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“The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.” Deuteronomy 11:10-12

A brother in the faith this past week told me of a time when he went into business with his brother.…  ( Click for more )

“If you obey you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey". Deuteronomy 11:9

Yet another blessing of obedience to God is long life. I think what is often over looked is not just the length of life but the quality of your life when you are obedient to God. Without having to dwell on the obvious, media gives us way too much information on how people live unhappy lives. All over this world, and especially the U.S., individuals seek to fill their lives with things…  ( Click for more )

The other day I watched the PBS special entitled “The Madoff Affair”. It was very interesting to say the least. It chronicles a life of a man that lost himself in greed and selfishness. Unfortunately, as does all cases like his, it started with small instances in his life of dishonesty and cheating here and there. There are never any full blown blatant things that happen, just little bits along the way. Actions that lack integrity have to be nipped in the bud. They work much like yeast in dough. Before long they creep up on an individual and create a life of duplicity.…  ( Click for more )

Last week I heard several sermons and messages about trusting God’s promises. And in today’s society at first listen, this sounds much like another spiritual cliché. Unfortunately the reason is because the word promise has been abused. Many people have made promises to us and subsequently broken them. That process has left us at times scarred and feeling alone without the ability to trust. Their lack of integrity has negatively affected us and most likely others. But the God of Heaven makes promises that he cannot and will not break. By nature he is not a…  ( Click for more )

Every now and then I catch myself watching a movie that starts at the end and works its way back to the beginning. (I am pretty sure those type of movies have a name, although I do not know it.) I do not prefer these types of movies but for some reason I am intrigued on how the director and writer work together to captivate the audience to keep them watching even though they have seen the end already. I guess what gets me is that although you know the end of the movie, there is something more that has been hidden that you are waiting for so you continue to watch to find out what…  ( Click for more )

I can remember a time or two when I have tried to use the wrong tool for a job around the house. For instance I specifically remember at least two instances when I was using a screwdriver when I should have had a hammer. In both cases I ended up whacking the finger that was doing the holding. I guess I could have gotten the hammer but for whatever reason I was ill-equipped to complete the job because of the wrong tool. Not that the screwdriver was without worth, it just did not serve my purpose. I have chosen to write about purpose because I believe it to be the single-most area…  ( Click for more )

Last week I threw a bunch of statistical data at you that reflect the decay of our nation. And my humble opinion is that it is due to the lack of prayer in our society. It appears that we have gone from a nation that prays to a nation without a prayer. However, there is hope and I think it begins with what Jesus told his disciples in Luke 18:1. Allow me to do a little theorizing here. I would imagine that our nation is not the first nation to turn its back on God. After all we have the well-chronicled history of the Israelite nation that turned to and from God throughout their…  ( Click for more )

P-R-A-Y.

Why is this word so significant? Why is it so especially powerful in the lives of believers? Further, why has the United States as a nation gone from a praying nation, to a nation without prayer? I think all these questions lead to very interesting answers. But let's begin with what Jesus said, "Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart" (See Luke 18:1). So if Jesus the Son of God instructed his own disciples to pray always, then it is obvious that we should continue with a life of prayer. Prayer has historically…  ( Click for more )

In part 1 of this 3-part series, I mentioned that in learning to trust God, you have to find yourself seeking God. I wanted to spend time talking about what that means. I feel that most individuals have an idea what that entails but when life's challenges come, do we find ourselves doing it. From my perspective seeking God at times can seem such an elusive process. You know sometimes you feel you are really in tune with his plan for your life and other times you really feel like, “Lord can you just give me a clue?” For example, I know that on most mornings I'm going…  ( Click for more )

Whenever it is suggested that God can receive glory from the life of a mere human, it just amazes me. But I am no fool, I understand that it involves a process. Early in my faith walk I learned this principle the hard way. I’m sure that I’ve stated before how practical of a person that I am (or was!). Things in life tend to just be “black and white” for me and I pretty much look for every round peg to fit into its respective hole. But during the first several months of my self-employment God taught me one of the most valuable lessons in life. But as…  ( Click for more )

For most individuals, this would seem to be a rhetorical question. However, when this question is posed spiritually, it really relates to the difference in trusting yourself and trusting God. There is a very obvious difference between these two axioms of trust. When difficult situations hit you in life, as a Christian, your proper response is to rely on your Heavenly Father for help and guidance through this circumstance. But is this your initial reaction or your final action? Here is what I mean. In a storm, you have to react suddenly and decisively. There seems to be no time to…  ( Click for more )

During a very tumultuous time in my life, when God was teaching me how to love like Christ I felt that I was in the wrong ministry. It was strange because this lesson went on for so very long I was sure that my wife and I were the source of the tumult. As we endured through it we examined ourselves, our methods, our thoughts because we didn’t want to be holding up the ministry or holding ourselves back from moving to another place. Life is much too short for that (see Psalm 39:5) But in searching for answers it seems we always came back to the same thing….stay here!…  ( Click for more )

As has been done in the past, I have applied a theme to coincide with certain holidays we celebrate in this American culture. And with Easter approaching, I feel compelled to do the same. Even more so than other times because of the significance to me personally. For weeks now, many preachers I listen to regularly have been discussing the time during Jesus' ministry on earth that led to his betrayal and death. And I see no other single series of events that are more relevant to his followers. Particularly, Easter is a focus on his resurrection but I would like to center this…  ( Click for more )

From the beginning I will be honest that this is an area in life that I truly struggle with. Even at the time of this writing, I was thinking of how I can steadily improve in this area. Unfortunately I believe that many Christians struggle in their “evangelism” techniques. If I’m modeling the apostle Paul in this area of Christian service I have a lot to strive for. Paul set the bar extraordinarily high it seems when it came to witnessing in the name of Christ at all costs. However, think about when you receive good news don’t you want to share it. …  ( Click for more )

Genesis 3 contains an account that has been viewed as the fall of man. In summary, Eve questions God’s authority by disobeying him after a beguiling conversation with the serpent. I have heard many a message on this particular subject and just this past weekend I looked at it from a different perspective. You see for the longest time I had faulted the serpent for tricking Eve (which I still do blame him) but I realized recently that Eve was in control of her choices that fateful day and I can learn at least three lessons from her on what not to do, and what traps of the…  ( Click for more )

Don't strive to be perfect, strive to do God's will.

Coping with failure can often be hard. This can be especially tough after a long string of success or victory in an area. Many Christians deal with this dilemma. How do you deal with the pain of failure when you know that your heart is right? Let me explain. Maybe you realize your failure and want to correct it. You have things in place to control failures of that sort to a certain extent and as long as they are followed you will have continued success. However, relaxing those boundaries has lead to your demise. I have an…  ( Click for more )

During a period of my faith walk I was reading certain books of the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter and during this time I spent time in the book of Acts. (As an aside, I strongly encourage every believer to read the Bible like this as it provides a much broader picture of the word of God.) During Paul’s missionary journeys with Barnabas he was persecuted endlessly by a group of Jews that had followed his preaching circuits from Antioch. At the point that I’m referencing, Paul and Barnabas had left Antioch and traveled all the way to Iconium (at least 75 miles…  ( Click for more )

In Acts chapters 10,11 there is a wonderful story about Peter converting Gentiles and baptizing them. Upon his arrival back in Jerusalem, he’s criticized for carrying out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19). Have you ever caught yourself prescreening God’s applicants? Maybe prescreen is a hard word. But just as the Jerusalem Christians were guilty then, we are guilty now of deciding of who should come to Christ. You do know it’s your God-given duty to evangelize and tell all people about the good news of Christ, right? Have you ever found yourself being selective…  ( Click for more )

Listening for the voice of God....

I recently was reading about the prophet Elijah. I make him the subject of today's devotional because he was such an interesting character. Although he had wrought mighty manifestations of God's power throughout his prophetic career, he ended up running in fear for his life from Queen Jezebel. I say this is interesting because Elijah experienced the power of God like none other during that period of time but yet his focus on God was distracted. Wouldn't you think that someone that didn't even see death (he was translated by God), would…  ( Click for more )

This past week was very busy for me. My little sister exchanged wedding vows this past weekend and I joyfully assisted in whatever way I could in helping with the arrangements. The ceremony was wonderful and all went well from the standpoint that I could see. That is just how life is with its ups and downs. It brings moments of elation--seemingly more than one can handle at times. For example, I remember that as the sanctuary door opened I was taken aback by how beautiful my little sister looked. Tons of moments flashed before my eyes as I pondered childhood memories, but yet and…  ( Click for more )

Have you ever been punched in the stomach? Do you remember that awful feeling? It is a pain so unique because of the state in which you find yourself. I find it surprising that among other sensations, there is a loss of breath. A good blow to that area will even make you gasp. Well for those of you that have not had that experience, what in life has caused you to gasp. What has caused a sudden loss of breath in your life? Where am I going with all this? I am learning (even with an experience as recent as this week) that God is still present in that moment of loss. When even…  ( Click for more )

“Handling the influence that your dreams have on others is in part getting comfortable with the real you.”

I remember that not long after I made the decision to leave my job to go after what God had for me I shared it with my men’s group. Boy was that a mistake! I was met with a lukewarm response that I felt was mainly criticism. I felt like Joseph must have felt when he retold his dreams back to his brothers. Sometimes it can be hard to share what God has given you to people close to you because it is just meant for you. What do I mean by that? Well,…  ( Click for more )

Wouldn’t it be an interesting prospect that after you messed something up you were able to hit a “reset” button and start over? Think about this for a minute. Think of your life’s biggest failures and mistakes and the chance to take all the experience from that flop and start over. Wouldn’t that be nice? However, life does not work this way and if it did how many times would we abuse the ability to do over everything. I know I would have never had the opportunity to live with my mistakes and trust God for the grace to endure them. God does not grant…  ( Click for more )

Something is only abused if it is not used for its intended purpose.

I’m usually not a fan of sequels, let alone trilogies, but yet I’m now writing one. The more I think on this topic the more God gives me to write in order that someone could finally let that proverbial light bulb go off in their head. Years ago I read “Purpose-Driven” life and I really gained one thing that sticks with me to this day. It was that we were created for worship. We as humans were created for the sole purpose of giving glory to God. Do you understand what that means? …  ( Click for more )