Amazing Grace

 

God saved you by His grace when you believed.  And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Ephesians 2:8

My dad traditionally waits to the last minute to shop for gifts at Christmas.  It was my freshman quarter at Auburn University in the fall of 1993, and I completely 'bombed' and almost failed out after a quarter of foolishness and debauchery.  I strategically planned to intercept my grades so that my father wouldn't see them before he went Christmas shopping, but it was too late...he arrived with an arm full of presents for my mother and sister and simply handed me an opened envelope from Auburn University.  My parents were disappointed in me to say the very least, and aside from a few pieces of clothing and The Allman Brothers boxed set collection- "Dreams", it was a pretty light year for presents.

Thankfully, God saves each one of us because of His mercy and grace alone.  There is nothing we can possibly do to earn His grace and love.  He simply loves us and approves of us regardless of what we do or don't do and He has paid the ultimate price to forgive us of our sins.

The fact that this is God's gift and something that we can never repay, should be a great comfort to each of us and should also provide hope and security.

When you accept God's grace as you accept any other gift that you receive, you will fully enjoy His peace, blessings, and mercy.

99 Problems

 

With God's help we will do mighty things.  Psalm 60:12

Have you ever felt consumed and overwhelmed by the problems you are facing?  I know that I have and also know that I am not alone.  In just the past few days, I can identify with people in my circle of friends who are struggling in their marriages, another that's facing a difficulty at work, and another who is struggling with raising their children.  While all of these are serious and difficult problems to face, we sometimes forget that not a single one of them are larger than our God.

In fact, there are no set of circumstances, difficulties, trials, or tribulations that are larger than our Loving Father.  Try not to look at the size of your problem, but at the size of your awesome God.  We have an awesome and loving God that is always willing to listen and help us accomplish the impossible!

I'm Not Alone

 

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness-trusts me and relies on Me, knowing that I will never forsake him. Psalm 91:14

Despite the many people I know and am close with, there a occasions when I simply feel alone.  I am sure that I am not the only person who ever feels this way, but God wants us to know that we are never alone.

Satan does his best to make us feel isolated and alone, but we are not.  Satan also does everything in his power to make us believe that no one else understands how we feel, but that too is also a lie.  Sometimes the enemy will send someone into your life that is wrong for you, such as an attractive man/woman that shows you attention when you are the most vulnerable and experiencing difficulties with your spouse.  Again, it's only another deception and a trap set to destroy your marriage.

God is always with us and He can relate to any and everything we can possibly experience in our lives.  As children of God, we can all claim His wonderful promises.  No matter what you are facing or how lonely you may feel, take God at His word and know that you are never alone.

God is good and faithful and he will never leave your side.

Ignoreland

 

Those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.  John 6:37

Alicia and I are blessed with two wonderful sons.  Being a dad is particularly cool as I enjoy being able to share all of my extensive love of superheroes, sports, and music with the boys.  However, being a father can be difficult at times, especially when the boys go out of their way to choose their mom over me. 

This form of rejection is not subtle by any means and happened to me just the other evening when I wouldn't let our youngest have ice cream.  Elijah was mad at me because he wanted ice cream like his older brother was enjoying.  I wouldn't let him have any because Elijah did not finish eating his dinner like Elliott had.  The next hour, Elijah proceeded whine and pout a bit and ignored me for the rest of the evening. This little incident got me to thinking how many times I have rejected God during the course of my lifetime; most likely because He did not answer one of my prayers in the exact way that I asked for it to be answered...sound familiar?

Thankfully, God accepts everyone who comes to Him in faith, even those who previously rejected Him.  We can always approach God knowing that He will make time for us and will always listen to us.  In fact, He is always dependable, always loves us and is always there for us. 

God never turns away from us and we can learn how to accept others that may be difficult for us to accept in His loving arms.

Surprise Valley

 

My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  Colossians 2:2-3

My wife is still dealing with some injuries she sustained a few years ago while running the Knoxville Covenant Marathon and I know how difficult it is, as a runner, when you are simply unable to.   Several years ago, I was suffering from Iliotibial Band Syndrome or ITBS.  To heal the pain of ITBS, a common runner's injury, I recall having to incorporate cycling and swimming at my local gym in order to get some sort of cardiovascular exercise to supplement my workout for the days that I couldn't run.

One morning during all of my rehab process, all lanes of the pool were being used and the stationary bikes I normally ride were taken at my local gym.  This was a minor inconvenience for me as I was up even earlier than normal to drive out of my way to make it to the gym to work out and get back home so that my wife could head out for work that morning.  Needless to say, I did not like having to change my normal routine, which got my day off to a bad start.  My bad attitude quickly changed as I was heading home that morning and witnessed one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen.

The sun was big and filled the Knoxville skyline and made me thankful that I had to change my routine that morning as I would have probably not seen it otherwise.  

We must learn to approach each day with the desire to seek God.  He is good and faithful and blesses us in ways that we will miss if we are not diligent in searching for Him.

When you seek Him, you will find Him and all of His deep treasures all along the way-it may be the sunshine, an unexpected call from a friend, some flowers or an answered prayer.  Whatever it may be, God is always present in this broken world.

Indiscipline

 

"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son."  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father? Hebrews 12:6-8

I am not a betting man, but if I were, I’d bet that today’s Daily DEVO and passage of Scripture will be the least read entry of the entire week.  Why?  Well, it's probably because the topic of discipline is just not very popular with most people.  As a father, I do not take pleasure or enjoy disciplining our children, but know that I must lovingly discipline them to ensure that they learn right from wrong and grow up into fine young men. 

Who loves a child more-the father who allows a child to do something that will cause the child harm or the father that corrects and trains his child and then punishes the child to help teach the child right from wrong? 

If you ever need proof or confirmation that God loves you, look back into your past and the recognize the times where God has lovingly corrected you.  His discipline is a sign of His undying love for each one of us. 

Praise be to God, who disciplines those He loves!

Wait For You

 

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

The older I become, the more I understand that God's ways are not my ways and that I sometimes must wait patiently before He sends His blessings.  Our boys are growing up way too fast-Elliott will be 15 this June and Elijah is quickly approaching his 12th birthday this August.  When I stop to look back at how fast time has flown by, it has made me acknowledge the season of waiting I was in for the better part of his first year on this earth.  

Five months into 2022, and during this crazy busy time (sports/moving/work/school), I am now in a much different season now as a father, but I have learned yet another valuable lesson in learning to trust God fully and completely while patiently waiting for His many blessings.

When we refuse to trust God with our needs, we will continue to live in panic, chaos, and fear because we do not cry out to the One who can meet our needs.  Jesus' disciples learned to trust Him on the Sea of Galilee during a frightening storm that had each one convinced that they would not survive.  Jesus walked across the water and commanded the storm to be still and the sea quickly became calm again.

If you do not trust the Lord, then who do you trust?  Jesus is waiting with His arms outstretched for you and will lift you up despite the tempestuous circumstances you may find yourself facing.