Tag: mens devotion

Decisions, decisions

We face decisions every day of our lives. Some decisions are unconscious decisions, things like taking the same route home each day or having the same routine each evening preparing for bed. There are other decisions that we make that are conscious and can have bigger effect on our lives. These decisions can change the whole course of your life. In Joel 3:14 he says, “Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision”. I envision large mountains reaching towards the sky on all four sides. The mountains are rocky and rugged, and there is snow on the peaks of the mountains. At the base of these mountains are the green grasses of the valley. It stretches for miles and miles. Within this valley are people everywhere waiting, some may be looking up at the mountain, others may be resting on the floor of the valley but they all have one thing in common they are waiting. The are waiting there to make decisions. Decisions that will affect them, their families, and those around them for the rest of their lives.

The decision they are waiting to make could be to confess their sins and live for Christ, or to continue their own way. The decision could be to step out in faith on what God has called us to do or to reconcile relationships with people we have become estranged to. Our decision could be giving our marriage one more try, turning from an addiction that has controlled our lives for so very long, or to strive to be a better parent. Whatever your decision, if we step out and choose Gods way Joel tells of the great blessing we will have! Those same mountains that seem so tall and luminous while were in the valley will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, water will fill our empty streambeds, fountains will burst forth and water the valleys! Our ministries will over flow so that they drip on all who are around us, our marriages will be restored and made strong, our God given dreams will be fulfilled, and our friendships will flourish. We will be so filled with the spirit that we will splash Gods love on anyone we meet. He has promised that if we choose to follow him he WILL bless us! But, if we choose not to we will be like Egypt and Edom, a wasteland, a wilderness, attacked and killed. I choose to become blessed not cursed! I chose to make the conscious decision to follow Christ each day until it becomes an unconscious habit. What do you choose today? Joel 3:14-19

Rest

Rest is one of the hardest things for me to do. Even if my body is not in motion, my mind is constantly moving. I find it hard to sit and enjoy a time of rest because, I’m always thinking of the next thing. During vacation, I’m thinking about planning the next one. Raise your hand if you understand what I’m talking about. Now some of you are more like my husband I’m sure, who’s mind can turn off and you’re able to enjoy the moment of rest, there are times I wish I could do this, (just to be honest).

We see in scripture that God calls us to rest. Matthew 11:28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly”(msg). He understood that some of us just wear ourselves down and are always trying to be a step ahead of a situation to the point we are tired. Jesus says to STOP, and spend time with Him, and He will give us the rest we are desiring. What’s interesting is the next part of the verse. He says hey, here’s an idea, why don’t you partner with me in all your busyness, and walk beside Me, and let Me carry part of that load. So, when it comes time to rest, you are not so weary. When we partner with Jesus and lean into Him, He will give us a refreshing rest that we never could imagine. It will free us, to do things we never thought we would have the energy to do. But, we must choose to become joint with Him and let Him choose what load to give us and we not try to pick up what He hasn’t called us to carry.

I love this translation how it says that He won’t’ lay anything on us that’s heavy or ill fitting! Wow. If we truly long for rest in our lives, we won’t say “yes” to just anything. We will seek His guidance in what He wants us to do. We so often say yes because we feel that there is no one else who will, or can do a task, and yet, it doesn’t really fit us. We then find ourselves tired and worn out because we have chosen our own burden. This week lets evaluate our lives, and what our burden is, and ask God to show us what things He has given us and which ones we have put on ourselves. Then we must choose to accept the rest that we all need and that He wants for us!

Leaning Is a choice

The young man leans into the young girl to plant a kiss on her cheek. The angry wife leans into her husband to let him know just how she feels. A child leans into their parent to find comfort. We lean into a heavy object to watch it move. Leaning is a conscious act of movement that a person must do. When we lean into to something we not only choose to do so, but we expect a response in return.

Just like the young man when he leans towards the young girl, she responds by unconsciously leaning back towards him. It’s a natural instinct to respond this way. When the child that is suffering because of hurt leans into their parent, the parent leans down, and comforts the child. Just like our heavenly Father will. Jesus’ wants and desires us to lean into Him. He wants our first reaction when we have anger, hurt, love and so many more emotions, to lean into His arms that are always stretched out for us. Just like our natural instinct is to lean in response to those who lean into us, so is Jesus’ He will respond by leaning down and holding us in the place that we are at. We don’t have to feel we can only bring certain things to Jesus, He wants us to bring it all to Him.

It’s so easy when things happen in our lives to turn to our friends and family, and find comfort, or encouragement from them, but we must first learn to lean into or best friend, Jesus. This past week I’ve learned that its not easy, or natural, for me to automatically go to My Savior each time. The song that keeps coming to mind by John Stallings says, “learning to lean, learning to lean, I’m learning to lean on Jesus. Finding more power than I ever dreamed. I’m learning to lean on Jesus”.

That’s the awesome thing with Jesus, as we practice daily leaning on Him, He gives us the strength each day to get through things we never thought possible, touch lives for Him that no one else could have ever touched. It’s through that practice of leaning on Jesus that we can see mountains moved, and souls saved! Just like when we lean into a heavy object we expect movement, we can also expect movement from Jesus when we lean into Him. This week, when things seem to flood into your life, stop, and cry out to Jesus and lean into Him through prayer and reading our Bible and I Promise that he will lean back into you and you will see movement in the situation. Just like the parent that gets down on their knees to comfort the child, that will be Jesus. He will lean into our lives amongst all the mess, and heartache, and joy, and He will comfort, clean us up, and rejoice with us. Our only job is to LEAN.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 40:1 I put all my hope in the Lord. He leaned down to me; He listened to my cry for help (CSB). 

Obedience in the little things

We all like to be noticed, right? We want to be asked to do a job that is big and important. Something that will be noticed when we get done. Many people like to be in the spotlight so that when they do something it is noticed. Our human nature wants to feel important, appreciated, and needed.

Yet, although it’s good to recognize people, and let them know they have done a great job, sometimes God is going to call us to do the ordinary so that we don’t get the glory, but that God does. The man Naaman who had a skin disease, called leprosy, had a problem that many of us have. He wanted to do anything that would make him look better, stronger, or tougher but it was harder for him to do an ordinary thing, so God could do the extraordinary. We see that Naaman came to the prophet Elisha because, he had been told by his wife’s servant girl, that Elisha could heal him of his leprosy. Now remember Naaman was a man that had worked his way up in the ranks of the army. He had strips on his uniform and was well known for his leadership skills. He was a man that could be depended on yet, he had an annoying thing about him that he was ready to get rid of and that was his skin issue. So, when he heard that there was this guy that could make it go away, he was going! He took a bunch of gold, and gifts, and headed out with one of his officers. When Naaman finally made it to Elisha’s house, Naaman expected this man to come running out and just heal him. But, to Naaman’s surprise the man Elisha didn’t even come out of the house! He sent his servant to talk to Naaman. Naaman the man that was a high-ranking official felt slighted because a servant came to talk to him and then, to make things even worse, all the servant told him was to go and wash in the muddy Jordan river seven times. Naaman was so mad he stomped away and pouted. Naaman was headed home, he figured he could go to a river near to him and get the same results that bathing in the Jordan river could do for him. It was the words of his wise officer that stopped him. He said Naaman, if Elisha had asked you to do some great thing you would have done it. Why not humble down and just try. I can see his officer now saying look, were out here in the middle of nowhere, no one can see us, if it doesn’t work then what happens at the Jordan, stays at the Jordan. So, Naaman agrees, he immersed himself seven times and on that seventh time he came up healed!

How many times has God asked us to wash in the muddy Jordan, yet we rebel because its not what we want to hear, the word God gave us came from a place or person we didn’t want to hear it from. Or maybe we don’t do it because its NOT where everyone can see, that we did it. As a Christian were told that we must decrease so God can increase. It’s not till we take ourselves out of the spotlight and agree to let God use us in the small things, and in the quiet ways that we will be able to see God move in the BIG ways! Take a moment to reflect and ask God what is it that He has been trying to get you to do that you have let your pride of being noticed get in the way. And, ask God to help you step aside so he can step up!

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease. (CSB)
Mark 9:35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all”. (CSB)

Identity

As a young girl every summer I would go to a church camp and spend the week there. When I was a pre-teen and growing up if someone would ask me who I was, I would just tell them my name and they would have no clue who I was, but if I would say I’m so and so’s daughter, ahh then a light bulb would come on and everyone knew who I was. As I got older and went on to Bible Collage people started to know me with out me mentioning my parents because I started to develop an identity of my own. We all have been known for either who we used to be, or who we associate with. Even in the Bible the great men of God were identified this way.

In 2 Kings 2, Elisha had just watched his beloved leader Elijah be taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire. The one thing that Elisha requested from Elijah was to have twice the amount of God’s blessing on his life that Elijah had. When Elijah was taken away, Elisha picked up Elijah’s coat and took it with him. When he came to the river, they had crossed earlier, Elisha called out to God and asked for Him to show Himself to him. The waters of the river split, and Elisha passed back through on dry ground again, just as he and Elijah had done earlier. The people that were watching were impressed and spoke about how God was now with Elisha. Then, the very next chapter, in 2 Kings, the Israelites were going to war against another country and the kings were asking to speak to a prophet. One of the soldiers said, hey there’s a guy with us that used to be the right-hand man for Elijah, maybe he could help. Let’s stop here and think about this. Elisha had just been blessed with double the blessing of Elijah, and he had just split the waters of the river, yet, he was still known as just the “right-hand man of Elijah”. Elisha’s identity was still on who he used to be.

We are so often known by our past, and when we become a Christian it may take some time for our friends and family to see that were different. They may still see us as the sinner we used to be that was out every Friday night, or the mother that was always short tempered with her children, or the husband that didn’t care for his wife like the bible instructs him to. We all have a past that can be hard to separate ourselves from. To change how people see us takes time and walking close to God and listening to His voice. As time starts to pass people will start to forget the man or women you used to be, and you will be known for who you are now.

Although we want to be remembered and recognized for the person God has changed us into we must also remember that what we did in the past good or bad, is what we can use as a testimony to see lives changed. Elisha’s past of always being close to Elijah, helped train him to be able to accept the double blessing from God. Without his past he would never have been ready for that. We can look at Saul, who had a terrible past, he was a murderer, a leader of a terrorist group. His whole purpose in life was to kill the Christians. But, one day he meets Jesus and he was soon a changed man. Saul even changed his name to Paul and it took some time for people to no longer see him as the evil man he was. Every time Paul got the chance to give his testimony, he would tell of his awful past and then tell of how God had changed him.

Today remember that no matter your past, or what you have done, you can change how people view you and how they recognize you. Also remember that your past no matter what it is, is also your testimony because it is that past that can witness to people to show them that there is a way out of the situation they are in. This week I challenge you to share your salvation story with someone, it may change their life! You can share how God uses you in the comments below.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! (CSB).

God of more than enough!

There was once a woman whose husband had died and left her with two sons. Times were rough, and she did all she could to care for her sons, but her husband had accumulated debt before he had died, and she was struggling. It was so bad the creditors were fixing to repo somethings. There was a preacher in her town that she decided to go visit and discuss what was going on in her life. So, she went and explained to this preacher all about her debt and the struggles she was facing. The preacher asked her if she had anything left in her home. She told him all she had was some oil. The preacher instructed her to go home, borrow as many jars as she could from her family and neighbors. He then told her to take the containers into their house and start to pour the oil that she had into the empty containers. The widow didn’t ask the preacher questions she just acted on what he told her. So, as she poured, and poured, and poured her little oil filled every empty container that she had borrowed. It was so much oil that she was able to sell it, pay off her debt, and have left overs to live on. You may have guessed by now were talking about the widow that Elisha was able to minister to. We have heard this story many times in Sunday school yet how often do we really pay attention to what this means for us?

Over and over we find where God shows up with not just enough but with overflowing answers to prayer. The five fish and two loaves were more than enough to feed the five thousand, they had left overs. The water that was changed into wine was more than enough to get through the rest of the wedding and it was better than they had before God showed up.

We are so scared to ask God for abundance when over and over He has shown in scripture that He’s a God of more than just enough! He wants to bless us so big that we have leftovers to share.

I think of our marriages, and how He wants our marriage to be more than just mediocre, but its His will that it be overflowing and abundant. He wants our lives to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that we aren’t just Sunday morning church goers but that we are overflowing. The ultimate overflowing that I’m reminded of is Gods promise of salvation. He says he doesn’t just forgive for sinning against him but that he has removed them as far as the east is from the west!

No matter what you are facing have the faith to pray for abundance so that you can have more than enough to show others how to find Jesus!

Psalm 103:10-13 He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him. As far as the ease is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him (CSB)

Diligence in the small things.

I was extremely tired a few nights ago and all I wanted to do was sit, not think, move, or even speak. I don’t know if I’m the only one that has ever been like that, but I was tired. The list of things I had done that day was long, just like everyone else’s. On this evening M. (our three-year-old), seemed to have more energy than normal. He wanted my attention, and he was doing anything in his power to get it. He wanted me to play baseball, basketball, and go fish. My first thought was, I can’t wait till he is old enough to just play on his own, and I can go back to my lazy evenings at home. Then the Lord reminded me how lonely that can be, and how precious it is to hear his little voice and watch his imagination as he plays. God reminded me that M. would soon be as big as our two older ones and you only see them out of their room when it’s time to eat. I think we have all been guilty of saying “I can’t wait till…” (you fill in the blank). We seem to always be looking for the next big thing, the next big excitement in our lives, or the next holiday. We want to rush past the hard parts in our lives and just get to the good spots, the easy places, or the non-eventful times in our lives. But, is that what we are really called to do? Is that the way God wants us to live our lives? I don’t think so.

In the book of Acts, we read of Paul and his journey, and missions trips. The thing that stood out to me in Acts 20, Paul is meeting with the elders from Ephesus. He was talking to them and telling them that he was going to be going on to Jerusalem, and that he would not be seeing them again, because he knew he would die before he would see them again. Paul was pouring out his heart to these men and giving them some advice to carry them through the hard times that Paul knew they would face. As I read this I think that Paul had taken his time in the previous years during his time as a missionary, to train these elders to be the men and leaders that he knew they could be, because, Paul knew that he would not always be there to help them in their church. Paul was faithful in those everyday situations so that when he was not there he would know that those men could handle it.

Are we faithful in the everyday things so that when its our time to go to our next mission, appointment, job, etc., we can have the confidences that what we are leaving behind is grounded and strong. This challenges me to evaluate, am I training my boys in the small things everyday so that when I’m no longer with them all the time they make those right choices? The place that God has you right now, are you doing the best you can, or are you just getting by till something bigger comes along. My challenge this week is to thrive where you are now so when the time comes to move to the next stage of your life, you can be proud of what you have left behind! Like Paul you can know that what you are leaving behind is better then it was when you found it!

Acts 20:31-32 “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears. And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you and inheritance among all who are sanctified.” (CSB)

What is in a Name?

I had struggled for days seeking God and reading scripture attempting to find the right words that I needed to write this week that would speak to the hurting heart, the lost soul, or the tired parent. As I was driving the song by Hillsong “What A Beautiful Name” started to play. I couldn’t help but cry as I thought of all the times we take that precious name for granted His Name JESUS. A name that belonged to a heavenly king that became man, so He could feel the same pain we feel. So that He could bridge the division that was between man and the God that had so lovingly created us. The man named Jesus, that felt the sting of betrayal from one of His best friends as His friend kissed His cheek in a symbol of death. The man that listened as His own people told lies about Him and yet stood silent and never refuted anything they said. This was also the Man that reached down into the dust and made clay and touched the eyes of the blind and his sight was restored. The same man who spoke the words “Lazarus come forth” and Lazarus walked out of the grave! This same name we see in Acts 4:29-31 where the disciples were spreading the gospel and they were asking for courage to continue in their mission. They prayed “And now, O Lord hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus”. After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were filled with the Holy Spirt then they preached the word of God with boldness.” (LAB) WE have the privilege and honor to also be able to know that when we call out to Jesus that his name can split the darkness that we have around us. WE can see the power of God when we pray in Jesus name! WE can see families restored, lives changed and revival in our hearts, families, and church.

I have watched as satin has had to flee because of the power of that name. I have prayed that name over the door frame of my home, and over the beds of my children. I have prayed healing over my babies as they were sick, and I’ve seen mighty things happen because of the name of JESUS. If we can just soak up the thought and understand that He loves us more than anything. No matter where we have been, what we have done, Jesus took our penalty and He is just waiting for us to call to Him. WE can see mighty things happen if we will just call out to Him. I encourage you this week, seek Him in prayer. Pray over your family, your church, and your problems and watch what He can do! John 14:12-14 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (LAB)

His mercy is new!

The past few mornings as I have let our 8-pound ball of brown fur out, to do his morning routine, I’ve been met by the sounds of birds chirping and warmer air touching my skin. The thing that draws my eyes and makes me to pull my phone out to take photos, is the sun as it pushes its way back up over the mountain. At the time I’m looking at it the sun has not quite made its way to its fullness, but its trying. Its pushing the yellows, reds, and oranges across the January Tennessee sky. The darkness that proceeded it is scurrying to the corners trying to hold on for just that one last minute but its failing miserable. As I look at the sights, hear the sound, and feel the air the scripture that keeps coming to my mind is found in Lamentations 3:21-23 “Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: because of the Lords faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” (CSB)

Ahh the promise that each morning His mercy is new, and He has promised to be faithful to us, and His love does no perish. Have you ever noticed that when there are trials in your life that as you go throughout your day you are able to push the thoughts of worry aside and not dwell on them as much? You occupy you mind with cleaning house, your job, helping the kids with homework, or watching the ball game on TV. But, as the night approaches all the thoughts you were able to keep at bay during the day now floods your mind along with magnified thoughts of disaster or disappointment. Now I know I can’t be the only one that has laid my head down in bed and struggle to fall asleep due to the thoughts I’ve let creep into my mind. We may feel like we have failed in so many areas, things like raising our children, keeping our marriage fresh or just even keeping our marriage together. Let me stop and say, to be honest maybe your have failed, maybe you didn’t raise your children the way you really should have, maybe you did walk out on your family, or maybe you have an addiction or maybe you are the problem at work, but guess what, Gods mercy is new EVERY morning. No matter where you are in your life, if you’re in that dark place right now, know that just as the sun sets every night and leaves your part of the earth engulfed in darkness, within just a few hours the sun will be pushing back through that darkness and bringing you morning.

If we go back into the first two chapters of Lamentations we see that Jeremiah is talking to God about Jerusalem whom were part of God’s chosen people. They had turned their back on God and God had let them be taken in to captivity by the Babylonians. He had allowed some hard times to come on the people of Jerusalem and let them face some things that were not pleasant for them. We read how that no matter all the trials that Jeremiah reaches for the promises of God. He says “Yet, I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope!”

I want to encourage you to know that if you’re on the top of the mountain right now that is GREAT, but there’s someone who is not, and God wants you to know that His mercies don’t end, and He is faithful and all He wants is for you to seek Him out. Verse 25 said “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him” (CSB, Lamentations 3:25). Take time to seek God out and He will bring the Son rise that you need in your life.