Enjoy The Silence

Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer.  Romans 12: 12

Being a bit active and quite talkative, I always struggle when making a presentation for work and receive little or no interaction from my listening audience.  The same holds true in my prayer life, especially when I am praying with passion and feel that God is not answering me and seems to be a million miles away.   I don’t believe that I am alone in the way that I feel, as many other Christians probably lack some anticipation regarding their prayers being answered.

Our society doesn't help us with being patient in our prayer life as we wait for God to answer us in His perfect timing, either.  Our server was down at work yesterday and you would have thought it was the end of the world because we could neither send nor receive any new emails for an entire afternoon.  The problem was finally resolved and late last night I had almost 30 new emails to read and respond back to.

We are to remain vibrant and faithful in our prayer life.  It is too easy to become discouraged and feel as though God is not listening when all we perceive is silence.  I am thankful for many unanswered prayers that I have petitioned God with and it has certainly helped to mature my faith by leaps and bounds.  We must come to a place of understanding His presence is always with us if we are grow our relationship with Him; in doing so, we will have a deeper relationship with God, despite our prayers not being answered.

Continue to pray and be hopeful even if you are suffering; God is always with you!!

It's A Mistake

Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.  But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.  Romans 8:6

One of the greatest mistakes we can possibly make is allowing ourselves to place overemphasis on one area of our lives at the expense of others.  For instance, if I was to attend every after hours social event on the weekday evenings, I would certainly meet more potential clients and customers, but I would be sacrificing the short window of time that I enjoy spending with my family every night.  Too many people fall into this trap pursuing a successful career and many achieve it, but wonder why things are so bad at home and how everything else go off of balance in the rest of their lives.

Balance means using your time, gifts, and resources to live a life that honors God.  God will never ask us to do something and then short-change us on the time needed to do everything He has called us to do.  When you try to accomplish everything you want to get done, you are often left tired, worn-out and generally unsatisfied.

When you turn control of your life(and your busy schedule) over to the Holy Spirit, He will restore balance again in your life and give you peace, contentment, and satisfaction that you so desperately desire.

Always Something There To Remind Me

You go before me and follow me.  You place your hand of blessing on my head...I can never escape from your Spirit!  I can never get away from your presence! Psalm 139:5-7

The more I am in tune with my surroundings, the more I am aware of God's presence which is always around me.  It could be the majestic beauty from the rays of the morning sun or a cool breeze on a clear night, but God is always around us.

God's Word promises that when we have a relationship with God, His presence is always around us, all the time!  When you believe this promise, you begin to see the events in your life as evidence of His presence in your life.

When you are aware of His presence, you experience His never-ending love for you and receive His many blessings!

Solid

Those who fear the Lord are secure; He will be a refuge for their children.  Proverbs 14:26

Our youngest son, Elijah, had his 2 year wellness visit at the doctor's office last week.  He has been pretty healthy this year, but it was not too long ago that  he was in and out of daycare due to sickness which caused Alicia and I to take time off of work to be at home with him.  Looking back, it was and still is pretty stressful for us to miss work and balance time at home with sick children.  We are all promised difficulties during the course of our journey and the above passage from Proverbs is one to remember during those difficult times…

You see, when you strengthen your faith with the truths of God's Word every new morning, you build a solid foundation that will not easily crack under pressure. 

When the troubles of life come your way, the attacks may come close to knocking you down, but a strong foundation will keep you on your feet because God's truths are eternal.

Stand firm and solid like a rock on a foundation that comes from trusting and fearing God!

Money

God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.  Matthew 5:3

We all have basic needs that need to be met in order to survive: food, water, shelter, and love.  When our needs are met, you are content and satisfied, but when your wants are unmet, we are left discontent and wanting more. 

Don't get me wrong, our wants are not always negative, but sometimes they can lead us astray from what God desires for our lives.  Wants can also lead us to ruin if we become obsessed with pursuing them.

Having our needs met by God shows us His almighty power and provision that teaches us that He is indeed good and trustworthy.  We must learn to trust God and not money and learn to distinguish between our needs and our wants.

Christian author, Max Lucado, said it best..."Those who trust money are foolish.  They are setting themselves up to be duped and dumped into a dystopia of unhappiness.  Have you ever noticed that the word miser is just one letter short of the word misery?"

Don't Change

O Lord, you examine me and know.  You know when I sit down and when I get up; even from far away you understand my motives….Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension; it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.  Psalm 139:1-2, 6

There is just nothing on television this time of the year and unfortunately, my wife and I have been sucked into watching a reality television show that we both consider our ‘guilty pleasure.’  On this show, the men and women are in extremely good shape and are competing to win a substantial amount of money.  After watching this week’s episode, I began to feel a little negative about my personal appearance, despite the substantial amount of exercise I engage in most every day of the week.

If I am feeling this way, I can only imagine how much of the viewing audience feels after watching a show like this.  It’s easy to compare ourselves to what society considers  ‘attractive’ and at the same time, it is also very unhealthy.  God made each one of us in His own image and we are all created uniquely.

We were all paid for by a high price, Christ’s death on the cross, all because of God’s love for each one of us.  We are all designed to be in a relationship with our Father and our whole being belongs to Him.

Any pursuit we follow to look, feel, or perform better will never give us the satisfaction we seek if we do not live in communion with God.  He loves us and created each one of us in His image, so don’t compare yourself to someone else; you will always be precious to Him!

Impossible

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible.”  Matthew 17:20

This week has been very challenging and I have been struggling with some personal trials as of late.  Without divulging too many details, I keep coming back to Jesus’ words in Matthew.  “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible.”

The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds, so it often used to refer to something small in size.  Our faith is not a matter of quantity, but more of quality.  What do we put our faith into?  Is it ourselves or others?  Or, is it in the One that can make a difference?

We do not have to have great faith in God before you can do what seems impossible; just faith in a great God!

Mysterious Ways

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My Ways..." Isaiah 55:8

Have you ever found yourself frustrated with God when you really depended on Him to provide a miracle or blessing and it didn't happen the way you wanted it to?  I would certainly answer "yes" to this question myself, but am also just now beginning to learn and understand God's ways much better than my own, and by no means are they our ways.  That, my friends is a good thing!

Some people do not believe that God actually works miracles at all, while others are convinced that something is wrong with their faith if God is not performing miracles on a daily basis. 

You see, God works in both ordinary and supernatural ways.  God used a pretty ordinary stream to provide the prophet, Elijah, water when he needed it the most.  When the brook ran dry, there was no miracle, it just signaled Elijah to move on to the next thing that God had planned for him.  Think about Jesus' first miracle; He transformed water to wine at a wedding celebration.  Jesus also raised a man from the dead and He Himself rose from the dead after three days.  I don't know about you, but I would label all three as miracles!

It's easy to look at God's bigger works, the miracles, to see His presence. We must also look for His works in the everyday, common events in our lives too.  For He is there and is always opening and closing doors, creating new opportunities, when we are not even aware that He is there!

Would I Lie To You?

Because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises.  These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.  In view of all of this, make every effort to respond to God's promises.  2 Peter 1:4-5

If I had to be perfectly honest about the season I am facing, I would say that I am certainly blessed, but at the same time in a new and uncharted territory that sometimes leaves me doubting myself.  At home, we are certainly blessed, but managing our busy schedules and making time to spend with family and friends is a never-ending challenge.  At work, I am blessed with many opportunities, but things are still difficult with the economy being in such poor shape and the uncertainty that many employers are facing as it pertains to health care reform.

Doubt is okay, and it doesn't necessarily mean that we have less faith, it just means our faith is being challenged in new ways.  When we find ourselves in uncharted territory, we must allow our doubt to move us closer to God instead of further away from Him.

God gives us all many promises and the last time I checked, He has never broken a single one.  We must learn to trust Him instead of doubting Him. 

When we trust, we fall deeper in love with Him and our faith grows even stronger.

Tomorrow

So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.  2 Corinthians 4:18

  

I have the uncanny knack of coming unraveled when I face too much pressure and stress.  I was in such a great mood to start the my day on Tuesday, but by 5pm and following a series of crazy events at work, I pretty much felt defeated by the time the day ended.

God promises us all that the troubles looming in our lives today will not last forever.  So our goal should be on focusing our attention away from our hurt and pain and looking towards the things that will last forever-God's never-ending love, His gift of grace and mercy, and eternity in heaven with Him.

When you fix your eyes on Him, your present troubles will be seen as only temporary because you know that they won't last for long. 

We can live our lives with confidence today because we have a greater hope in God's promises for our lives tomorrow.  

Rock of Ages

Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is always the same, yesterday, today, yes and forever to the ages.  Hebrews 13:8

Think of how many friends and relationships you have had over the course of your lifetime.  Now, think about how much people (yourself included) have changed during the friendships/relationships.  It's human nature that we change; sometimes we change for the better sometimes it's for the worse. 

Now, think of the reasons why you love Jesus.  The obvious answers are that He loves us, or He gave His life for us on the cross to save us from certain peril, or He rose again on the third day.  But what about your daily relationship with Him?  When you look at how constant Jesus is with us, one of the qualities you will appreciate the most is that He never changes.

The reason we can love and trust Him is that He is never changing.  Jesus said "This is the way I was, and this is the way I'm always going to be."

There are not many constant things or people that you can count on any more, but you can always count on Jesus.  He can change anything that needs to be changed in your life, but he will always stay the same!

Let's Stay Together

The Lord rewarded me for doing right.  He has seen my innocence.  To the faithful, you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity, you show integrity.  To the pure, you show yourself pure, but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.  2 Samuel 22:25-27

In December 3rd 2005,  I exchanged vows with my wife, Alicia, to remain faithful and committed to her, and to stay together with her, for better or worse.  There is nothing like faithfulness of another person to build your sense of security in a relationship.  Faithfulness says, “you can count on me and I will never let you down.”

Throughout the Bible, God proves that faithfulness is one of His most fundamental qualities.  There is truly nothing like the faithfulness of God to build your confidence, knowing your security is for an eternity.

Longer

God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect.  2 Samuel 22:33

It’s been over eleven years since I invited Jesus Christ into my life as my personal Lord and Savior.  Through the years, God has given me total assurance that He loves me and is much larger than any problem that I can ever face in my lifetime.  I am able to live with total and complete confidence knowing that He is able to help me in any situation and make the path clear for me with any question that I might have.

This same confidence can be yours if you are willing to accept that He has every available resource in the universe to draw upon to help us through any type of crisis, if we will only trust Him.

He delights in showing me daily that He is the ultimate source of my strength, my protection, provision, and success in life.  He is in control of my life and knows everything that is going to happen to me tomorrow, next week, next year, until my time on this earth is up.

Give up the control in your life and turn it over to the One who loves you and is larger than anything you will face in this life!!

End of the Innocence

For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).  But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).  1 Corinthians 13:9-10

The more I age, the more I realize I simply don’t have all of the answers to life.  This is a far cry from my attitude of being a childish and immature teenager, where I was convinced that I knew everything, much to my parents’ amusement.   I see these same tendencies in our oldest son, who recently turned five this summer.  We have had multiple disagreements about our favorite comic book characters and he doesn’t realize that I just may know a little more than some of the boys in his classroom.  (After all, I have been a comic book nerd for well over thirty years now!)

We must change our attitudes and thinking from believing that we know it all, to trusting God  and living with unanswered questions.

No matter where we are in our walk of faith, God will continue to lead us and in doing so, He requires us to fix our eyes on Him, and follow Him one step at a time.

Hold On To Hope

We have thought of Your steadfast love.  O God, in the midst of Your temple.  Psalm 48:9

There are times that I certainly feel overwhelmed with trying to balance my life-responsibilities at home and at work, obligations with family and friends, and often it’s easy to feel down.  I question if I am being the husband and father that my family needs me to be.  Am I being a good neighbor?  How is my performance at work?  Am I going ‘above and beyond’ to serve as God would have me?  Before I get too far down, I have found that it always seems to help to recall all of the good things that God has done, is doing, and is going to do in my life.

When we ponder the doings of God and the works of His hands, it  is hard to stay down for long.  The enemy will always come against us to make us feel depressed or discouraged, but we must choose to remember the times where God has blessed us and delivered us in the past.

When we focus on His good works, hope will rise in our hearts and our troubles won’t seem too big!  Praise His holy name!

All Things Must Pass

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  Psalm 37:5

In the age of instant ‘everything,’ waiting can be very difficult for me just as I suspect it also is for other people.  Modern technology is both a blessing and a curse.  Don’t get me wrong, I would have a hard time adjusting without all of this modern technology.  I call it a curse, because people expect to always reach you on a wireless device, via email, by texting, at any given time, at any given point, on any given day.   We have grown so accustomed to having everything instantaneously, no wonder it is so hard for us to be patient when God requires a season of waiting in our lives!

It’s in those moments that we are waiting on God to bless us that we must rely on our trust in Him.  When we choose not to trust in God with our needs, we become fearful and anxious.  The Bible is filled with many examples of God’s people remaining faithfully patient and trusting in Him, and no story better illustrates this than the night the disciples encountered a storm on the Sea of Galilee.   Every disciple on that boat thought that they were surely going to die, that was, until they saw Jesus walking on the water towards them.  With a simple command, Jesus silenced the storms and waves to be still.

The disciples learned how to trust Jesus during the worst of times, so while we are patiently waiting on Him to answer our prayers, chances are He is wanting us to reach out to Him and wait for His outstretched arm.

Imagine

The Lord gives His people strength.  The Lord blesses them with peace.  Psalm 29:11

You don’t have to search hard to determine that we live in a broken world.  With the 2012 Summer Olympics concluded, it’s back to business as usual if you turn on the news.  It’s not that everything got better in the world during the Olympic games, it was just enjoyable to see people from all over the world come together, even if it was only for a few fleeting moments.

The above passage from Psalm 29 assures us that true peace can only come from God.  Furthermore, peace with God comes from living the way that God wants his people to live.  Once we are in a relationship with our loving Father, we must choose to live according to the standards he provides us in his Word.

When we follow God’s instructions on how to live, God strengthens us and blesses us with a peace that is only found in Him!

Keeping The Faith

He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might.  No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His unfailing love.  Psalm 147:10-11

As the summer comes to an end, the early part of August always makes me think of two-a-day football practices in the blistering heat of East Alabama.  Most players start the pre-season off competing for a spot as a starter on the team.  During practice, the players give their best effort on the field with hopes that the coaching staff will award them with a coveted position on the team.  As exciting and competitive as this entire process is, I am convinced that God is more impressed with our faith than our actual abilities.

If we want to accomplish great things in this life and delight God in the process, we must be willing to step out in faith and allow God to accomplish great things through us.  Our abilities give us the potential to do good while our faith gives us the power to do good.

Our potential and limited power is not sufficient; we must change our limitations to an unlimited faith in God!!

Right Now

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might.  Ecclesiastes 9:10

I recently read an article written by a former insurance agent who was comparing an athlete to being in insurance sales.  The similarities in excellent performances between the two were astounding.  We all have potential, but like concrete needs something to be poured into before it takes shape, we must also have a prayerfully considered and well-thought plan for ourselves if we want to reach our full potential.

There are too many people I know that are basically unhappy because they aren’t doing anything to develop their full potential.  The reason being is that many of them don’t do anything but complain that they aren’t doing anything.

We can’t wait until everything is perfect before we reach our potential.  If you are waiting on the perfect house, or the perfect job, or perfect city, that day will never come.  We must do something now.  You must give your best effort at whatever it is you are doing now and realize that you have to start at the beginning before you cross the finish line…just like everyone else!

Long Time Gone

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.  So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.  Psalm 46:1-2

  

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this year’s Summer Olympics and will be kind of sad when the games conclude later today.  It has been refreshing to take a break from the regularly scheduled ‘junk’ for the past two weeks and also a nice change of pace not to hear the foolish bickering of politicians and the constant reaffirmation that we live in a broken world, which is evident when watching reality TV or the news for any amount of time.

It is when we recognize that sin has corrupted this world that we are no longer surprised or overwhelmed by all of the troubles you see in the world.  You see, God is greater than any problem or threat that we can ever face in our lifetime. 

We must constantly ask God to stay close to us at all times.  Jesus promises us that we will face certain troubles during our lifetime, but He also promises that to always comfort us and help us when we are afraid.

Again I Say Rejoice

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Philippians 3:8-11

When I read the portions of the Bible that the apostle Paul wrote while imprisoned, it’s hard for me to comprehend.  Despite being locked up in a cell and in chains, Paul was able to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

When facing troubled times, it is not usually a natural instinct for us to focus on Christ.  If you are like me, you focus on your problems and dwell on all that is going wrong in your life-even to the point of becoming anxious and overwhelmed with a sense of defeat in most circumstances.

The heart of a believer should not live in defeat as we must trust that God is in control and that He is good.  We must remain positive, knowing that He will provide for us and comfort us as He never breaks His promises. 

Negative emotions are hard to deal with and can be consuming, but we must learn to seek comfort in the Lord so that we too can rejoice in the Lord always, no matter what hard times we are faced with!    

The Long Run

I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and He is the judge.  John 8:50

It was two years ago today that I wrote and posted the first ‘Daily DEVO' on this “God’s Will; Fisher of men" Blog site. It has truly been a joy and labor of love, both personally and spiritually, and I would like to say a very grateful and humbled “THANK YOU” to all of the folks who read the Daily DEVO.

Some of the entries have been pretty good, and others, not so good, but I hope that along the way, the DEVOtions have been what you needed to read, at a time that you needed to read them.  After all, I try to write about something that is relevant to people in their walks of faith; things that we struggle with, as spouses, as parents, as friends, as siblings, as neighbors, as co-workers, etc.

There are so many Blogs out there, each one different in many aspects and many are focused solely on the glorifying the individual.  I have prayerfully sought God’s will and have attempted to apply His word with my personal life experiences to ultimately glorify Him and not seek glory for myself.

I am convinced that God puts certain people in your life for a reason.  Just like each of His many provisions-He always gives us what we need, just when we need it.  The same holds true for His living and breathing Word; when we seek Him though scripture, He speaks to us and gives us His infinite and Holy wisdom.  When I had my ‘calling’ into the ministry, I would have never imagined in a million years that it would begin in the blogging world, by writing a daily devotional.

It’s inspiring to know that we have had close to 18,000 ‘hits’ over the past two years, and I hope that God will continue to use this Blog to reach more people in the days to come.

Again, I thank you for reading the Daily DEVO and hope you have a blessed day!!

Sunrise

His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning.  Lamentations 3:22-23

I enjoy watching the sun rise in the mornings.  The sunrises are exceptionally beautiful here in East Tennessee.

With every sunrise that I witness, I am reminded that God is the One who meets our needs each and every day.  His supply is never-ending and He always gives us precisely what we need at precisely the time that we need it.  He never gives us stale leftovers; instead we are each given something that’s new and alive.

It’s hard to begin each day without being reminded of His mercy, forgiveness, compassion and love.  On any given morning, the dark night’s sky is pierced by the red and purple rays of the morning sun and the peaceful sounds of living creatures stirring to begin their day.

Regardless of what happened to us the day before, God greets us with open arms so that we can start fresh every morning.

Ant Music

But like a boxer I buffet my body (handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships) and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit (not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit.)  1 Corinthians 9:27

The above verse from Corinthians has always perplexed me, but Paul is referring to self-control, self-denial, controlling urges and subduing our sinful flesh lives.  Unfortunately, many people, myself included have the wrong idea about life-it’s not always supposed to be easy.

Proverbs 6:6-8 talks about the ant, “which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, provides her food in the summer and gathers her supplies in the harvest.”   We need to be more like the ant, who is self-motivated, self-disciplined and self-controlled.

We must do right because it is right, not because someone is always watching us or making us do it.  

What Are Words For?

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature.  But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.  Galatians 6:8

  

Just like a loaded gun, the hurtful words we say to another person can have a lasting effect on someone else's life.  Too often, the words come quickly before we have had a chance to think them through and once they have left our mouths, the damage has been done.  Similarly, the words we say to another person just may lead someone into a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

In both cases, words have consequences.  Sin always leads to negative and deadly consequences, while faithfulness to God always leads to positive consequences and life.

We must focus on doing things that have positive consequences; starting with the words we choose. Let us build others up rather than tearing people down.

Miracles

The joy of the Lord is your strength!  Nehemiah 8:10

  

Two years ago today, Alicia and I welcomed our second son, Elijah Foy Fisher, into this world.  He was born without any complications and seemed to be doing just fine.  Of course, he arrived in the middle of the night and after all was said and done, Alicia and I were simply too exhausted to notice anything out of the ordinary.  48 hours later, we found ourselves in the NICU at Children’s Hospital as Elijah was having small contractions that the doctors eventually diagnosed as seizures.  After multiple tests, exams, prayers, and tears, Elijah was discharged from Children’s Hospital three days later and we were never more happy to be in the confines of our own home.

During those days of uncertainty and fear, I was overwhelmed with a sense of peace and joy that couldn’t have come from anywhere or anyone else but our loving Father.  You see, joy springs from God’s love, which is not dependent on our circumstances or our performance.

The more we seek Him, the more we find Him.  The more we find Him, the more we know and love Him, and the greater our joy will  be. 

We will only find perfect peace and everlasting joy in heaven, but we can experience joy now by walking with God.

Money

Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hopes on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment.  1 Timothy 6:17

To say that we are living in uncertain times is a mild understatement.  I am very blessed to be working for a wonderful company during these tough economic times but I am still witnessing the effects of a dismal economy, first hand.   If you have watched the news any length of time over the past few months, the talk has been centered around our nation’s debt ceiling, the Federal budget, and the out-of-control government spending.  We have a problem in this country-we are addicted to spending; especially when it comes to borrowed money.

Keep in mind, that the average working American is considered among the most wealthy in the world when compared with the population in every other country.  Still, we want more, spend excessively, and depend on what is in our bank accounts for security rather than trusting on God’s daily provisions.  I have learned a difficult lesson lately in depending on God’s provision and I am learning each day on how to set my hopes in Him and less on the money I work to earn. 

Looking back into the Old Testament, God provided manna, a cake-like food that appeared on the morning dew, to the Israelites who were wondering around in the wilderness after fleeing Egypt.  The manna provided nourishment and there was just enough for each Israelite to eat.  The problem was when they tried to gather more manna than they could eat and store it for later, the hot sun melted the manna and it rotted.  This illustration from the book of Exodus just may be the key for our understanding of how God truly provides for each of us on a daily basis.

God will always be with us and He will always provide just what we need; it just may not be what we want.  Thanks be to God for His daily provisions!!!

Don't Lose My Number

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Romans 7:15

I had a wonderful conversation with a friend just the other day about how hard it is to follow Jesus’ example.  This is something I certainly struggle with regardless of any outward appearance that would lead someone to believe that I have everything all figured out. 

The apostle Paul wrote the above passage from Romans, and despite being the author of most of the New Testament, even he often struggled with the same thing.  He was perplexed by why he chose “to do what he hated rather than what he wanted to do. “  It’s not a stretch to say we live in a world that is filled with other influences that constantly divide our attention and make us lose our focus on the truth and God’s infinite wisdom. 

We can read all of the daily devotions we want and attend service every possible chance we get, but if we aren’t willing to dig deeper into the Bible and seek God’s direction for our lives, everything that we learn will be quickly forgotten. 

Seek God’s wisdom and keep your eyes focused on Jesus without looking to the left or right. Apply His word to your life.  The enemy will stop at nothing to keep whispering his lies into our minds and keep us from living the lives God intended for us to live.

New Attitude

And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind and having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude.  Ephesians 4:23

I know that God has entered my life and in doing so, has renewed my mind and attitude; if this were not so, I would not be capable of making the right decisions.  I know that love is not just a feeling, but a choice that I make.  I believe this is why so many marriages come to an abrupt end after so many years.  People are trying to re-capture that initial feeling of falling in love again and will look to find it with someone other than their spouse.

When someone has made me angry or upset, I can choose to dwell on it in my mind and think of all of the negative things I’d like to say, or I can choose to think positive thoughts towards that person.  I always seem to feel better when I choose the latter.

It’s when we come to that place in our minds where we think good thoughts that opens the door for God to work His good and perfect plan into our lives.  We must learn to allow the Holy Spirit to help us break our old patterns and replace them with new ones.

Thinking good thoughts isn’t always easy, but as we do, we begin to have a change of heart and attitude towards other people and our relationships will also change for the better in the process.

Ain't Nobody

Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.  Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."  John 6:35

I was talking to our Celebrate Recovery pastor before worship service a few months ago, and we got to talking about communion. I mentioned that several members of my old congregation used to call the church office each week to find out if we were serving communion.  It was not that they were necessarily interested in receiving the sacraments, it was because they were concerned about worship service lasting too long and not being able to keep their reservations for Sunday lunch at our local country club.  The symbolism of the sacraments-the bread and wine/grape juice, is one of God's greatest blessings that He gives to His beloved children.

You see, Jesus is the spiritual nourishment our soul needs.  He truly satisfies our deepest spiritual wants and needs alone with His daily presence.  

He is the only One that can truly meet our needs.  He is the only One that can offer true peace and the promise of eternal life.  

When we feed our souls with the nourishment that only Jesus can provide, we will be satisfied for eternity.  

Mind Games

Let us who live in the light be clear hearted, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as out helmet the confidence of our salvation.  1 Thessalonians 5:8

I have been running on a regular basis for the past six years.  It was not until 2009 that I ran my first half marathon in Knoxville, and I can say that one of the biggest obstacles to excellent performance is mental, not physical.  I was so tired nearing the end of the race, but went into a 'mental zone' that helped me push through the pain and finish the 13.1 miles in my fastest time ever.  By no means am writing to brag or boast about my abilities; I am simply a mediocre athlete at best, and only run every day so that I can eat what I enjoy. 

However, the running analogy is certainly similar to our lives.  Our confidence doesn't come from our abilities or physical circumstances, how we look, or what we achieve.  Everything actually comes from our faith-the blessed assurance that God is always with us, every second of every day, fighting for us and helping us win our battles.

I am constantly looking for ways to live in more confidence knowing that God is a part of my life every day.