Archive for the ‘Devotional’ Category

When I was young, my dad used to always tell me,

“If you do one thing everyday that you’d rather not do, over time, it will build character.”

As my young brain begin to make the connections I observed that my parents lived out this statement. I remember the day that I realized dad didn’t always want to go to work, but he did it anyway because he provided for our family. I watched as my older siblings learned this lesson and realized they were living out the big word: RESPONSIBILITY. There were days when my mom wanted to send us all to public school, but she kept to her calling to homeschool us.

So I tried it out one day. Growing up, we had what we call chore cards. Small individual note cards that had the job written out on them. As kids, we would look through our stack of chore cards and grumble over the ones that were particularly difficult and time consuming. One such chore was changing out the rabbit cage. (Could I sound more “Little House on the Prairie? Sheesh!) Yes, we had a pet rabbit, her name was Satin, and all of us hated changing out the cage. It was nasty and smelly and the goal was always to get it done as fast as we could. Of course that meant cutting some corners. So one day, as I was learning the importance of character, I decided I was going to do this job, and I was going to do it to the best of my ability, no matter how long it took. I felt good about myself that day. Very grown up and accomplished, but the truth of the lesson has followed me ever since.

Character. The traits and qualities that make up who we are. Having strong character is the ability to silence the excuses that come when you’re faced with responsibility. It is the strength of character that enables us to do what is right even when it would be easier to take the short cuts. And sometimes, when things get tough it is our character that will be the only thing we have left to stand on. You see, my dad had learned the importance that a fulfilled life was one of sacrifice, service and selflessness. I have remembered his words and carried them into my adulthood where they couldn’t be closer to the truth.

So, today, I challenge you: Do something that you would rather not do, and do it to the best of your ability. Over time, you will begin to build character, and character will always stand.

In our day and age, truth is a lost virtue. No longer is there an absolute truth. Truth is more of a relative term, to mean anything the believer wants it to mean. If it’s truth to them, than it’s truth.

Truth–noun: the true or actual state of a matter; conformity with fact or reality; agreement with a standard or original.

When we look at the word Truth, we see that it’s meaning points to something. It must point to a standard or an original idea, item or origin, otherwise, why would we need to measure for truth?

An example would be to take a blue pen, that is the original item before us. The truth of the matter is that the pen is blue. You can’t say that the pen is red, because that would not be true. However, many people, especially from my perspective in working with students, will try to argue that the pen is red. Why? Because they don’t want to believe in an absolute truth.

Taking the meaning a bit deeper, let’s use the Bible for our standard of Truth. Hopefully if you are a Christ-follower this is what you use for your standard of truth. But sadly many professed Christ-followers would admit that the Bible does not represent absolute truth for them. Truth is truth. Truth is not what you make it. Unless of course you’re believing lies.

There is a whole other angle we can come at with this subject. Many of you know my passion for truth as it pertains to freedom from insecurity. To know and believe the truth about yourself is to be free. The truth really does set you free, as the Bible says. But knowing truth, and believing truth are two separate things. Do you know the truth of who you are and who you were created to be? Do you believe that truth and are you walking it out in your life? Or are you stuck, with lies blurring your vision of the truth? No wonder we struggle so much with believing truth! We first have to believe in an absolute truth before we can believe the truth about who we are.

Truth is a lost virtue. But we desperately need truth! What can we do to get it back?

Next week, LifeChurch.tv begins a new series called Lost Virtues. In this series we will look at a few virtues that seem to have lost their importance in our society. I won’t tell you what the virtues are, but I will share a few virtues of my own that seem to have gone by the wayside.

Commitment–Verb: To give in trust or charge; to pledge oneself, to bind or obligate, as by pledge or assurance.

I love that the word commitment is a verb. An action word! It takes action to be committed! Commitment in our day and age is a lost virtue. No one wants to commit to anything anymore.

One of the reasons I am so passionate about this virtue is because I work with volunteers. When you work with volunteers commitment is the only thing you have to motivate people. You can’t pay volunteers therefore you can’t fire them. When a volunteer is commited you know it. They show up every week, on time, ready to give what they can. They understand the world doesn’t exist for them, they exist for the world, to give back what they can. (Thank you to all of the commited leaders at N-Dub SWITCH. You enable the ministry.)

I was raised to believe that commitment should be taken seriously. That when you give your word to something you follow through. One of my favorite verses is Matthew 5:37 “Simply let your yes be yes and your no, no. Anything else comes from the devil.” Be a person of your word. Commitment is one of my core values, something I manage my life around and will someday instill in my family.

What about you? Do you believe in commitment? Do you think commitment is a lost virtue? Why?

Sometimes, my husband tells me I’m stubborn. I, of course, argue my case, not backing down for anything…. which just goes to show that of course he’s right. I am stubborn, but admitting it would be a kind of surrender. One I’m not quite ready to give.

Stubbornness, for a woman can either be her friend or her enemy. Our stubbornness is that rebellious streak hardwired into each of us as a daughter of Eve. Sometimes it gives us the ability to face and conquer the issues of life as they come. But it is also that same rebellion that can get us into trouble if we don’t know how to use it to our advantage.

How do we use rebellion to our advantage? How can we put the power of stubbornness to work in our lives to bring about a positive outcome? It’s all in what we choose to rebel against.

• Instead of rebelling against obedience to God, rebel against sin.
• Instead of rebelling against your husband, rebel against the desire to always be right
• Instead of resisting change, rebel against mediocrity
• Instead of allowing life to just happen, rebel against laziness

Rebel against that which is against you. Harness the power of your stubbornness and use to bring about positive outcomes in your life.

What do you need to rebel against?

Lately I’ve found myself in the same conversation with many different people. Some have confessed to sin, others admit depression, some want to give it all up. My question in each of these conversations has been the same:

“How is your time with God?”

The answers varied but most landed on: Non-existent. As they were relaying their pains and doubts to me the answer was evident. They had been spending more time flexing their flesh than their spirit. What does that mean, exactly? I’ve always seen it like this:

Our flesh and our spirit are at war within us. They battle for control and inevitably one will win. Which one wins, however, is completely up to us.

Think of your flesh and your spirit like two muscles. Which one do you flex more? Are you giving in to your flesh more, therefore making it stronger? Or are you feeding, working, and flexing your spirit muscle, making it the dominate of the two?

I know for me, I haven’t been feeding my spirit as I should. I can tell a big difference in my attitude and outlook on life when my spirit is starved. It’s not that I’m intentionally starving my spirit,–no one ever does. But by being unintentional I have inevitably allowed my flesh to become stronger.

What about you? Which muscle do you flex more? What ways do you think we can starve the flesh while feeding the spirit?

Jesus: Do you love me?

Peter: Yes, Lord.

Jesus: Feed my lambs.

Jesus: Peter, do you love me?

Peter: Yes, Lord. You know that I love you.

Jesus: Take care of my sheep.

Jesus: Peter, do you love me?

Peter: Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.

Jesus: Feed my sheep.

What is meant by “feed my sheep”?

What is that thing that everyone wants? The thing that makes life bearable. That thing that, once you have it, you know probably won’t stay around for long. It’s elusive. Some people think money can bring it, others swear they’ll never experience it. Many people devote their life to the pursuit of it. Do you have it?

I’m talking about happiness. Happiness defined is: delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing or situation. But what happens if that particular thing or situation is not a happy one? What if it is a hard situation? What if it seems like an impossible situation? Then happiness is gone. Replaced with any number of these atonyms: Sadness, misery, depression, anger, hoplessness, gloomyness and dejection. Have you ever felt any of these emotions?

What if I told you, you didn’t have to feel these things any longer? Even in the midst of impossible circumstances, what if you could overcome those words that describe the frame of mind of so many people today?

You see, happiness is caused by happenings. If a particular happening is happy, then you will be happy. However, likewise, if a particular happening is not happy, what are you left feeling?

Instead, I believe we should focus our energies not on happiness, but on JOY.

Joy has nothing to do with our happenings or circumstances. Joy trancends those things. Joy outlasts. Joy rises above.

So, how do we get joy? Easy. We already have it.

Here’s why that is true. God has given each and every one of us the free gift of grace. We no longer have to answer for our sins. We are saved and covered by the blood of Jesus. For free! If that doesn’t make you want to jump up in down with joy, I don’t know what will!

There is joy in grace. If grace is a free gift, then joy is freely available to anyone.

If we truly believe that, then no matter what circumstance comes our way, we can rise above it. No, our circumstances may not change. They may even get worse before they get better. But even in the midst of what is out of our control, we can control one thing: Our attitude. We can decide to be joyful no matter what life throws our way.

Joy is a choice. Choose joy. It’s free!

“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 

Ever feel like Peter? I did. All last week. It’s funny how little distractions can really take your eyes off the One leading. 

Little distractions, like: 

Wedding problems, eating habits, job frustrations, believing lies… just to name a few. 

I felt like Peter last week, sinking, as the waves of my life buffeted against me. (Ever feel that way?) I forgot to just keep my eyes focused, remembering that I’ve never been let down before. 

Faith. That’s all it is. Believing that I won’t sink even though it feels that way–or even if I feel like I want to! 

Jesus likes faith. It pleases Him.