Daily Devotions

     I always forget something whenever we take an out of town trip. It never fails. I’m getting better but still something is left out. There’s just so many things to remember. Now with all of our electronic devices, chargers, headphones, iPad, Apple Watch, iPhones, and the list goes on! Remember how easy it was when you were a kid and your parents worried about all that packing? All you had to do was jump in the car and wait for a snack and enjoy the ride.      Man, those easy carefree times are gone and they don’t come back even when you’re an empty nester. Just packing for ourselves is a chore. At least we still get a snack on the road trip. Life is hard but God is so good. We go through many different times and seasons both the good, the bad, and the ugly. Yet through all of our earthly travels God proves to be our resource for every part of that journey. We often forget to pack the right essentials for what life throws at us in these seasons.      Often we pack the wrong things.

It is said that confession is good for the soul. However, not all confession leads to repentance. Our prisons are full of people who are more than happy to confess, even brag about what they have done. Most, I’m sure, actually embellish their sordid stories in hopes of gaining some sort of street cred and possibly some protection from those who seek to harm them.           There are a few who dream of a book or movie deal based on their life’s story, thereby gaining some monetary value or popularity. So just because someone is willing to confess some horrible deed does not make it good. True biblical confession is when we realize the gravity of what we have done. How much we have wronged God and others coupled with a deep sense of contrition, sorrow, and regret.           After that we move on to confessing that there is only One who can save us. Only One who can restore us. Only One who can forgive us. Only One who can truly redeem us. His name is Jesus. The One whom God himself sent

     We usually have a hard time when it comes to being guilty. We have so many reasons why that simply is not true. We had good intentions. We never meant to harm anyone. It was a joke! I didn’t think it would come to this. And of course the all time favorite, they made me do it. We play the blame game and we’re good at it. We just don’t want to face the truth that we are in fact guilty.      With guilt comes it’s equally disliked partner, shame. No one will ever look at me the same. Will my friends leave me? Will my family turn their backs on me? What will become of me? They now all know what a horrible human being I am. So the guilt and the shame pile on until we can’t take it anymore. Who can we turn to? Who can deliver us from our guilt and shame? Will I have to bear this weight all alone? Sin is the root cause of guilt and shame.      Here’s the crazy thing about sin. If we will go ahead and admit that we are indeed guilty without making any excuses and take full blame for our ac

     The biggest roadblock for hurting people is simply admitting that they have a problem. No matter how much you want to help someone unless they are ready to acknowledge that they actually need help your efforts will produce lackluster results. Addictions, depression, suicidal tendencies, obesity, anger issues, and the list goes on.      For some admitting they have a problem never comes and the results are often a terribly wasted life. Then there are those who go through an intervention in hopes they will see the light and get the help they so desperately require. There are those who sink so low that something happens. A click goes off in their hearts and minds. Like someone turning on a light in a darkened basement. They come to the horrible realization that they have lost their way and are in desperate circumstances.      Here’s the good news. It’s not too late to turn your life around. There is a whole group of people who have found their way out of the darkness into the light t

     Kids cry for the silliest reasons. I remember a toddler who saw the full moon out his window and thought it was a ball so he asked to play with it. Of course his mom explained that it was the moon and she couldn’t give it to him even if she wanted to. This set him to cry and cry “but I want it!” How often have we looked up at the stars and wished we could just reach up and touch them.      As we grow older and hopefully much wiser we realize that there will always be certain things that we will never attain. One of those unattainable things is perfection. It’s just not in our nature to ever be perfect. Oh, we can be good to a certain extent but never perfect. It’s as far out of our reach as the nearest star. Here’s some good news. God never asks us to be perfect but rather to be holy.      What’s the difference? Perfection is not within our reach but holiness is. Holiness does not equal being perfect but it is a condition of the heart that aches to be and do the right thing. When

     One thing most new workers dislike is the company training manual. We don’t really want to know the company’s motto, philosophy of business, or other such nonsense. We want to know when is payday. How many paid holidays do we get. Will we get sick leave, paid vacation, etc. How do I get a bonus? Do I get an automatic raise after so many months on the job?      However, if you’re the employer your questions are completely different. Can they do the job they were hired for? Will they do just enough to get by or will they excel at their job. Will I be sorry I hired them or be wonderfully surprised! Enter the Word of God, the Bible. It is our training manual for daily living. It’s our life coach. To shun it will work to our own ruin.      To love and embrace it wholeheartedly will lead us down a path of a full and satisfying life. Some the most beautiful words ever penned are to be found in its pages. Its words will correct us, rebuke us, instruct us, comfort us, encourage us, and so

     Whenever the kids act up I know they are taking after their mother. Of course she thinks they are acting like their father. There are some peculiar things about our kids which we often attribute to one side of the family or the other. I know which side crazy is from. Children’s actions can be hereditary or can be learned by observing mom and dad.      No one has to teach children to be selfish because it is in their human nature(mine). They actually have to be taught to share. They often learn to speak their very first word (no) because they’ve heard it a million times! Some parents think it’s cute to teach their little ones swear words until they become teenagers and use those words back at them.      One thing that we all must learn is how to be merciful. It’s not as easy as it sounds. The deeper the hurt, betrayal, or offense we’ve received the harder it is to be merciful. Mercy is a funny thing because we totally get it when we are the ones who so desperately want and need it.

       One of the craziest things to come out of this pandemic is Zoom meetings. It’s where you have virtual meetings but the camera only sees the top half and a few details in the background.      So two thing’s happened as a result. One is that people would wear PJ bottoms or shorts since it would not show on screen while wearing a nice blouse or shirt with a tie and maybe even a suit jacket. The second is that background pics can be used to make it look like you’re in the Bahamas or any other place instead of your messy living room. Both options clearly show us that people often will do just enough to get by.      Of course this has led to countless slip ups when someone stands up and forgets they are half dressed! It may be a sign of a deeper issue. We perform best when we know the boss is watching. However, when the cat’s away the mice will play.      Today’s verse reminds us to do our work as if we were working for the Lord. Do our very best with integrity. Take pride in our work

       What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail? What would you request if you knew it would be given? I remember reading this verse when I was a teenager. I prayed for the right girl to come along. I prayed for a wonderful family that would all love and serve the Lord. I prayed for financial success. Probably for a new car.      Most of my prayers were very self-centered. My prayer requests were totally different than what they are now as a man of 60 who will be celebrating 41 years of marital bliss and now an empty-nester after 5 kids! He gave me everything I asked for as a young man and much more.      Our perspectives change as we grow older. We learn valuable lessons along the way. We discover what really matters in life. Some unfortunately don’t realize it until it’s too late to do anything about it. Jesus is really challenging his followers to discover what is truly in their hearts. Your prayer requests say a lot about you and what your priorities are.      My praye

     Stumbled across a show I hadn’t seen in a while. It was an episode of Hoarders. Piles and piles of clothes, food, eggs, yes, eggs from her many chickens and stuff everywhere with no place to sit and barely enough room to walk through. The pros came in to a terrible stench of rotten eggs everywhere. She was so afraid of not having food to eat she would save the eggs and stash them in among all the stuff. Most would break and rot.      Her story was that she grew up in poverty and never had enough. She was now living alone and began to fear of not having enough so she started her journey of hoarding. She had wasted so much time and money buying things she would never use and all the while fearing she wouldn’t have money to live on. It was an irrational fear and it took great care, counseling, and effort just to make any headway in cleaning up the stinky situation.      Too many of us live with an irrational fear. We fear we aren’t enough. We fear we are less than everyone else. We f

     Some of the best movies around are revenge movies. A mother’s child was taken, the justice system has let her down, now she must take the law into her own hands, and she will make them pay. So goes the trailer and there are plenty of similar movies out there. We rightly root for the underdog. We watch as mom turned vigilante takes out one bumbling criminal after another. We wait on the edge of our seats to see if she will get to her child on time. After a whole slew of bad guys meets their much deserved ends mom is finally reunited with her baby and that’s usually when the clueless cops finally show up.      We replay the actions scenes in our minds with us as the hero dispatching the evil doers and saving the girl! Billions have been made using this same formula of movie making. Sometimes they go back and make a sequel! In our average day to day experience we will hopefully never encounter such an ordeal. When we are offended we often start to plot our revenge. In fact it makes t

     On my way to a meeting I decided to stop for lunch at one of my favorite bbq joints. They have the best bbq poboys that are so juicy and delicious. I forgot just how juicy until I looked down at my shirt and saw I had several stains on it. At first I felt awful because I had somehow missed those beautiful drops of delicious bbq goodness. Then I remembered my upcoming meeting!      I didn’t have another shirt nor did I have anything to wipe the stains off. I was able to cover a couple of stains with my name badge wishing it was a lot larger. Thankfully no one mentioned the stains on my shirt either because they were too nice to say anything or they just didn’t notice. It may also have been the design of the shirt that helped camouflage my sloppiness.      Regardless, it was on my mind the whole time. Could they see them? Was I hiding it good enough? Why was my name badge in a weird place? Sin is like that. It leaves a stain called guilt and shame. We try to hide it, mask it, hope o

     Languages can be so difficult to master. There are over 7,000 languages spoken in our world today! I thought I was doing good by being bi-lingual! The crazy thing is that all languages are evolving because they are living and dynamic. They are constantly changing. I need a second cup of coffee just to let that all sink in.      There is no need to be anxious about it all because there actually is one universal language. It’s called LOVE. It transcends all races and nationalities. It is understood by the youngest and the oldest. The rich and poor alike cannot truly exist without it. Life is extremely dull and boring if we aren’t both receiving it and giving it away.      Without love we’re just a bunch of noise makers. Man, those things are really annoying. The universal language of love is understood best through our actions. Even the smallest acts of selfless giving is love. Making a meal for a shut-in, or a neighbor recovering from an illness is love. Paying for someone else’s g

     I blame my love of speed and cars on Hot Wheels by Mattel. I spent hours playing with my collection of cars as a child. In my imagination I was able to do some pretty amazing stunts with those cars. So it’s kind of a disappointment that my real cars aren’t able to do those same stunts now.      Truth be told very few of us will ever drive our cars to their fullest potential. They will live out their existence on boring paved roads at ho-him speeds with no daring jumps over other cars or ravines. They look pretty and they are very comfortable. But they are capable of so much more. I don’t want to live out my entire life at far less than my potential. I want to try crazy things. I want to dream and attempt great things for me, for my family, for God.      Sometimes those crazy things are being faithful in marriage or paying my bills on time or staying out of debt or spending a lot of time with my kids. Sometimes it’s going to church on Sunday and singing in a choir and just being de

     I have a love/hate relationship with my gps. GPS stands for Global Positioning Satellite. Once I followed it past my actual destination (which I didn’t realize) into a subdivision, made a huge circle, came back out only to turn back on the highway from the direction I had just come to reach my destination.      There are times that even with a multi-million dollar satellite orbiting the earth, an expansive network of positioning towers, a smart phone that costs a small fortune, you can still get lost! Supposedly there are cameras fixed to satellites that can read your license plate all while orbiting the globe at breakneck speed yet have a hard time telling me where I am.      There are plenty of times I am pretty sure of where I’m going in life only to find I made a wrong turn somewhere back there. The Word of God is our map. It leads us and guides us along the path we should go so that we can arrive safely at our destination. You can trust God’s leading wholeheartedly unlike yo

     Ever feel like bad luck seems to follow you around? Our days can quickly go from bad to worse. Sometimes it feels as if our whole world is going that way. 2020 has not been a good year overall. A global pandemic, loss of life, an economic downturn, businesses closing, and as if that weren’t enough some areas have been and are being devastated by natural disasters such as hurricanes and raging wildfires.      Add intense political unrest and you’ve got a population on the verge of mental, spiritual, and emotional collapse. The Psalmist put it this way, “Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil.” The 23rd Psalm is filled with statements of faith and trust that in the end it will all work out.      More than that he tells us that God is able in the very midst of the worst imaginable circumstances is able to prosper us, protect us, and lift us up! He ends the Psalm with another great statement of faith. He is confident that good things will pursue him. Not j

     We have a tile floor in our kitchen and when we drop a glass it shatters in a million pieces. Even after thoroughly and meticulously cleaning up the shards we still find tiny pieces days later. No human could ever piece the glass back together, it just can’t be done.      We live in a broken, shattered world that is aching to be put back together. Our brokenness is caused by so many things. Sometimes it’s caused by others and other times it is self-inflicted. We may live our entire lives being broken. Yet we have survived the breaking and we have the scars to prove it.      Some of the most beautiful people you will ever know are those who have gone through a great breaking and have discovered healing, forgiveness, and even purpose not only in spite of but because of the breaking. God’s Word promises that He is able to bind up the broken-hearted and heal our wounds.      Like a nail once driven into a board once removed still leaves the mark so are we. Marked by those scars of suf

     Fear is a weird emotion. It can cause us to fight or flight for our lives. It can paralyze us into inaction or can impel us into unforeseen actions. Fear can be the cause of many emotional scars. Once it’s gone shame, regret, guilt or pride can takes its place. Fear can save us from death or keep us from living.      There is one kind of fear that is not only good but comes highly recommended by God’s Holy Word. It is the fear of God. To fear God means to respect and honor him by believing what he says and acting according to his revealed word. As our creator he already knows our weaknesses, our areas of temptation, and our greatest strengths. He knows us better than we can ever know ourselves.      Wisdom coupled with good judgement are a direct result of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. When we have placed our trust in Jesus we have begun to show the “fear of the Lord”, i.e. wisdom. When we follow his commands we are demonstrating good judgement. The bad kind of fear begins to

     A beautifully honest prayer. No one likes to feel vulnerable. If you have felt the brutal pain of betrayal, the almost inconsolable ache of rejection, or the frequent pangs of desperation and self-loathing then you know how truly difficult it is to become vulnerable again. We prefer the safety of withdrawal, the security of isolation and the warmth of silence.      We feel safe. We will eventually find that to truly love and be loved we must allow ourselves to be vulnerable. There is no love without vulnerability. As Christ followers we are committed to living out this life of faith and love. The first one to whom we must become utterly vulnerable to is our Heavenly Father.      He will never betray us, abuse us, diminish us, nor abandon us. He already knows everything about us and not only loves us but he likes us too! His overwhelming love draws us closer to him. He woos us to himself. He invites us to an honest relationship with himself. No hiding, no masks, no illusions. It is

     It’s said that no one has ever remained calm after being told to remain calm! If anything it only seems to make matters worse. There are those amazing individuals among us who even though their adrenaline is in all out mode they have the ability to remain calm and deal with a crisis. Then of course there are the rest of us who like squirrels in the middle of a busy highway seem to freeze up with fear and indecision and we all know how that story ends.      Good decisions are seldom made in the middle of a maelstrom of emotions. When we seem to be in a downward spiral, caught in a vortex of life’s difficulties, drowning in fear, confusion, and panic the last thing we want to do is to be still. Knowing that this emotion is counterintuitive God calls us to be still. Stop squirming.      Quit trying to figure it all out on your own. We like to be creative and come up with our own solutions and then pat ourselves on the back for our ingenuity. We so desperately want to be our own heroe

     I am a task oriented individual who loves check lists. There is a certain satisfaction that comes when checking off something from the to do list. In fact I have a work list, a church list, and a home list. I love getting things done because it makes me feel productive. Almost as if I have earned my right to exist that day if I have accomplished many tasks. So it’s understandable that I had to learn how to rest.      It just didn’t come naturally. The invitation from Jesus is so welcome even if not completely understood. He invites us to learn from him and to find rest. Physical, mental, and spiritual rest is a much needed gift today. Life has a way of wearing us down. It is demanding and often draining on all our energies. Resting in Jesus must be learned.      We rest in his finished work in the cross. We don’t have to prove our value by accomplishing any tasks. He already demonstrated how much he loved us by going to the cross. He demonstrated our value when he resurrected from

     The world longs for peace at a time when many are more interested in strife, dissension, and even anarchy. The level of angst and anxiety is steadily increasing. Angry, brick-throwing mobs commit acts of violence, burn down buildings, loot businesses all in the name of justice. Often in the hope of bringing about peace we resort to violence.      There is a peace that this world does not comprehend. It is a peace that passes all human wisdom and understanding. It just doesn’t make sense. God’s ways and thoughts are so much higher that ours. It is a peace of mind and heart that is supernaturally given to those who trust in Jesus Christ. It is a gift of heaven.      We can be at peace because we know the Prince of Peace. We know who holds all life in his hands. We know who flung the stars into the sky. We know who spoke the worlds into existence. We know who holds tomorrow. You can find this peace through simply trusting Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.      He will forgive,

     “Follow your heart” is advice many of us have heard and even given. Sounds like pretty good advice especially when watching a Hallmark movie. The lovers are always conflicted usually between a high paced career or a slower paced life that promises the fulfillment of love.      It’s often a no brainer and we sit on our comfy sofas telling them to “follow your heart.” It warms the cockles of our hearts as true love is finally found and they live happily ever after. Real life is not quite as simple. We often get into real trouble when we follow our hearts. There are plenty of broken hearts, lives, and marriages because someone followed their heart.      If we can’t even trust our own hearts then who can we trust? The answer is found in the next verse of Jeremiah 17:10. It tells us that the Lord searches all hearts and examines secret motives. He is the only One we can trust to steer and guide us to making right decisions even when our hearts would tell us otherwise.      Don’t follow

     It’s not a new thing that the word LOVE has been given a different definition than what God’s Word says. In our current culture it is often used as a blanket cover for every conceivable act even when those actions clearly go against biblical principles. Love is not a license to do as one pleases. Nor do we need to accept condemnation from anyone who tells us we are unloving simply because we do not condone their immoral behavior.      Many parents love their children even when those same children are addicted, rebellious, even criminal. Loving the person but hating their self-destructive actions is consistent with love. Our hearts ache to see our children live good, clean, healthy, productive lives. We can love them through those difficulties much as God does us.      That does not mean we approve of sinful actions but rather that in spite of those actions love always stand ready to embrace, forgive, and restore. There is no need to redefine love according to present day cancel cu

     Our world craves power. The power to rule over others, to control destinies, to command wealth, to set the rules, is what many see as the only reason to obtain power. Even the disciples of Jesus would argue among themselves as to who would sit at his right and left hands because those were considered positions of great authority and power.      Even in religious circles today many espouse the idea of power to do great miracles and wonders. Jesus, however, came to turn our thinking upside down. The powerful in his kingdom would be the servant of all. He came to bring a towel of servant hood and not a scepter of rulership to his followers. The power he offers is power to overcome sin, power to live in humility, power to testify of his saving grace, and of course power to serve with joy and gladness.      Not exactly the kind of power the world is seeking after. We want to scratch and claw our way to the top when we should be making an effort to become servants of all. The strength h

     Wisdom seems to be a much needed commodity in our current angry, violent, self-serving culture. Some will often act out in ways that actually run counter to their stated goals and the results often bring about great dissatisfaction and disillusionment. Godly wisdom is always coupled with humility and a desire to serve others before self.      When we begin to understand God’s wisdom it starts to change our perspective, our lifestyle, even our desires. The things we thought were so important take on a different priority. We start to see people around us not as enemies but as hurting, grieving, lost souls who ache for love, acceptance, and forgiveness.      Wisdom that is from above transforms us into individuals who love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with our God. The proof that we are wise is lived out in plain sight in how we treat others with respect, dignity, and patience. Imagine how much better our world would be if we all walked in this kind of wisdom.