Devotional thought 1-15-2019

But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
1 Thessalonians 5:8 NASB

Interesting the analogy of armor used here. The breastplate protected your most vital organs, your heart and your lungs. While your helmet obviously protects your head. While your heart is beating and you can breathe, you can proclaim His Word. You can share with others the evidence of things unseen. And with your mind protected by the assurance of salvation, knowing that Christ won for us when He got up out that grave, you can proclaim it boldly.

Devotional thought 1-11-2019

“At times dark clouds surround God’s people. It seems as if oppression and persecution would extinguish them. But at such times the most instructive lessons are given. ”

Funny how you really pay attention when your back is against the wall. But of course it’s in these moments that you do because you are drawing closer to Him than you ever have, because you need Him more than you ever have.

Imagine how it would be if we operated like that all the time.

Devotional thought 1-9-2019

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
1 John 5:14‭-‬15 NASB

If we ask according to His will, He hears us and we have it. That is a powerful statement and a true one. Unfortunately most of us dont ask for things according to His will. We ask them according to our will, trying to disguise it as His will.

The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all will come to repentance. Are the requests we make fitting with the above? Let’s pray that we start doing so.

Devotional thought 1-2-2019

Commit your works to the Lord And your plans will be established.
Proverbs 16:3 NASB

Are we following His plan or ours? One thing I’ve noticed about generals is that they form their plans but remain open to the best plan. We have access to God, whose plans have never failed, yet we dont go along with it.

Let’s go with the plan from the eternal .

Devotional thought 1-1-2019

So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Psalms 90:12 NASB

As you age one thing you begin to understand is how precious time truly is. You understand that things have an expiry date and this knowledge should cause us to move with a different purpose and perspective.

The psalmist said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And when you know your days are numbered you should look to one who doesn’t have that limitation. We should look to God for all that we need.

Devotional thought 12-26-2018

My dear friend Sharm would always talk about the dash and what it means. The dash is the life you lived and it represents many things, who you were, who people thought you were, who you loved, etc. If it was over right now, what would your dash say about you? What would it say about your faith?

Devotional thought 12-17-2018

Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
Luke 6:38 NASB

Giving. It’s what He asks of us and what we need to do. And it is hard. True giving means that you don’t expect anything in return. Which is where most of us have our issues. When we give we think, ok, where is my return? As if our giving is an investment and not a gift. It is how we betray ourselves over and over again. Which is why God loves the cheerful giver. Someone who is giving and not expecting anything back. That is who gets the good measure. That is who we should strive to be.

Devotional thought 12-16-2018

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
Ephesians 6:10 NASB

I understand now that in order to be bold in the Lord requires you to be in something uncomfortable. To be strong in His might requires a situation that needs supernatural strength. And if we are honest, none of us are praying that we should be in a situation that requires us to rely on Him alone.

Maybe if we were linked to Him the way we should be we would have the strength to pray that way. We would also probably find ourselves in situations like that less often.

Devotional thought 12-14-2018

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 Nasb

Was thinking about how to spin this text and God hit me with this. You only put light where there is darkness. So wherever you are you are there so that the darkness that is there exist no more.

What that means is you are going to be places where it is tough and you won’t want to keep shining. But the smallest light breaks through even the deepest darkness, for nothing is ever dark where there is light.

Devotional thought 12-13-2018

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:20 NASB

So of course we all ask who is my brother? And with that question we reveal our hearts. Because we know who our brothers are but we dont want to love our brothers. We dont want to forgive our brothers because holding on to the past gives us (in our minds) reasons to hate.

We have to remember that there is no place in the kingdom for liars. There is plenty of room for lovers