Wait

Sept.
Psalm 27:14

Waiting....we all have had times in our life where we might get angry or upset with waiting.  Waiting in rush hour traffic can be one of the most frustrating things we face.  Waiting in the doctors hospital.  Maybe even waiting in the grocery line.

Another aspect in our lives might be waiting on our Lord.  We live in a gotta have it now generation.  People line up for hours for the next iphone.  When we were younger we would wait hours to ride a roller coaster or other thrill ride.  Some people even wait for food.

It can be difficult at times to wait on the Lord.  Often times we grow impatient or weary at waiting.  Sometimes we give up even though we see He answers our prayers or reveals His power, mercy, grace, and love another way.  We often overlook the prayers He has answered or the blessings we have already received.

I encourage you to wait for His will.  Continue to pray.  Continue to preserve.  Continue to praise.  Continue to do Hus work and be light to those around you.  Don't lose focus and give up.  Fix your eyes upon His glory and live today and let Him control all aspects of your life.  He is sovereign and unchanging.  He is constant in our every changing lives.  Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord.

Near

Sept. 22nd
Phil. 4:4

Yesterday we discussed how sometimes are actions are different when we are around other people.  I asked the question do you act differently when God is around?  After a little discussion they said that God is always around,  but our focus isn't always on Him.

We also discussed finding joy even in the difficult times.  It was a encouraging discussion with many different youth being open and honest. 

Paul here encourages us first to live in harmony.  He challenges us to live a spiritual disciplined life.  One where we recognize God is near.  God is near and can guide us through the trials of life.  Gid is also near when we are not living out the light inside us.  God sees all things.

This is a close relationship.   Not only are we to live in harmony with others,  but we must live in harmony with Christ as well.  Our character should be the same as if He is near at all times.

Lord,  I need your strength to live out and walk in this kind of harmony.  Help me feel and recognize you are near.  Help me hold you close to my heart even in those difficult times.  Help me overcome distraction and burden my heart not just for you, but for others as well.

Greater

Sept. 19th

We can look throughout the Bible and even in our own lives and see how He was greater then our storm, our struggle, our pain, and even our sin.

Whatever you are facing today I encourage you to give it to Him who is Greater. Give a listen to the Mercy Me song.  Sing it out and with confidence that our afflictions are small and monetary compared to the glory of Christ.

Trustworthy

Sept. 15th
Philippians 2:19-30

Looking at this passage really made me think about the relationships in my life and how blessed I 'am to have each one of them.  We can look at this passage and the relationship between Paul and Timothy.  On Sunday we discussed this relationship and I asked who could we trust in our life, and who would trust us?

Being trustworthy plays a vital role in relationships.  It would seem being a Christian that we automatically would be trustworthy.  However, how many times do we find something later, or too late.  Not only is it important for us to have people we can depend on, but we must strive to earn trust from others.  Early in life we give people the benefit of the doubt and trust them right away.  However, our trust for these people gets broken and blurry.  People let us down, hurt us, or maybe even fail us.

We can look in the Bible at many different relationships that were dependent on trust.  We see where Jesus trusted 12 disciples to follow him.  How can we be more trustworthy?  We must try and model the examples scripture gives us.  What better example do we have?  We can see how trust and love were in the forefront.  In this life we all need someone to walk with us.  A spouse, family member, friend, mentor, etc.  We also must seek that relationship with Christ first.  He is always trustworthy, and if we follow God's will and let that will guide us we will be lead to relationships that will grow us, guide us, mold us, and transform us.  Maybe you know someone that needs someone trustworthy in their life right now.  We need people who don't always seek their own interests, but look out for others intentions and well being.

Self-denial

Sept. 12th
Romans 15:1

The world tries to tell us to only worry about yourself.  Sometimes it tells us we have to hurt others to gain higher positions or power.  It tells us only the strongest survive. 

As followers of Christ we can't just look at our selfish desires.  While it is important to take care of ourselves, and our families we must do so without hurting others.

We have been called out by Christ to help those who are weak.  Jesus ministry was about helping those who were weak.  This weakness doesn't necessarily have to be a physical ailment.  We are to step up and help those who suffer, struggle, sin or many other things that make us weak.  Those who are strong in Christ are to deny themselves and help those who are weak become strong in Christ.

There will be times when we become weak.  Wouldn't we want someone strong in Christ to help us back up.  Someone to encourage us, pray for us, and love us.

We tend to turn our backs sometimes when someone is going through a time of weakness.  We hold certain types of sins higher than others.  We are all sinners.  We can still help those who have made bad decisions.  We all go through a time of weakness.  We must keep our eyes on Christ our only source of strength and direct those are weak toward His light and loving grace.

Devoted

Devotion
Col. 4:2

We just started a series at church on prayer.  As you have seen many of these blogs have mentioned prayer.  Prayer takes devotion. A basic description of devotion is to love someone. One quote I read said prayer is the Christian's breath. We can't live without air and we can't walk with Christ without prayer.

Prayer has been labeled as a negative action in the last few decades. Prayer in school is banned.  Prayer at sporting events or other functions have been banned.  It seems others get offended at prayer or argue that prayer to God is against their religion. 

We must stay devoted.  No matter the obstacles or trials that may come our way.  Prayer doesn't have to be out loud or outside.  Prayer can take place anywhere and anytime.

I really enjoy Max Lucado books and I can't wait to read his newest one titled Before Amen.

I encourage you to be devoted to prayer.  If we love our father above then we should devote our time in prayer.

Money

Sept. 8th

Sorry for not posting the past few days.

So our church started financial peace last night.  I have been through the class already.  However,  we felt we needed a refresher.

I know that not everyone agrees with Dave Ramsey.  He seems a little crazy with some of this stuff.  I can only tell you that if you put forth an effort you will see results.  We payed for a wedding and have payed off at least $2,000 in debt using some of the tools we gained from this class.

Debt can be crippling to not only you and your spouse.  It can hurt your children or parents.  I encourage you to try out the class or really think about your finances.  Start with a budget.  I'm not promising you will make millions or get out of debt. But you will be better prepared going forward.  It feels great when you hit milestones like cutting up a credit card.  Check around for classes.  It is one of the best investments you will ever make.

Continously

Sept. 4th
Psalm 34:1

How often do we praise our Lord?
Daily? Weekly? Good times or bad?

We need to be continually praising.  Declare I will bless the Lord - I will praise him; I will be thankful for his mercies, and will always express my sense of his goodness.

At all times - In every situation of life; in every event that occurs. The idea is, that we would do it publicly and privately; in prosperity and in adversity; in safety and in danger; in joy and in sorrow. It would be a great principle of our life, expressive of the deep feeling of the soul, that God was always to be regarded as an object of adoration and praise.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth - I will be constantly uttering his praises.

Sent via the Samsung GALAXY S®4, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

Humble

Sept. 3rd
James 4:10

Attempting the 21 day challenge of writing everyday wasn't something I did for attention.  I started the challenge because I felt God telling me to do it.  At first I only shared it with about 6-7 others.  After writing a while I was encouraged to update my blog and add all my devotionals to it.  Coming across today's verse I mostly consider myself a humble person.  I don't seek attention or accolades.   I don't boast about anything past or present.  In fact at times I'm my own worst critic.  I will get back to that in a second.

Being humble is more then not bragging.  Some say it is lowering yourself to someone or something.  When breaking down what is humble and what is not I found I'm not as humble as I think I am.  Do I consider myself equal with God? Not for a second.  However,  when I try to make something my will, when I don't give him full control, when I  don't seek Him first...I'm not being humble.  I then am relying on my own strength and desires.  I may not realize it but then I'm lowering God below me.  We must be careful of this kind of thinking.  I must always look above not below.  We also must be careful with being humble and degrading ourselves.  Yes we are lower then Christ.  However, we cannot put ourselves down or boast.  C.S. Lewis says "Humility is not thinking less of yourself,  it's thinking of yourself less".

Lord help us to be humble before you.  Let us seek you in ALL things and not rely on our own abilities.   After all you gave us these abilities to honor, praise, and glorify you.

Rest

Sept. 2nd

Sometimes you just need rest.  What a great Labor Day!!  We started our morning with a 2 mile walk.  We also pretty much did nothing most of the day and it was great.  We ended up going over to some friends and cooked out and went swimming.  It was nice to just sit back and relax with some great people.  It is important to remember that we need rest sometimes.  Sometimes we just need a break from it all.  Not just our bodies.  Our minds need a break as well.  Sometimes we just to reenergize or refuel.  Running yourself into the ground provides no benefit. Sometimes that means saying NO.  I find that is one of the hardest things for me to do at times.  I always want to be able to help or go to every event/fellowship outing.  However, sometimes we just got to take some time for ourselves.  It can seem selfish.  However, we can see where even Jesus took time away.  We must make sure we are getting what we need and taking care of our families first.  I hope you all where able to get some time to yourself or some time to relax.  If not try to schedule some time away from everything.  Be sure to spend time with God and let Him refresh your mind, body, and soul.