Devotionals

July 18, 2018

Psalm 23:1-4 New Living Translation

Early Tuesday morning, we received a call from our daughter-in-love, Whitney, that our son, Jimmy, was quite ill so she was taking him to the emergency room.  Prayers for Jimmy began and by the time John and I got to the hospital, he was being assessed by an amazing medical team. The Lord was with us; we were comforted by God’s love.  Jimmy needed fluids, medication, and rest; even though he still had symptoms he would be able to go home within hours.  Yet, there was another young man the same age as our son who was brought into the exam room next to us and he had a very different story.  Sadly, he overdosed on IV drug use and died alone.

The Lord promises to lead us along right paths for our lives; however, that promise must be connected to a seeking and surrendered heart.  The paths to which the Lord leads us are never self-destructive; living in a self-destructive way does not bring honor to the name of the Lord.  The Lord always seeks to lead his human children away from those kinds of temptations; the enemy tries to rob, kill, and destroy us, but the Lord protects.  I continue to pray for the loved ones of this deceased young man. May every person struggling with this type of battle open his or her eyes to see God reaching for them; reaching to lovingly guide them and walk this life with them.  He will lead every willing heart into a life of freedom.  Praise his Holy Name!

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July 17, 2018

Psalm 23:1-2 New Living Translation

Emotions are gifts from God; he has brought great things into our lives.  We jubilantly praise him for our blessings.  We love the emotions that manifest in positive energy and leave us feeling joy-filled, but what about the times when we suffer loss, disappointment, and struggle to find our way? Is the Lord our Shepherd then?  Can we seek to connect with him and allow him to lead us into the spiritual supply of peace we desperately need?  

If we are in a time when our emotions are all over the place, it is best to pause and remember the Lord’s faithfulness to us in the past.  Think back to times when you have experienced loss, disappointment, or doubt; did the Lord bring you through those times in the past?  Did he bring you rest and in time lead you into peace? I am confident he did, because He is the Good Shepherd and he really is all we need.  

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July 13, 2018

Colossians 4:2-4 The Message (MSG)

Paul teaches the spiritual family at the Church of Colosse, as well as believers everywhere, to pray with spiritual diligence.  Pray with gratitude.  Pray for open doors to share the gospel.  Pray for effectiveness.  Pray.  Why?  It is God’s will that we pray; it’s a responsibility and a privilege.  Because when we pray we are revealing our confidence and dependence upon God as the exalted Ruler of our lives.

Paul offers these instructions to help the spiritual family further understand their divine connection to God and to one another.  Prayers are words that open spiritual doors in order to receive wise guidance and answers; we offer up our desires to God. The enemy tempts us to become weary in praying especially when circumstances do not change.  Or, perhaps you have prayed in hope believing for a situation to go in a specific direction and it did not.  Even then our response should be to continue to thank God for the privilege of bringing our requests to him knowing he will answer them as He sees is best.  God sees things from a higher perspective and we are invited to connect with him in it through prayer.

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July 12, 2018

Colossians 2:1-5 Living Bible (TLB)

Whether or not we are aware of it, humanity is on a quest for the Truth; God has ordained it.  Like the struggles of our culture today, the Apostle Paul was praying for the early Church to learn the difference between the truth and the rising false doctrines (beliefs) of humanity.  Gnosticism was trying to deceive the Church by claiming: 1) God only imparted spiritual secrets or revelations to certain people; 2) the human body was evil; and 3) Christ was not really human and only seemed human.  

In Paul’s letter, he reassures the people of God every one of those things is made complete through a personal relationship with Christ; Yeshua (Jesus) is the Source.  Christ holds the great mysteries and secrets since the creation of time and he lives in the core of every seeking and surrendered human being.  Christ himself lived in a human body, so the body is not evil; obviously, the human soul (mind/will/emotions) needs transformation through the divine touch of God.  Lastly, Christ was fully divine and fully human. The love of Jesus Christ brought the divine and the human spirits together.  In Christ, we are invited to be made in his image.  The more we listen and follow Christ into every life situation, the more love and blessing we actually stand to inherit or invite into our lives.  Everything belongs to Christ; he offers us the assurance of his love and provision for every human lifetime.  Have you given everything in your life to him so you may know with real certainty and clear understanding the depths of God’s love for you?  That is the pure Christian journey; the Truth of life in Christ. 

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July 11, 2018

John 7:1-11 The Message (MSG)

Embarrassment is an awkward and sometimes uncomfortable feeling, isn’t it?  It can be associated with our personal actions or with the verbalizations and actions of those whom we care about; people with whom we have relationship.  Let’s be real; some people have a way of placing us in socially awkward situations.  How good are you at masking your feelings when you find yourself put in a situation that embarrasses you? Do you try to pretend that you are not bothered by skirting the issue or redirecting the attention? 

In our lesson today, Jesus’ brothers are embarrassed by him, so they try to push him into making more public displays in order to draw attention away from themselves (family) and onto “that man” Jesus.  Yet, Jesus does not allow himself to be pushed to do things in his own strength.  He speaks the truth about his ability and mission to expose evil pretending to be righteous; hypocrisy.

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July 10, 2018

James 5:7-12 New Living Translation (NLT)

God always seems to help me love and deal with all kinds of people.  I encounter so many different personalities each day; so many needs in human lives.  Some days my pray is, “Lord, how can I best love this person into your loving arms?  What do they really need and how can I reveal your presence in the answer?  Whatever I need to say, Lord, give me the words.  Whatever action I need to take, Lord, guide my thoughts, arms, and feet.”  Christ is returning for his Bride and we need to be ready by waiting and living in peace with God and others; this means we must live by the power of grace. 

Our passage the last two days has been focused on loving people; staying the course in the love of Jesus Christ in order to extend mercy and to grow our endurance for handling difficulties.  I still find myself frustrated at times when reaching out to love people who just want a quick fix and not a life change.  So, I have some growing to do and God is bringing me a greater measure of freedom.  I still feel God is wanting to bring a directional change to the lifestyle of the world, but I am only one daughter of millions and my biggest challenge is to face my own Judge with a right heart.  So, as you reach out today to live in the light of Truth with Christ’s Spirit as your Guide, be patient and know that God is helping you grow each time you encounter folks who frustrate you.  He may not be bringing the change in them; his plan for change may be in you.

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July 9, 2018

2 Corinthians 12:2-10 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Apostle Paul consistently instructs the Corinthian church about staying focused on the path of God; to follow Jesus in spite of the hard places and difficult people. In our passage, today, Paul shares about having a very mysterious encounter with God.  It is off the charts amazing, but even with that mountain top experience he continues to face other human challenges.  When we experience difficult times and people, God is still ready to reveal wonderful mysteries about his love and plans for us.  

Paul calls his difficulty a thorn in the flesh.  Many theologians believe that thorn had something to do with getting along with difficult people. Yet, God used the challenge to keep Paul humble and reliant on grace.  Give God your challenges and ask him for an abundance of grace; it’s more than enough to cover every weakness.  

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July 6, 2018

2 Corinthians 10:7-11 Good News Translation (GNT)

Because we are human, we tend to look at this world first through human eyes, but what would happen if we spiritually saw beyond this temporal world to understand the deeper realities of the growing Kingdom in our midst?  As you walk through each day, please focus on the beauty and positive things around you rather than the negative things that try to possess you.  Scripture teaches God is providing good things every moment.  It may look one way with the natural eye, but is really quite different as we look beyond it to the spiritual realm.   We should not deny the presence of evil nor the difficult places we may find ourselves, but in the midst of those things lies a Kingdom and a God seed of grace that is waiting for the Spirit to multiply by our praise and by our actions.  We say we believe these things with our witness, but we must put action to that which we say or it is meaningless to the advancement of the Kingdom and void of the Spirit’s power.

The Apostle Paul continues to write to the church in Corinth; to give them instruction as to what it takes to belong to Christ and the authority that can be accessed from that spiritual connection.  He explains it clearly to those who profess Christ.  He essentially tells the Corinthians and us to put gospel action to our words and we will access the power to manifest the Kingdom.  God gives His children authority when we have chosen to live, move, and have our being each moment in Christ.  That means there is no hypocrisy between what we say we believe (Christ the Living Word) and how we live each day. This is instruction and truth that can easily offend those who want to profess Christ but live according to the world’s standard.  Have a blessed weekend…

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July 5, 2018

1 Corinthians 4:8-13 The Message (MSG)

If you know Jesus, you have direct access to Almighty God.  You don’t need anyone else to be a go-between.  You have more access to God than you realize; more power at your disposal than you could ever imagine. What are you doing with that access?  That power?

The Apostle Paul tells us we have become Messiah’s misfits; we just live differently than most people because we are driven by the powerful love of Messiah.  Paul and his fellow Christians worked endlessly to bring the gospel of Messiah to the attention of others.   Last night we celebrated our independence as a country.  But, each day we should celebrate our independence as people who have chosen to live for Messiah and work to share divine love with others.  Loving this way is counter cultural.  You will be perceived as culturally odd. But, God will smile!

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June 27, 2018

Psalm 30  The Message

Who gets the credit for your life?  You?  Somebody else?  David knew who should get the credit for the good things in his life and who should get the credit for the mess.  When things are going great, please give God praise; ascribe to him the credit.  When things are not going well, draw close to God and call on Him for help.  He has promised to dry our tears and return the joy of our salvation; to turn our grief into “whirling dance!”  Praise God, today!

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