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

With the summer coming to a close and school back in session, the month of August always makes me reminisce about 'two-a-day' football practices in the blistering heat of East Alabama.  Most players start the preseason 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!!

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 as a result 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 a good son to my father? What about my sister? Am I the brother she 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 serve?  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!

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 may 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. In lieu of my mother's passing, this has certainly been the case, but God has been with me and my family every step of the way and like Paul, I have been able to remain joyful despite my broken heart.  

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!   

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!

Tomorrow's Dust

 

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

It was THIRTEEN years ago this very day that I made an attempt to write and posted the first Daily DEVO on this “God’s Will; Fisher of men" Blogger 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.

I hope that along the way, the DEVOtionals 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 walk 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 author/writer.  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 the Daily DEVO has been viewed nearly 250k times (WOW!!) over the past thirteen years, and I hope that God will continue to use this Blog to reach even more people in the days, weeks, months, and years to follow.

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

Much Love and Peace,

-Will

Sunrise

 

 

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

I truly enjoy watching the sun rise in the mornings.  The sunrises are exceptionally beautiful here in East Tennessee and this time of the year, I run outside in the mornings, just to enjoy God's beauty before the rigors of life begin...

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.

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 already been done.  Similarly, the encouraging words we share with 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.