Month: February 2022

Tough Times Never Last

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“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.” Exodus 15:2

Dr. Robert H. Schuller was invited to Flint Michigan in the early 1980’s to encourage a town on the economic brink. Scores of laid off auto workers wondered what possible future they had to look forward to as the winds of change blew through their town. As this minister who lived to encourage stood before the massive crowd, he looked into into a sea of hopeless eyes. Then, he surprised even himself when he suddenly found himself saying to them,

Tough Times Never last, Tough People Do!

The line was not planned in advance. It’s simply the message that God downloaded into a man at just the precise moment it was needed most by those around him. Yesterday’s post talked about lifting impossibly heavy burdens. When we look to God for all that we need, He provides. In this case, to a town that needed a reminder that the tough times would pass. Maybe you need that reminder today. The Lord is our strength, and our song. Indeed, He is faithful to provide the victory when we look to Him as our provider.

Lift

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“Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:5

Prior to the Wright Brothers taking flight over Kitty Hawk, man dreamed of taking to the skies in flight. The fascination is found all through scripture where soaring above the troubles of earth is a common theme. Today, I look at modern machines, some weighing 700 tons or more while sitting on the ground, yet lift like a bird when propelled forward, allowing an invisible stream of air to pass their wings and lift them with seemingly little effort. Such flight brings an interesting parallel to mind.

Even Your Heaviest Burden Can Be Lifted

Over and over again, I’ve heard a recurring theme from those I meet in my journey; “My burden is too heavy”. They don’t believe it can be lifted. They don’t believe they can be, as Psalm 103 says, “renewed like the eagle”. You are right, you can’t do it alone. It is God alone who satisfies and renews. He is the ultimate remodeler of lives. The par-excellence ‘fixer upper’. No burden is too heavy for God to lift. Just ask Him.

Look Beyond

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“In Him (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:1

What did John see when he walked, and talked, and dined, and laughed, and cried with Jesus. What was going through his mind when he saw Jesus transformed into pure light on a mountain top, revealing Himself as the son of God. What a trip for a 17 year old. Ahh, that one surprised you, didn’t it. Indeed, John was a teenager when he met Jesus and decided to follow Him. While we know the Apostles were fishermen, when we read the Bible we tend to think of Jesus Apostles as these street wise sages. In truth they were like you and I, and they were willing to say yes to what God had in store for them.

God Does Not See Age, He Sees The Heart

No matter where you are in life, young or old, learned or streetwise, in simple surroundings or a mansion, God has a plan for you if you will simply turn your heart in His direction. John said yes a teenager, and as an apostle changed the world. Others in the Bible, such as Moses, was 80 when he turned his heart to God and lead a nation out of captivity. God will use any heart willing to be used, to do the incredible. I wish your bathroom mirror could look beyond your face and see the powerful heart beating within you. One yes to God is all it takes. Say yes, and watch Him rock your world.

Love Language

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“Love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12

I love Valentines Day, mostly because it’s my sweethearts birthday. For the past 33 years I’ve found her easy to love, and even more fun to come up with creative little ways to show that love to her. It’s easy to love those we are close to. How do we love those we aren’t so close to? How do we expand our love language to include everyone we come across in our day? Dolly Parton may not have written the song, but she nailed it in singing, “Put a little love in your heart”. That’s all Jesus is asking of us when he said, “Love one another as I have loved you”. After all, He knew what he was talking about.

Jesus Loves Everyone, Period.

So much so that the rulers of the day talked about him behind his back for who he chose to hang with. Jesus also knew what He was asking of us when He asked us to love, as He loved. The request seems so simple, but there is depth in His request that really stretches us uncomfortably. Perhaps that’s why there is really so little love around us. We can change that. Care to expand your love language and put a little more love in your heart?

Ask For Directions

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“Let Thy will be done….” Matthew 6:10

I went for a walk a few days ago and came across the image above and thought I would share it with you. “Because you are alive everything is possible”. I don’t believe in coincidences in life, because, God is a God of purpose, not randomness. He wanted me to see these words, so I saw them. They reminded me once again that if I’m drawing breath there is something to be done, something to accomplish, someone to encourage, someone to lift. Every morning, for at least a decade, I have woken up and asked for directions by praying,

Whatever You Have For Me Today Lord, I Gratefully Receive.

And every evening my wife and I stop to pray, “Whatever you have in store for our future, we are so grateful.” These are two practical examples of how Jesus tells us to pray in Matthew 6:10. For when we pray, “Thy will be done,” we are giving God permission to take the steering wheel of our lives and point us in the right direction.

Breaking Barriers

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“The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart…” Exodus 9:12

I’ve always been fascinated at how God works with us. This fascination reaches a zenith when I read in Exodus 9:12 that, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” You’ve all likely seen the movie, “The Ten Commandments”. When you think about it, that could have potentially been a one hour film and not three. Moses could have gone to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go.” God could have just as easily softened Pharaoh’s heart, and had him say, “Okay, enjoy the trip to the promised land.” Yet, that’s not what unfolded. God knows the reason for this. He knows that,

Instant Gratification Is Usually Not Our Friend

The Children of Israel trapped in Egypt needed to learn who God was, and to trust Him with all their heart. Give us everything we want, when we want it, and we usually find ourselves mired in a soup of selfish and ungrateful behavior. God knows what He’s doing. Trust Him beyond what you think you need, and watch as He fills those empty holes in your life with his perfect plan for you.

Be Still

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“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

The best advice that I could ever give to you is to memorize these eight words, “Be still, and know that I am God.” There is such power in the words. No ambiguity, no beating around the bush, no figurative language that we have to decipher. Whether you are going through a candle sized fire, or a forest fire, God says,

Be Still

Jesus drives the point home in Matthew 6 by telling us, over and over again, not to worry! About anything! When you put your faith and trust in God, He has your back. That does not mean you won’t face fires, or trials, or troubles. I promise you, you will. But when you walk with God, and put your trust in Him, there is nothing to worry about for He will work it out. Remember, Jesus prayed before going to the cross, “please take this cup from me, but not my will, but Thine be done.” I, for one, am glad that God’s will was done in that instance for Jesus cross saved us from a fate worse than death. Trust Him, and the results on the other side of your fire will look much different when you look a them through a rear view mirror.

What Time Is It?

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“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

I had a very dear business colleague who was fond of saying, “Time is not our friend,” for he constantly had this ticking clock running in his mind. If there was a minute in front of him, that minute was going to be put to productive use. At the opposite end of the spectrum I’m quite fond of The Rolling Stone’s, “Time is on my side.” I usually smile and sing with Mic Jagger when he get’s to the, “yes, it is”, part of the song. The truth of these two divergent thoughts is really summed up in Ecclesiastes,

“There Is A Time For every Purpose Under Heaven”

Yesterday’s post in this devotional talked about how God makes everything beautiful in its time.

God Is In The Time Management Business

Sometimes He loves to use the microwave and provide instant gratification for us, and sometimes He loves to slow cook recipes because he knows the longer things cook the richer the taste. When you put your trust in God, let Him work out the strategy and the timing for what He has for your life. You’ll be amazed at what God has in store for you, and how savory the journey.

Another Start

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“He has made everything beautiful, in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

There was a song in the sixties that said, “today is the first day of the rest of your life”. The phrase has been repeated often, perhaps so much so that it’s lost its meaning for us. But when you really stop to think about it, every day we wake up we are faced with a blank page for us to write. Most of the time we look backward to the previous pages of our life and simply ‘wash-rinse-repeat’ our day. Familiarity, whether good or bad, becomes our warm blanket. And yet,

What If?

What if I tried something new today? What if I gave that relationship 100%? What if I ventured back to school, or into a new job, or loved more and criticized less, or decided that today was actually the first day of the rest of my life and became a better version of myself. You’re never too young, or too old, to write a new chapter. God makes everything beautiful in its time.

The Right Stuff

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“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

I was 4 years old when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. At that age I could not comprehend the significance of that moment in history. Years later, as a high school student, the film, “The Right Stuff” came out and I started to comprehend the overwhelming difficulty of putting human begins into the vacuum of space. ‘The Right Stuff’ meant you had the courage to take it to the very limits of what was possible. These brave pioneers knew that in the vastness of our universe, just how fragile we are, and yet, up they went, anyway. You may not feel it today, or realize it, but you actually possess, the right stuff.

The Ultimate ‘Right Stuff’ Power Is Faith

Think about it. Over and over again in scripture, God says when we put our trust in Him, we cannot comprehend the incredibly fulfilling life that He will provide for us. Look at 1 Corinthians 2:9, which says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” This is one amazing promise. Be prepared for amazing things to happen in your life when you honor God with your faith.