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Do you have a special call on your life?

Have you ever had a person tell you, “I’m on a faith walk.” What does that mean entirely? Aren’t we all as Christians walking by faith? Isn’t that part of what we sign up for when we are drafted into God’s army? Aren't we supposed to walk by faith and not by sight? Are some Christians called to greater walks of faith than others? I believe the answer is yes, so I’ll explain why. True, every child of God is walking by faith just to receive the gift of salvation because by definition faith is believing…  ( Click for more )

Relying on the power of the Holy Spirit…gives me command over my circumstance. This is most analogous to an example I have used previously so excuse the redundancy. Imagine a person with a very rich uncle. The uncle passes away and leaves everything to this heir. Unfortunately, though, the heir is unaware of the inheritance.

Moreover, in this state of ignorance they go about their life living from paycheck to paycheck, struggling financially because they do not know about the riches that await them. This is a picture of what the life of the believer is without knowledge…  ( Click for more )

Relying on the power of the Holy Spirit…gives me confidence. In most situations, we do well when we are confident instead of unsure. I am a music minister, and I always make sure soloists or song leaders are confident in their understanding of the music and their voice parts. Because if they’re not, you can always tell on the day of the

performance that they lacked the focus necessary to convey the message because they had no confidence in their delivery. I believe God also understands the importance of every believer having confidence. However, our songbook…  ( Click for more )

Lately I have been challenged in my walk with the Lord to demonstrate my trust in him. The other day, one of my favorite speakers was expounding on how we should trust the Lord unquestionably and blindly. Why? Because after exploring and experiencing the Creator’s nature we have no reason not to trust the One who has everything

and everyone under his control and authority. For believers, this is a wonderful tool for faith and belief to grow up spiritually. If I can understand that the Creator is in control with a perfect plan, that involves me in some little way and…  ( Click for more )

“God never leaves the job undone.”

Some time ago God awoke me from sleep with the apostle Peter on my mind. Why I asked and for what reason? What about Peter was I to see and understand? Well let me say that first of all, I am not always awakened out of good sleep to pray or read my Bible. And when I am, I struggle to obey those unctions. (I’m human just like you!) But that particular time, let me tell you what came to mind. At the Last Supper and right after the feet washing episode, recall Peter's attitude. Emotions were high; imagine how intimate…  ( Click for more )

“I have no other choice, but to trust you.”

Any fans of Tye Tribbett out there? Here’s #1 right here. I remember that not too long after the decision to leave my job, my wife and I took the kids to Houston for a weekend. There were a lot of things going on in our lives at the time to include the fact that I only had two more weeks with the employer that provided for over 80% of our household income!!! We needed a trip to get away from our routine of life and spend some time with each other and in close fellowship with God. During that trip though, I was…  ( Click for more )

Last week an unplanned, but nonetheless appropriate interjection of one of my past articles substituted the current train of thought. However, after reading over several of my thoughts for the last few weeks I noticed a theme of uncertainty and desperation. With the purpose of this devotional to encourage, I humbly had to ask for forgiveness to the Lord for my attitude. I really came to a question of which way is right? Sometimes trials and tests make you feel as if you are the only one being tested or tried, but that is such a limited perspective.

In a desire to complete the…  ( Click for more )

“When God wants you to hear Him, He’ll remove your crutches so that you lean on Him instead of them.”

Late one day in August, I struggled with a heavy personal decision that would impact my family. I had become restless at my current job, and as a Christian striving for excellence in my walk with God I was perplexed as to my next step. Should I leave the place of employment that had nurtured me mentally and financially for the previous eight years or stay in my supposed comfort zone? Should I leave to walk into a spiritual “abyss” or…  ( Click for more )

I will apologize in advance to the readers of this devotional if you are getting bored because I do not really know when I will stop writing on this subject. I have been dealing with this for some time and this series’ continuation will dive a little deeper into what I feel God has to say about which way is right. Today, we will look at what scripture says in light of a personal view that spends time trying to compromise that standard. Specifically, my personal view. I hope I have never given the impression that I have it all together. I fail sometimes and miserably at that,…  ( Click for more )

Obedience. Now there is an interesting word. Its root word obey can mean so many things. However, what do those things look like in the life of a believer? Specifically, myself for the sake of argument. I look at the issues and problem areas in my life that I struggle in and I can link them all back to a common denominator—obedience. For the life of any follower of Christ, there is a necessity to obey the will of God. An absence of this imperative leads to an unlit path down the highly complex road of life we must all travel. The key is that while this road is travelled…  ( Click for more )

Misunderstanding His Love for Mankind

This has to be my greatest struggle to date in my Christian life. When I was able to comprehend that God’s love for me allowed him to give his only and his best for me so that I could be in relationship with him (see John 3:16) I really turned a corner in my walk. When we do not

understand it causes us to have many problems. In my case, this manifested itself in my love for myself and my love for people. Well you might say aren’t those related? Yes, they are but they are definitely not the same. So let’s talk…  ( Click for more )

Misunderstanding His Love For His Mission

Let’s elaborate a little more on how accepting Jesus’ teachings allow us to live abundant, full lives. Jesus taught over and over about sowing into the kingdom of God. A familiar passage of scripture in Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and that all other things will be added to us. What does that mean? Jesus is teaching us that above all priorities in life we must put first his business. This tells me that Jesus really understood what his mission on Earth was all about. In the past, I failed to understand…  ( Click for more )

Are you living to give God glory and enjoying the life Jesus died to give you? This is an important question in that Jesus stated that,”… I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (see John 10:10) Why would Jesus say this if it were not true? As always let’s look at the context of the scripture. In this dialogue with the crowd, Jesus was explaining his whole purpose for coming to earth. He spoke about how all the ones that came before him were robbers and thieves and that they didn’t have the best interest of the people at…  ( Click for more )

Paul wrote to the church in Philippi about living for Christ or dying to gain. Amazingly, either way he was content with what God would decide for him. His death would enable him to receive a reward for all his labor, and his continued living would result in fruitful labor for the kingdom. Is your life as a Christian resulting in fruitful labor for the kingdom despite the opposition you may face? Paul clues us in as to how to produce “fruitful labor” in verses 27,28 of Philippians 1. Let’s take a look at his instructions. First, we are to conduct ourselves in…  ( Click for more )

I thought I was through talking about Peter, but in thinking about it there is more to say about this great apostle and more to glean from his encounters with Jesus. Peter’s pre-Acts character reminds me so much of what seems to be the common Christian response to the wiles of the Devil (see Ephesians 6:11)--naivety. Jesus in being fully God knew the plans that Satan had to destroy Peter and the other disciples (see Luke 22:31) but Peter whether from arrogance or naivety (and ignorance) didn’t comprehend the extent of Jesus’ warning. So in considering what…  ( Click for more )

Also in reviewing Peter’s life, we should be surrounding ourselves with other believers. The purpose of this is to realize that sometimes it can be hard to encourage yourself or pray for yourself. I’m talking about accountability here. As a Christian, this has been one of my toughest challenges in maintaining. Why? Because for accountability to work you must be transparent and open and there is barely, if any, room for pride. Accountability means that at all costs you give permission to someone that loves you to get up in your face when you want it or don’t…  ( Click for more )

It is pretty easy to feel like this. When I get in this state I often realize that my anger and frustration stem from my inability to meet my own expectations. There seems no better biblical example than the Apostle Peter to compare how I feel when like this. As a Christian I have realized that life is not a bed a roses, a walk in the park, or any of those other pleasant colloquialisms that are often used when describing the “easy life”. For those of you following along, I have for the past few weeks been in a state of flux about my emotions and feelings. For a…  ( Click for more )

Do you turn to God in your times of trouble and despair? What is your response? Is it anguish and frustration? Is it praise and thanksgiving? Do you question God and say, “why me?” These are questions that constantly run through my mind in my time of trials and temptations. As Christians though, we should know that God is waiting to bless us in our valley.

In the second book of Chronicles there is a wonderful story of King Jehoshaphat. And there came a time in his rule that the many enemies of the nation of Israel came upon them to war against them. It was…  ( Click for more )

Psalm 91 has become a recent favorite of mine. In times of economic uncertainty and seemingly disappointment after disappointment God comforts me with this psalm. It simply says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (NKJV) This is a powerful statement. So my question to you is where is your secret place?

Secret Place

Without getting too dramatic, I think of a secret place as a place of safety. A place where although private, it is not necessarily secluded. It isn’t like your clubhouse in…  ( Click for more )

The Christian Life=A Hard Race

When I ran track in high school and college, I specifically remember a drill that we did that involved us running past our target. Since my individual specialty was the 200m, in practice my coach often made me run 300m so that my endurance for the 200m would be improved. This accomplished a lot of things for me. For one, I was never tired during the 200m in the meet because I’d so often run past 200m to achieve my goal in practice. And probably most importantly I was able to sustain my fastest speeds longer than my competition at critical…  ( Click for more )

What do you want with us, Son of God…Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time? Matthew 8:29

These are words I find myself saying too often. In a story of economic loss, torment and affliction I find common ground with two demon-possessed men. My spiritual malady causes me to ask, “God what do you want with me? What is your purpose for my life?” This is the cry of my [sinful] flesh. It is a cry from my natural man. The one that wars inside of me daily. Paul speaks about this side of us well.

…when I want to do good, evil is right…  ( Click for more )

As I write this, I will admit that I am struggling through a period in my life of despondency. I have many times in the past couple of weeks questioned my purpose in the kingdom and what God has for me to do. I don't know if you have experienced this in your walk with Christ but it can leave you feeling very miserable and worthless. I have struggled in this weak [US] economy to make my business thrive and it has translated into financial stress and concern. This in turn has drawn me away from people and into myself. There is that word..."myself". All the derivatives of…  ( Click for more )