Tag: mens devotion

New life after fire

Fire is a horrible awful thing that can be scary and devastating at the time.  We hear about homes, and land being destroyed by fires, and it breaks our hearts to see memories and beautiful full-grown trees being wiped out.  When we hear about it our thoughts are that it just doesn’t seem right that it would happen.  But as time passes things you can see that in the places where the fire has been, there is new green that shows through, and new homes are built, and things look fresh and clean and whole again.  In 1 Peter 1:6-7 CSB “ You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials, so that the proven character of your faith – more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire- may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”. 

We each will face trials and times that just seem like we can’t bare them anymore. Sometimes the heart ache may come from close friends or family members, or from our work.  By understanding that if we have committed everything over to God and we are obeying everything He has given us, we can know that this trial is just a time in our lives that is purifying us and what will grow after this fire, will be fresh new and give new life to  us. 

Just like after a forest fire the ground is full of nutrients and new growth can grow, that’s how our lives can be if we press into the trials that we face and we seek God during those hard times.  He can bring new life from the struggle.  Even though the process of the fire is hard, and may devastate us for a time, God can bring healing and new vibrant ideas, and life from it!

Be encouraged friend, if you are facing a trial or a hard place, because through it all you CAN come through it with victory and become stronger.

Thirst has no chance here

As I was writing this devotional, I had struggled with how to start, or what exactly God wanted you, the reader, to get from the scriptures He had given me.  Between talking to my 3-year-old about his fishing skills, and writing, I looked down at my McDonalds cup and on the lid, it said, “Thirst here has no chance”.  This was what I needed to see what exactly God wanted me to get from the scriptures. 

John 2:1-11, tells us about Jesus’s first miracle of his ministry.  Jesus is at the wedding feast and while he was there, he quenched two types of thirst.  The first was the human thirst.  They were out of the wine and Jesus knew that this would embarrass the bride and groom if they had no more wine to serve their guests.  The second thirst that was addressed, was the thirst of the disciples, and their desire to know Jesus more.  The disciples believed in Jesus, but up to this point they had only heard him teach and had fellowshipped with him.  The disciples were just as human as we are and I’m sure in their hearts there was some questions on what exactly the man Jesus was going to do that was different than John the Baptist.  When Jesus turned the water into wine, this miracle was more for the disciples than for anyone else.  From the scriptures we don’t ever see where it was announced that the wine had come from a miracle.  We just read that the disciples, Mary, and the servants were the only ones who knew where it had come from.  Jesus wanted to help strengthen the belief and deepen the commitment of his disciples.

Today, if you thirst for more, know, that thirst has no chance when we go to God and ask for more.  He is willing and waiting to give us more and deepen our commitment and relationship with him.  He tells us in scripture to ask for more wisdom, strength, love, faith and the list goes on and on.  Just as the top of my cup stated thirst here (at Jesus feet) has no chance, if we just will accept and seek God and the Holy Spirit!

God has plans for YOU!

As I’m approaching my last two, 8-week classes to finish my bachelor’s degree, I’m anxious and excited all combined.  Excited to have some time back to put into other things, and anxious about finding a job that I can use my degree with.  I’ve applied and looked for jobs and yet nothing happens.  I’ve been praying about it, and thinking when it is going to happen, and a few days ago I felt God tell me, its not your time, be patient.  I was once again reminded of this when I saw something that said, “Gods got a plan for you”.  It hit me hard that day I read it.  I’m like everyone else I guess, we have heard that, told other people that, yet its sometimes hard to really believe or take in.  That day though when I read it, I knew in my heart that it was true! God does have a plan for each of us.  His plan is much greater and bigger than we could ever dream about. 

There are many scriptures that tell us about Gods plan for our lives.  Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”  Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”.  These are just a few of the promises of God in the Bible that tells us that God has a plan for us. 

Will we still be anxious at times and wonder why Gods plan doesn’t look like ours? Of course! I know that I’ll fall back into the sin of worry at times, but I’ll also be able to look back at that day that God showed me in my heart that he has a plan for me!  It can be the same for you! You can know that God has a plan just for you that he’s working out, and you can take the scriptures and read them and when you do become anxious or worry you can turn back to those scriptures and have a promise to hold onto!

Sweet smell of Praise.

                As I walked out of the daycare, from dropping my youngest son off, a few mornings ago, there was a strong smell that hit my nostrils.  It wasn’t repulsive by any means rather, it was sweet and soft to smell.  It brought my head to attention looking for where it was coming from.  My mind immediately thought, this is like the sweet smell that God has when we praise him.  The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:15, “Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.”  In the end of verse 16 it tells us that praise is one of the sacrifices that please God.   We don’t really think of our praise being a sacrifice, because a sacrifice is something we must give up or surrender.  Lets think for a minute though. After I smelled that beautiful aroma, and the sun was shinning on my back, and my life was “good” at that moment. It was easy for me to praise God at that moment for all he has provided and given to me and my family.  But, when times are harder and there’s rain in the sky, and creditors are pushing in on every side, and sickness is racking the body of my child, is it as easy to praise him? NO! I must CHOOSE and surrender my personal human feelings at that moment and praise God.  I have personally been guilty of being able to sing his praises when the times are so easy and things look so good, but when things get harder it’s a conscious choice I must make, to look for things to praise Him for.

Today, no matter what place your in, your praises to God, whether in song or prayer, are a sweet smell to your savior.  What better way to please him then to give him praise today!  I choose to be a sweet smell rather than a repulsive smell of grumbling and complaining!

Just walk

Over the past few weeks my husband and I, have been trying to make some big decisions in our lives. I’ve prayed and prayed to have direction from God to know what way to go. I have found myself to be so worried that we will make the wrong decision that we just don’t make any decision at all. Last week I was praying and begging God to give us some answers and I felt like God told me that we must just walk. We can’t just stop all together, and just wait for him to show us something. He wants us to continue walking and he will close doors. We as Christians must knock on the door and its his job to open it or leave it closed. The peace that came from knowing that He loves us enough that if we are truly seeking his will that he wont open a door or let us take a path that would be contrary to his will.

In Isaiah 66 we read that the Lord says he will bless those who have humble hearts. In Isaiah 65:24 says “I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!” I find great comfort knowing that if we are walking in his will and seeking his heart that he will not let us go in the wrong direction.

So, this week if your facing decisions and seeking God for direction, know that we must keep walking and that our job is to knock on the door and its his job to open or keep it closed. We must not fight the urge to just sit and wait, but we must keep pressing on. Continue doing what he has called you to do until he gives you your next assignment!

HE has given us Victory!

As I reflect about Easter and all it means to us as Christians, I couldn’t help but think about the one day that is pretty much silent. Saturday there is not much said about it in the Bible, we know that it was their Sabbath so they were not able to do much at all on that day and maybe that’s why there is not anything mentioned. What we do know is in those silent days when Jesus’s friends, family, and followers were struggling with the feelings of fear, abandonment, loss, and all the other emotions that come from things not going how we picture, Jesus defeated all those things in His death and resurrection.

We think how Jesus defeated our sin on the cross and I’m so very glad He did just that, but He took it a step farther for us. He also defeated, fear, and hurt, bondage to insecurities, feelings of abandonment and loss. Jesus took all of those on him that day and when he rose he came up with glory and power over those things. He promised to send his Holy Spirit to comfort us in those times. It excites me that Easter is not just a onetime thing but that it lives on each day in ALL of our lives. Jesus was and still is the victor over everything that we face. Just like the day we asked Him to forgive us of our sin and we brought those things to the cross, we must bring to the cross the things we carry each day and let him take it from us and give us that same victory of resurrection through Him!

If you have never asked Christ into your life then today is the day! Christian, if you’re struggling with things in your life that you can’t seem to overcome, reach out to another Christian to pray for you today! Jesus conjured it all for us we just have to accept it!

Revelation 1:18 2 Corinthians 5:5

Palm Sunday

As Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, on what we now call Palm Sunday, the people were shouting His praises. They were calling Him their King. They laid down robes and palm leaves onto the ground for His young donkey to walk on. The Jewish people were looking for a mighty earthly king to deliver them from the Roman Empire that suppressed them. They thought Jesus was that King and they were shouting His praise.

But, that’s not the kind of king that Jesus was. Jesus showed up differently than they had imagined. Very often Jesus shows up in a different way then what we had planned and we become disappointed. We have it all planned out how Jesus should show up in our lives and when he doesn’t, its hard for us to understand. We think he needs to come in a big miracle, or flashing lights, but maybe, he’s going to show up in a small voice, a word from a friend or in a quiet moment alone with him. We must look for Jesus in the small things and in the quiet moments. As we celebrate Palm Sunday remember that Jesus doesn’t always show up like we think or want him to, but he will show up!

Matthew 21:6-11 The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt and he sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession and the people all around him were shouting.

“Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!”

The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked. And the crowds replied, “its Jesus, the prophet form Nazareth in Galilee”.

A root or vase Christian?

Recently I was given a long stem red rose. It was beautiful and healthy looking. It had one of those neat little things on the end of the stem that held water so that the rose would have water to stay looking healthy on it. By the time I returned home to be able to place the rose in a vase of water, it had used all of its available water and was starting to hang it’s head from the lack of water. I carefully removed the water valve, and place the rose into the vase full of water. Over the next few hours the rose started to bring its head up and look beautiful and healthy again. About four days later my middle son was sitting eating his breakfast and he commented, mom your rose is dying. I replied yes, it is. Of course he wanted to know why was it dying when it was still had plenty of water to pull from. I explained to him that since the rose did not have roots anymore that were pulling nutrients from the soil that it would eventually die. That’s when God spoke to me. He showed me in that rose that we can keep get those vases of water that help bring our weary heads up when we are spiritually drained but its roots in Him that will keep us alive.

We have all been guilty of going from one event to another looking for that vase of water. Sunday morning service, to Sunday morning service, revival to retreats. You know what I’m talking about and the time in between we don’t really do anything we start to droop. We neglect our bible reading, our prayer time, and we stop being intentional to share Gods love with others. We become vase Christians.

What does it look like to get those roots dug in and not just be a vase Christian? It looks like each day finding time to not only read Gods word, but to meditate on it and ask God how it applies to your life. It looks like praying and then being silent while you wait for God to speak to you. Many times we get in such a hurry to just give our burdens to God that we forget that maybe he has an answer to our burdens but we don’t hush long enough to hear it. Being a Christian with roots also means looking for ways that you can show Gods love to those around us. Something as simple as a smile to the mother of a wild toddler in the store can go a long way. God wants us to become root Christians and not just a vase Christian.

Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

I was born this way!

“I was born this way”, “its in my genes”, how many times have we heard this from someone? It could be after they were extremely angry, or while they were in the midst of worrying. We all at some point have blamed our behavior on our history. Our blood, or our genealogy. Anger, worry, addiction, laziness, feeling your better than others, or even selfishness are all characteristic that people refuse to take responsibility for in their lives. In Matthew 1:1-17 we read a list of individuals that had many of these same characteristics. Abraham was a worrier. He worried that he would never have the son God had promised him. Abraham felt that God was running behind on that promise. Abraham worried that God had forgotten him. We see in this list of names Jacob. Jacob saw his brother, his twin brother, no less in a frail and venerable state and took advantage of him. Jacob took the opportunity when his brother felt like he was about to die of hunger to make him promise his first-born status to him. Jacob was sneaky and a liar. He covered himself in the fur of goats and went to his father to get his brothers blessings before his father Issacs died. Jacob lied to his own father. Rahab, the prostitute. She was known in the city as someone that had more than her share of visitors. She was well known for being a woman of many men. King David committed idolatry with one of his friend’s wives and then arranged for his friend to be killed so that he could cover it up.

We can look at our own ancestry and find people that fall into these same categories or something similar. We all have something in our family closet we don’t want reviled, but does that determine who we are? Does our last name or our genealogy or family status get to decide who we are as an individual? The list of men and women that we just looked at seems like an overwhelming list of people that made wrong choices and had bad habits, yet, this is the family tree of the Son of God, Jesus. The perfect one had ancestors that were far from perfect. There can be a break in the cures of generations. We have the choice no matter what you may have done in the past or what awful genes your parents handed down to you can break the generational curse. It takes determination and seeking Gods will for our lives to do it, but it can be done. Its not an over night thing for us. We may have to find an accountability partner that can help keep us grounded in Gods word and prayer. It may mean asking forgiveness from our families for the anger, and short temper we have had with them, but it is worth it. Sometimes it even means finding new friends who have went through the same braking of bonds that we are going through and gaining advice from them. There are many different opportunities to break that generational curse, but the biggest one is recognizing that it can be done

Who or What is your Cornerstone?

When building a building the builders will first decided where they are going to start the foundation. Once they have dug out the area for the foundation to be laid, they then will place what is called the cornerstone. This part of the building is important to the overall stability of the home or building that is being built. This cornerstone will not only be the starting point for the rest of the foundation but, it also is a reference for the rest of the foundation that is going to be laid. IF the cornerstone is not square or is off by just a little bit then the rest of the foundation will not be square. One time we were doing a home project and trying to lay some tile in a bathroom, and I can remember how important it was to get the first row of tile square and straight because even if it was off just a little to begin with by the time you got to the end of the room the amount it was off would be dramatic. What started as just a little off would soon become off by a large degree.

We know that the Bible tells us that Christ is to be our cornerstone. By making Him the starting point of our foundation then the rest of our lives will fall into place. We can see examples of this thorough out the Bible and in our own personal lives. Let me be real here really quick, I can personally look back to times where I had placed other things or people into the position of cornerstone and I saw my life take a direction I never thought it would take. I had no peace, I was constantly searching for the next best thing in life and I couldn’t feel the presence of God in my life. I had taken Christ out of my foundation and I saw results I was not happy with. The exciting thing about this foundation is that you can change the cornerstone out. When we decide that we no longer want to try to do things on our own and we want to see what Christ truly has for us then we can ask God to take his position as cornerstone in our lives and oh the changes that will come. I have now seen in my life where I’ve changed who is my cornerstone and I’ve put Christ first that my foundation is stronger and straighter. Will you still have to bear some of the consequences of not having Christ as your cornerstone before, yes probably so, but God can use those situations as a witness for Him. He can take the times when your cornerstone was not Him and use it to bring others to Himself.

If you your reading this and you are looking at your life and you’re wondering how things will ever get better or feel like you are alone, know that you can change out that cornerstone in your life and that God can and wants to work miracles in your life. God has a plan for each and every person, He is just waiting for you to make that choice to turn to him and ask him to be the cornerstone of your life so that he can be the foundation that can give you stability and will also be the example that the rest of your life can align with. Its through the love of God that He gives this to us and all he asks in return is obedience to Him.

Ephesians 2:20-22
Acts 4:10-12