prepare him. He had more private battles to face before he could lead the nation’s army. God will lift you up at the right time. Until then, learn and grow as much as you can in God’s training ground.

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March 13, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Saying Yes

I was just talking with some friends about Bob Goff’s book “Love Does”. If you haven’t heard of him or this book, I’d encourage you to check it out. To me, Bob is a Christian “Yes Man”. He views each interaction and request from someone as an opportunity for Jesus to show up. The book is a collection of stories from his life where he simply said yes in certain situations and incredible things happened. It challenged me to want to do more for others and God’s Kingdom. It’s prompted me to say yes to more things giving the Holy Spirit more opportunities to do things through me.

I love reading Paul’s letters to the Early Church. Not only are they great instructions for us on how to live, they also include a list of people who were examples of Christian character. He mentions how they opened their homes to him, made clothes for the poor, welcomed him in, some visited him in prison and encouraged him. These people he mentioned were just ordinary people who did what they were promoted to do because of their faith. They could have easily found an excuse to not do those things, but because they did, they’re mentioned in the Bible.

2 Thessalonians 1:11 says, “So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do” (NLT). You are called by God to do the things He’s prepared you to do. Your faith is constantly prompting you to do things. Have you been listening to it and obeying or have you been making excuses? The more we say yes to those promptings, the more we allow the Holy Spirit to accomplish things through us. You don’t have to be a Bob Goff, but you do need to live the life God is calling you to. It starts by saying yes to things He is prompting you to do.

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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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March 4, 2025 · 5:31 AM

Connecting People To God

We live in a world full of people who are disconnected from God. Some have never known Him and don’t know to connect with Him. Some have been through traumatic events in their life that have them disconnected. Some refuse to acknowledge Him and are purposefully disconnected. No matter their reason for being or remaining disconnected, you and I as believers are to be connectors that keep one hand holding onto God and one reaching out to them. Before I step on a stage as a minister, I’ll pray and ask God to use me to help people reconnect or to connect with Him. However, it’s not just ministers, or people on stage in ministry, whose job it is to connect people. It belongs to each of us as believers because every day we walk through crowds of people disconnected or are in meetings with them.

In John 3 we read the story of John the Baptist. He was at the Jordan river baptizing people and calling out to them to reconnect with God through repentance. When Jesus walked by one day, God revealed to Him that He was the Messiah. As he called it out, two of his followers left to follow Jesus. After he baptized Jesus people began leaving his ministry to follow Jesus. Others came to him to try to stir up jealousy, but he remained humble. He told them that he said all along he wasn’t the Messiah and that his job was to go before Him to prepare the way and connect people to God. Then in verse 30 he said, “He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease” (AMP). As a connector, John kept everything in perspective and remained humble.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God.” Never forget that you are an ambassador for Christ wherever you go. Your job as Christ’s representative is to reconcile, or reconnect, people with God. You must remain connected to Him though as you reach out to others. Pray each day that God would open your eyes to see people who need help connecting with Him. Ask Him to give you boldness and courage to reach out and to know what to say. It’s also good to ask Him to help you stay humble as John the Baptist was. When we have this mindset and are grounded in prayer, God will use us as His ambassadors to help a disconnected world reconcile and connect with Him.

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June 26, 2024 · 5:36 AM

Fighting Insecurity

A few years ago I was sitting at a round table discussion with several other ministers in the Houston area. As they began the introductions, a little voice in my head said, “You don’t belong here!” A few more people introduced themselves and the voice continued, “You aren’t even in the same league as these people.” I sent my wife a text telling her I shouldn’t have come. More introduced themselves and what they were doing and the voice got louder as it got closer to my turn. I’m not an insecure person, but as I sat there, I was as insecure as I’d ever been thinking of how I’m less than everyone else at the table. I began to think of all my disqualifications and my inabilities. Then the voice of the Lord spoke to me reminding me who I am in Him, and I introduced myself.

In Exodus 3-4 Moses was at the burning bush talking to God when God asked him to go back to Egypt and free His people. As the Lord spoke, Moses’ insecurities began to rise in his mind. In verse 10, he replied to God, “I’m a nobody” (GNT). God continued telling him to go, but that voice in Moses’ head got louder. In Genesis 4:1 he told God, “No one will listen to me.” God continued. In verse 10 he reminded God of his limitations and inadequacies, but God insisted. Moses finally listened to God, went to Pharaoh and got the Israelites to be set free from 400 years of slavery. I don’t think the voice ever went away in his head, but over time he learned that it was God at work in him doing the things he did. Success depended on God’s provision rather than his ability.

That voice still speaks to me, and I bet you’ve heard it too reminding you of why you’re incapable of being used by God or accomplishing anything good for Him. Hebrews 13:21 says, “May the God of peace provide you with every good thing you need in order to do his will, and may he, through Jesus Christ, do in us what pleases him. And to Christ be the glory forever and ever! Amen.” The great news is that God will provide you with everything you need to accomplish His will. You just have to let your faith and trust in Him be louder than that voice. He is the God of peace when insecurities rise. He’s the God who supplies you with resources when you have none. It’s a good thing He calls some of the most seemingly unqualified people to do His work because they will give Him the glory for accomplishing it through them despite their inabilities. The next time you feel insecure because of that voice, remember this verse and simply pray, “I’ll do whatever you ask, Lord.”

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June 4, 2024 · 5:42 AM

Minimizing Distractions

Stephen Covey developed and taught his four quadrants model to show how we spend our time. Quadrant one is on things that are urgent and important. It includes pressing problems, crisis and things with deadlines approaching. Quadrant two is on things are important but not urgent. It includes things like personal growth, long term planning and relationship building. Three is on things that are not urgent but important. It includes interruptions, handling other people’s issues and emails. Finally four is on things that are not important and are not urgent. This includes watching TV, social media and down time activities. These are all things we spend time on, but three quadrants are full of distractions while one invests in your future. Quadrant two gives us the greatest impact to our lives, but we spend most of our time in the other three because we’re easily distracted.

We all heard of Samson and how strong he was. From a child, God gave him a set of rules to live by that would set him apart and give him supernatural strength. Over time, he quit living in the area God told him to and started getting distracted. In Judges 14, a woman from an enemy country caught his eye and he wanted to marry her against his parent’s wishes. The Lord used it though. Then he killed a lion which later he ate honey out of going against God’s Laws. In chapter 16 he met Delilah who distracted him and cut off his hair removing his strength. In the end, he prayed and killed more of his enemies on his last day than on all his other days. He was a man whom God could have done so much more with, but he lived a distracted life that minimized the impact he could have had.

In Psalm 119:37 David prayed, “Turn my eyes away from vanity [all those worldly, meaningless things that distract—let Your priorities be mine], And restore me [with renewed energy] in Your ways” (AMP). This is a prayer we all need to pray. Our lives are filled with distractions (some necessary and some unnecessary) that keep us from our purpose. Our eyes and hearts are like Samson’s at times drawing us away from the things God has called us to. We can spend all day doing things, but are simply spinning our tires going nowhere with no impact. We must take time each day to focus on God’s priorities for our life and ask Him for renewed energy like Samson did so we can accomplish all He’s created us to do. Take some time to think about your distractions and then find a way to create some space where you minimize them or remove them from your life so you can spend energy and time on God’s priorities for your future.

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