Archive for the ‘Devotions’ Category

Mt 19-20 “Cry out all the more.”

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

What a huge number of choice topics to choose from in these two chapters.  What caught my eye and heart was from chapter 20.

“31The crowd sternly told them to be quiet…” 

Many times we quite trying to be radical in our discipleship because it disturbed the status quo of the other followers.  These blind men, thankfully, did not listen to the crowd, but kept crying out… and Jesus responded to them and healed them.  I am convicted by their earnestness, and my own complacency… I am willing to wait to for another day for Jesus to come and touch me… and thus I miss out on today’s miracle… and show my unbelief that He would have compassion on one blind as I.  Preferring the darkness as it is familiar–I have learned to “get by” on sub-standard Christianity, without encountering the Power that is just a few feet away.

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Sermon on the Mount

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Jesus covers such an array of topics and truths in such a short space.  Every word turned conventional wisdom on its ear.  What you cannot hear?  ….the silence, the sheer awe, of those who heard him utter those words for the very first time.  What a hush must have fallen as told them, “Love your enemies.” How the quiet must have rang as he told them, “You are the light of the world.”  How I wish I was sitting among them as these gigantic ideas fell from Heaven.  I wonder how their hearts burned and their minds churned to drink in this brand new ocean of living water, poured out in refreshing simplicity.

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Clear a Path… Mt. 3-4

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Have you discovered the vast virtue of clutter?  Our culture and country have down to a science… and it’s disaster by design.  No margin, no quiet, no space.  Everything and every moment must be multi-tasked.  The result… clutter, endless waste in our wake and in our way…

   It’s a far cry (pun intended) from John the Baptist’s message,  “A voice of one calling in the desert,
   ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
      make straight paths for him.’ ”

 Maybe it’s time we “cleared a path” for Jesus to walk into our lives on a regular basis.  It might just make our desert a little more “user friendly.”  Who else can give us “Living Water?”

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New Testament Challenge

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Our pastor challenged us to read through the NT this summer, two chapters a day through Labor Day.  So I read Matthew 1-2 today.  Amazing what a fearful thing, Jesus’ entrance into this world was.  Joseph had to have a lot of courage to be the earthly father of Jesus… suppose all parents need that kind of grit!

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How to Stay Motivated When You’re Fatigued – Daily Devotional

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

How to Stay Motivated When You’re Fatigued by Rick Warren

Like an open city with no defenses is the man with no check on his feelings. Proverbs 25:28 (NAB)

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It’s not unusual for people to become disillusioned, discouraged, and fatigued about halfway into a difficult challenge. When I start to feel the fatigue, I look to Proverbs 25 and remember that my feelings are not a reliable measure of how things are going.

We’re to trust wholeheartedly in God and put no faith in our own perceptions (based on Proverbs 3:5 NJB).

Our feelings come from a variety of sources – past, present, and future. But feelings often lie; they’re not always a reflection of reality. Plus, life is complex and we must often live with mixed feelings: “Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in grief” (Proverbs 14:13 NIV).People often compare life to a roller coaster of hills and valleys, but actually life is more like two rails on a railroad track. One rail represents the good and positive in your life; the other represents the bad and painful in your life.

You’ll always have both at the same time! There will always be something good and something bad happening in your life. We can’t expect everything to be good for one month and then everything to be bad the next month. There’s always a mixture of both, a blending of both bitter and sweet.

However, we can choose the focus: “When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow” (Romans 12:15 NLT).

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