As Soon As I Pray

As soon as I pray, You answer me;
    You encourage me by giving me strength.

Psalm 138:3 

 

When stress comes, and it will with a vengeance, and it feels like you're in the middle of a hand-to-hand battle...what do you do?  Honestly, I tend to fight a losing battle until I am exhausted, frustrated, and defeated.  THEN I remember that God is on my side and He commands us to be still and let Him fight for us.  That's when I feel the thump to the forehead and I remember to pray.  When I pray, I have to keep praying until I can honestly let it go and let God deal with it. Why? Because I'm stubborn like that.

 

When I let God deal with it, He fills me with His peace and refills me with the strength that stress had drained from me.  It's not easy letting go of stress, anxiety, worry and frustration. But when we pray, God answers!

Stay Put?

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

James 1:14-15

 

There's an old story about a frog who found himself in a pot of water.  The water was nice and cool, so he had a great time swimming around the pot.  A little while later, the water got a little warmer, but the frog wasn't too concerned because the sun was out and he was having too much fun.  The longer he swam in the water, the warmer it seemed to get.  After a while, the frog had boiled to death.  

 

A rather gruesome end to the frog, but it makes a point.  We are like that frog when we decide that sin is just to much fun.  So we stay and play longer and longer until we are trapped like the frog.  Here's my point: When we find out that we are in that pool of sin, GET OUT FAST!  Confess it, be done with it, and don't look back!  

 

Be One

As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.

2 Thessalonians 3:13 

 

What's the purpose for doing good for others?  Is it so we can claim credit and look good in front of others?  If that's the purpose, then we have it wrong!

 

We should be doing good for others simply for the sake of doing good for others! Be One who does good for the sake of doing good.

 

Think about that today!

Challenging

Study to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 

 

I wish I could say that my desk was as neat as the picture, but I would be lying.  There IS an organization to my stack of papers, notes, books, articles, my coffee cup (which is now empty for the 5th time this morning), various bottles of water, pens, highlighters, and my glasses.  And why do I have such a sea of stuff on my desk?  Because of YOU!  That's right.  In order to write these devotionals, and in order to properly serve in the ministry of Law Enforcement Chaplaincy, I have to study. 

 

I admit that I didn't really like school that much.  I couldn't wait until I was out of school because I told myself, "I'll NEVER have to study again!" and I was wrong.  You see, in order to make sense of the Scriptures I read, I have to break them down and look at each word, then reassemble them in a way that is easier to understand.  

 

Studying such weird things as people is quite the challenge as well.  Yes, I am a people watcher and an observer of human behavior.  How can I tell if something is bothering you if I don't know how you normally act?  It takes studying a LOT to do this job and I love every single minute of it!  

 

Thank you for challenging me to learn more!

Look Ahead

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11 

 

Read today's verse.  Read it again.  Read it out loud.  Write it down and put it where you can see if every day.

 

Now think about the verse for a minute.  Does God say, "I had plans for you, but since you kinda messed up along the way......sorry"?  Does God tell us, "Y'know, if you had only studied a little harder, the plans I had for you would have happened.  But....ya didn't"?

 

NO!!  God reminds us that He KNOWS THE PLANS He has for us!  They are not past tense!  God has plans for each of us, and those plans are going to be AMAZING!!!  God's plans for us are not contingent on anything other than God's ability to get us where we need to be, by whatever means He needs to use.  NOTHING can thwart God's plans for us!  Cling to that!

"Moving On"

Walk with the wise and become wise;
    associate with fools and get in trouble.

Proverbs 13:20 

 

QUIZ TIME!!!  What is the ONE thing you cannot change?  Surgery can't change it.  Money can't change it.  NOTHING can change it.  Give up?  It's your past!  The life you have lived up to this point cannot be changed or unlived.  However, our minds can relive it over and over if we let it, and it's usually not the good parts.

 

Let me ask you a question: "Where did God place our eyes?"  In Front!  So we can see where we are going instead of watching where we've been.  The wise person has learned from their lives up to this moment.  And they now live IN this moment while looking toward the future.  

"What Would You Do If...?"

Jesus said to the devil, “Go away from me, Satan! It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

Matthew 4:10 

 

Remember Jesus?  After He was baptized, He went into the desert where the devil came to try to tempt Jesus.  Think about how the devil tempts us.  Does he tempt us with brussel sprouts or chocolate?  Does he tempt us with someone who looks better or with the person who is right for you?  Does he tempt with things we can afford or those things we would like but really can't afford?

 

The devil tempted Jesus with things which would appeal to most people...Wealth and power! Imagine having no limits to your prestige or your bank account.  Imagine having the power to do whatever you wanted.  When I was in kindergarten, we would play a game of "What Would You Do If..."  One person would ask the question and insert their own ending, for example, "What would you do if you found a bag with lots of money?"  And each person would answer the question.  This little game tells a LOT about a person?

 

Ask yourself this question and see how easily you can be tempted.  When we face temptation, we need to act IMMEDIATELY and ask God for strength and a way out! Follow the example of Christ...He resisted the devil and the devil fled from Him. And James 4:7, reminds us that we need to do that as well. 

Check!

This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

John 3:16 

 

 Do you have a checklist?  I do.  Whenever I get ready to go on vacation, I have a checklist of what I need to take.  When I get ready for my day, I have a checklist of what goes in my Chaplain's Go-Bag (and Yes, it includes candy).  When I have a project to accomplish, I have a checklist of things I need to do to complete the project.  Pharisees LOVED checklists!  They believed that if they ticked all the right boxes on their "religious" checklist, they would gain entry into Heaven.  

 

Hmmm..... I have a problem with those who believe they can earn their way into Heaven. Especially when Jesus, Himself, told us to believe in Him and have eternal life.  No boxes to check.  No lists to maintain.  Believe!  With your whole being, believe in Him!  It's really not complicated....it's called "Grace" and it's free!

 

 

Out Of Options

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

John 5:7 

 

Ever feel as though, no matter how hard you worked, you just didn't seem to be getting any better?  Have you ever felt guilty, especially after you asked God to forgive you?  You look at your options and find that you don't have any?

 

In today's story, from John 5, there is a man who has been invalid for years.  At the Pool of Bethseda, when the water bubbled up, the FIRST person into the water would be healed, and this man had been waiting and trying to get in on his own, but couldn't.  Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed and the man replied that he has no one to put him in the pool.  He was out of options and seems to have resigned himself to his state.

 

Now Jesus could have simply told the man, "Hate it for you. Have a good day." and walked away.  But is that how Jesus worked?  Instead, Jesus offered the man another option when he told the man to get up, take up his mat and go home.  This man took the new option Jesus offered him.  How about us?  Over and over, Jesus tells us that our sins are forgiven, yet do we really take Him up on His offer?  Imagine if we actually took His offered option and stopped letting guilt run our lives.  Imagine if we actually took His offered option and quit worrying about things we have done for which we have been forgiven.

 

What's stopping us from taking His offered option? 

What Do You Mean "IF"?

But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Then Jesus said to him, “‘If you are able?’ All things are possible for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the boy cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:22-24 

 

Have you ever prayed about something and then wondered if God would be able to help?  In this passage today, a boy who was possessed by a demon was brought to Jesus.  The boy's father told Jesus that His Disciples had tried to remove the demon, but were unable to.  Then he told Jesus that "if you are able to do anything...help us."  Jesus' response sounds almost as if He felt insulted, "'If you are able?' ALL things are possible for the one who believes."

 

Think about the things you pray for....most of our prayers can use so help.  Our prayer lives are, for the most part, limited to a recited prayer over a meal or something we memorized along the way.  I have heard people put together some nice sounding formula for prayer, yet when I used their formula I knew my prayers were not a conversation with the LOVE who created everything.  If we wait until we "learn how to pray" we will never get there. 

 

God responds to our bare, honest, sincerity.  When your heart is broken and your wounds are laid bare, when you feel that only a miracle from God can help you...God already knew what you needed before you were born and responds to us in love. The boy's father didn't pray a lot of nice, eloquent, well thought out bunch of words in King James English.  NO!  This man prayed simply and from his soul: "Help My Unbelief!"  And guess what?  Jesus was moved with compassion and removed the demon from the boy.

 

Prayer is a conversation with God that is honest, bold, raw, bare, and from the heart! 

Forged In Fire

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

Proverbs 27:17 

 

One of my new favorite shows is "Forged In Fire" where the participants are given certain metals and have three hours to turn that lump of metal into some sort of weapon.  To me it's fascinating watching someone taking parts of a pinball machine and turning it into some sort of blade.  Not only is the blade supposed to actually look like a blade, it must be sharpened into functionality.

 

Think about this, God forges us in the fire of experiences.  It is in the furnace of trials that we become stronger.  We also are sharpened partly by those we choose to be our friends.  Hmmmm.....we are sharpened by those we CHOOSE to be our friends!  How are your friends sharpening you?  Do you have a rapier wit filled with bitterness and sarcasm because that's how your chosen friends have sharpened you?  Or do you have the scalpel which is used to heal and remove harmful things?

 

Not only are WE sharpened by our friends, we also sharpen others as well.  So think for a moment, how are you sharpening your friends? 

The Value Of Being Worried

But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

Luke 10:40 

 

Martha was irritated because her sister, Mary, was not helping her with the preparations for the big dinner.  They had guests in their house and a big dinner was expected, yet Mary was lost in thought, listening to one of the guests talking.  Martha had a list upon list upon list of things that needed to be done, and the more frantically she worked, the more irritated she became.  Until she just couldn't take it anymore!  So she goes to their guest, Jesus, to get Him to tell Mary to get up and help with dinner!  She fully expected Mary to be put in her place by Jesus and shamed into getting to work in the kitchen.  

 

Have you ever felt like you were doing all the work while others just say around doing absolutely nothing?  Have you ever become so frustrated because others seemed to be "wasting time" while you were scrambling trying to do good?  Have you ever gotten burned out trying to DO things at church for others and it's as if no one appreciated your efforts?

 

Martha expected Jesus to step up and put Mary in her place....and Martha was wrong!  Jesus didn't put Mary in her place, instead He gently rebuked Martha.  Look at Jesus' words to Martha in verses 41-42: 

 

 "But the Lord said to her, 'My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.'”

 

You see, being busy is a distraction.  Even if it's busy doing good things.  Jesus told Martha that Mary discovered the one thing worth being concerned about...and being busy wasn't it. 

God's Got You!

For I, the Lord your God,
    hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
    I am the one who helps you.”

Isaiah 41:13 

 

I have a confession to make:  I have trouble trusting God. Don't get me wrong, I know that nothing is impossible for God. My trouble comes when my heart knows that, until it comes time for me to quit worrying and let God do His job.  You see, I have this nasty habit of expecting God to do things the way I want them done, and He doesn't work like that.  God sees the entirety of everything and has already planned how to make everything fall into place at just the right time and in just the right way.

 

I like Martin Luther!  He bucked the traditional way of thinking and taught truth.  I have learned much from reading his writings.  Yet, I still struggle with letting go and letting God take care of me.  Am I really so arrogant to believe God can't do what He promised? No!  Am I so controlling that I feel this need to tell God how to do His job?  No!  Is my faith so weak at times that I wonder if God really is going to help me? Yes.

 

Daily my prayer has been, "Help my unbelief."  And you know what?  God has put me in situations where the only thing I could do is trust Him.  And guess what? He has proven Himself true every single time, in HIS time.  I admit that I am a stubborn child, slow to learn new ways of living, but God has been patiently working with me to help me learn to let Him deal with the details as I learn to let go. 

Give Up?

Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”

Matthew 28:5-7 

 

Have you ever had a dream crumble to the point that you wanted to give up? Have you ever experienced a situation that just crushed your dreams?  I have.  It's not a good feeling.  In fact, it's devastating.  This is what Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph felt as they went to the tomb of Jesus to prepare the body of Jesus for proper burial.  This man whom they followed, listened to, saw miracles performed through Him, had been killed.  They felt as if their dreams had been killed with Him.  

 

When they got to the tomb, they found the stone rolled away and some glowing guy in a blindingly white suit sitting on the stone.  When they got closer, he told them that Jesus was no longer in the tomb and if they needed proof to come look inside for themselves. They looked inside and saw that the guy was absolutely correct.  And they felt their dreams restored.

 

Let me ask you something, was the stone moved so Jesus could get out?  Nope!  The stone was moved in order that the women could look inside!  And their hope was restored!  God proved to them that what Jesus said about rising after the third day was true!  And guess what, God still proves His love for us even now...every day...if we don't give up!

Abide

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

JOHN 15:5-6 

 

I like words, if you didn't already know that.  In fact, there are certain phrases that my mind will latch onto from almost every move, television program, or book.  These phrases rattle around my brain (like a handful of ball bearings in a steel drum) eventually becoming part of my regular discourse.  

 

One such phrase is from the movie "The Big Lebowski".  I won't give away the plot, but the phrase my mind latched onto is "The Dude Abides". My mind took this phrase and immediately thought of today's passage.  If we abide with Christ, we will bear much fruit.  As we are into the Lent season, I decided that I'm not going to GIVE UP anything, rather I will seek rehabituation (replacing a negative habit with a positive habit).  I will be seeking to change my habit of trying to do God's job, or at least stop telling Him how I would do His job, and seek to abide with Christ relying on Him instead.

 

This Dude Abides in Christ!

I Dare You!

"So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!"

Psalm 31:24

 

I have a dare for you.  Click on the link below.  I dare you to watch this prayer from the movie "The War Room" and not be moved!  I also dare you to take up challenge in this prayer and BE the warrior for TRUTH we so need today!

 

The War Room Prayer

I DARE YOU!!

 

 

Something Fishy About The Tax...

²⁴ On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?”

²⁵ “Yes, he does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house.

But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?”
²⁶ “They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied.

“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free! ²⁷ However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”
Matthew 17:24-27

Taxes.....always seem to be going up or new ones being added.  We aren't fond of paying taxes even though we do get some benefit from paying them.  The Temple Tax was half a shekel (around 15 cents today) and was paid by the Jews for the upkeep of the Temple.  The priests, however, were exempt from the tax.  In today's passage, Jesus and Peter go to the Temple, and while Jesus goes on in, Peter is cornered by the collectors of the Temple Tax demanding to know if Jesus doesn't pay.  Peter's response is that Jesus does pay the Temple Tax and goes to find Jesus inside.  

After some discussion, Jesus tells Peter to go throw a line in the water and to look in the mouth of the FIRST fish he catches and he find the amount for the tax.  The point I got from this miracle is that Jesus already knew how much was needed, and He provided EXACTLY the amount needed.  He's good about that. 

You see, Jesus knows exactly what we need even, and especially, when we don't.  Yet Jesus provides exactly what we need when it is needed.  Perhaps we need to learn a lesson, so Jesus allows us to face the consequences of our decisions so we will learn.  Perhaps we need encouragement, so Jesus sends someone to encourage us just when we need it most.  So why should we pray and let Jesus know what we need?  Because prayer requests aren't telling Him anything He doesn't already know, as it is for US to understand what we truly need so when He provides we will recognize it and give Him praise.

Think about that! 

 

LOOK!!!!

Do you have a past?  Are there things in your past that cause you pain, shame, guilt, embarrassment?  My past is LOADED with such things!  Most days I am astounded that God has let me live this long.  I read a Facebook post from a wonderful friend who shared: "You can’t re-write your past but with God’s good grace you can dust off and climb mountains!" Talk about a wonderful wake up call!

I spent many many years praying that God would forgive me for my past, yet the guilt and shame just got more and more overwhelming.  Finally, I decided I needed to talk with a trusted friend.  That friend listened carefully, thought for a moment, and then asked "Did God teach you anything through all this?"  BAM!  Right between the eyes!!!  God uses our experiences to shape us and teach us and prepare us for the purpose He has for us.

Our enemy will use our past against us to try to make us so guilt ridden that we just quit trying.  BUT...when we focus on God's love for us, we put the past behind us, learn from it, and close the door on it!  Let's make the conscious decision to look toward the future with the love God has filled our hearts with and BE the shining light to show others God's plans are truly worth striving for!

Words Words and More Words

Words kill, words give life;
    they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.

Proverbs 18:21 

 

Consider the words we use in communicating with each other......are they helpful or hurtful?  Are they healing or killing?  Are they kind or hateful?  We choose our words from the words we have learned throughout our lives....choose wisely.

Speaking of Speaking

You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.

Psalm 139:4 

 

In keeping with the idea of brevity.....I'm going to just put this here for you to ponder.

Proof Is In The Doing

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

1 John 3:18 

Have you ever had someone tell you that they love you?  Did their actions prove their words?  Here's today's point: Words are lies if our actions don't prove them true.

Ponder that for a bit.