Better Country

Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. ~ Hebrews 11:16

Your home on earth is a temporary stop; this is not your real home.  Material and earthly possessions should be looked at as temporary and for a season and believers should remember that God is building them a permanent home in heaven where eternal rewards will have much more value than anything down here.  The things of this world were not of importance to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Their faith and obedience in God and what His plan, promises and eternal future looked like to them was more important.  They wanted a relationship and friendship with God and they cherished that and hoped for something that was way better than earthly things.  Wanting to please God and honor Him above all else pleased God, and He honored them as they honored Him.  God saw that the patriarchs put Him and their faith above all, even worldly possessions and comfort.  They lived, breathed and communicated with Him continually knowing that He was their sustainer above all else.  A life lived with an eternal perspective over the here and now is pleasing to God.  He will never leave you and will always hear you.  When you put the eternal perspective ahead of earthly pursuits, God takes notice.  Every time we live in faith and by faith, God is pleased.  Trusting in God for His faithfulness and His provision even when you may not see His promises fulfilled while you are here on earth is a faith that God honors here and in heaven.  The faith that presses on during difficulties, heartache and loss will pass on long after you have passed away.  Your living and dying in faith during your lifetime here in your temporary home will be honored and rewarded.  Let us keep our faith and eyes set on our eternal home and keep our eternal perspective at the forefront of our minds and lives so that we can honor and please God. ~ Amen

Have Confidence

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.  Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be no benefit to you. ~ Hebrews 13:17

It’s important to note that this verse is specifically a biblical instruction regarding our church leaders and how we are to submit to them; so please do not confuse this instruction with our political leaders.  While there are plenty of verses that encourage us to submit to other forms of authority, this verse is in context to church leaders including, but not limited to our priest, ministers and pastors.  Shepherds of the church.  While you may not always see eye to eye with your church leaders, or pastor, we should always respect them and have confidence that God put them in those roles for a reason.  One day they will have to give an account to God on how well they followed His directions regarding His people, and they will be judged more harshly than the rest of us.  We would benefit greatly by honoring, praying for, and revering our leaders.  You may not always agree with them, but you are called to honor them, and let God take care of the rest.  They will be judged on how they led and we will be judged on how we followed; let’s not make it harder for them.  They could use our encouragement, and need it now more than ever in this broken world.  The responsibility to watch over our spiritual care is a heavy one and as followers we should try to make it a joyous job for our church leaders instead of one filled with grief and strife.  Developing a spirit of submission does not mean blindly following.  Biblical submission is honoring those leaders who are aligned with God’s word and following them in their vision for you and the church while learning from them.  If they are not aligned with God’s word, and unfortunately this does happen, do not blindly follow them as they may be a false prophet.  We also must remember that our ultimate authority is God and we should be submitting to His plans for our life while living for Him.  Let us be quick to be our church leaders and pastors’ biggest cheerleaders.  They have a tremendous job and could use all our honor, help and support. ~ Amen 

Better Patient

Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. ~ Proverbs 16:32

The one who has control of their emotions and reactions is more powerful and self-controlled over one who can take a city down.  Mastering your inner emotions and being able to control them comes with a lot of wisdom and internal strength.  External strength shows great physical power, but when one can control their emotions without letting them get the best of them, that shows strength that has been practiced, and a self-control that has been harnessed by practicing tremendous power, and inner patience.  We have all known, or maybe been a person ourselves, who loses control of their anger in outward and unhealthy ways, but to those who have learned to control their temper much wisdom has been given.  When we lash out in our reactions the outcome is often negative and cannot be taken back, but when we learn to bite our tongues and control our emotions by giving them to God, the wrath of hurtful words and actions are suppressed and peace comes much quicker.  Putting self-control into action is not lost on God; He rewards those who can control their anger and doesn’t add more strife.  He rewards the peacemakers and commends the quiet in spirit.  Anger is a real feeling, but when controlled, you allow time for the Holy Spirit to do His work.  Too many times we let our anger get the best of us and let that emotion control our reactions and words when as followers of Christ we need to learn to control the anger and be slow to letting our flesh react.  Instead of speaking before thinking, we must think before speaking.  Those of us who have the courage, strength and knowledge to control our own spirit are stronger and more powerful in God’s eyes than the military who take over a city.  Let us pray for strength to control ourselves and our emotions instead of letting them control us so we can bring more glory and honor to God. ~ Amen

Things Promised

All these people were still living by faith when they died.  They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. ~ Hebrews 11:13

We all will leave a legacy behind and I pray mine was one of living by faith when I pass away.  Hebrews mentions Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah as biblical figures who all passed on to heaven before seeing promises from God fulfilled here on earth.  While living here on earth, they trusted in God’s promises and lived by faith and believed God’s promises would come true even after they were gone.  We have all had people promise us things and we’ve probably made similar  promises ourselves only to have them broken, or unmet in time.  However, that is not God’s nature.  He keeps His promises for all eternity.  God is a good and just God who, by nature, cannot break promises and is not limited by earthly time.  He does what He says He’ll do, but His time is not our time and so we must live by faith knowing that all things work out for the good of those who love Him.  I know I am personally praying for saved souls and changed lifestyles that are so far from God that I don’t know if I’ll ever see them changed, but I have to remember that even if it doesn’t happen in my lifetime, it can still happen.  The hope and faith that God hears me and that His ways and timing are better than mine give me the persistent push I need to keep praying for things I might not see while here.  Not to mention the many answered prayers that I have already seen when impossible turned to possible.  We please God when we live by faith and remember our eternal perspective over our worldly one.  God does not break promises and is not limited by our perspective.  Let us keep our eyes on our fatih, believing and hoping for things and promises we have not yet seen and by doing so pleasing our Lord. ~ Amen

Through Faith

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ~ Galatians 3:26-27

A child of God.  A term once reserved for the Jewish people only in the Old Testament, we now all have the opportunity to be adopted into Christ’s family.  Most of the Old Testament is the story of the Israelites delivered, then their constant battles of complaining and disobedience, back to God disciplining them, and the people coming back into obedience.  The matter of fact is that there were so many laws under the Mosaic Law, hundreds in fact, that there is no way the people could have kept from sinning on their own.  After all, they were only human.  So God sent down His one and only son to be sacrificed as the final payment for all our sins.  God in human flesh, the only perfect, sinless and blameless human - Jesus Christ, walked and taught a new way to live here on earth and became the sinless and perfect sacrifice to wear all our sins so that we could live in freedom from the law and be reconciled back to our Creator.  There is no way anyone could have lived a blameless life after the fall of man in Genesis and so the only way to be truly reconciled to God, in order for the bridge to be gapped, God made a plan.  Now to everyone who believes that Jesus Christ died and rose again for them and accepts that by faith is called a child of God.  Co-heirs to Jesus Christ.  Free from the threat of being left to our own sinful nature we can have confidence in our forgiveness.  To all who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we have been clothed in His righteousness and the Holy Spirit has entered our beings to live a life of transformation.  The new believer puts on new “clothes” and must be intentional about changing their attitudes, heart and life.  God will bless them and welcome them back to Him with open arms.  Let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds and wear our new clothes joyfully. ~ Amen

Lord Answered

I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. ~ Psalm 34:4-5

Radiant.  Never covered in shame.  When you stay in constant communion with our Father you want to live and be the righteous person He has called you to be.  You tend to stay on the right path and live the way He has asked of you.  Close communion equals less tendency to go astray and want to hide anything from Him.  When you keep yourself close to God, He stays close to you and instead of being covered with shame, you are covered with his brilliance. His light.  I desperately want to be a brilliantly shining face that glows Jesus’ love, joy and peace at all times.  God has and will continue to deliver His children when they earnestly seek Him.  We may not always get what we want, but if we seek Him wholeheartedly, we will always get what we need.  He never disappoints.  Growing up my dad used to tell my sister and I, “you need to get your wants and your needs separated.  What you are asking for is a want, not a need,” anytime we would beg for something over the top like a pair of designer jeans.  The truth of the matter is that is how a lot of the world lives today.  We want bigger, better, and shinier instead of being grateful for what we already have, or what the Lord has already provided.  But when you live with a grateful heart, seeking the Lord, you will see His goodness always come through.  We have what we need.  In times of great distress, fear, desperation and severe loss we should also seek the Lord and ask Him for deliverance knowing He will give us what we need.  He will give us the strength, and the peace even if the end result breaks our hearts.  For those who seek Him, He will calm our hearts even through tremendous trials and loss.  Sometimes God allows us to go through desperate and debilitating trials so we can learn to give him our fear and become a radiant light to others.  So that when nothing is left we have to call on Him.  It’s a cause to make us put Him first. Sometimes it’s to glorify God and for the benefit of others around us.  To see us walk through trials and wonder what we have that gives us strength.  To make them want it.  To witness to others so that their hearts would be turned to Him.  To grow His glory and kingdom.  To grow our faith and trust.  Do not fear.  Give it to God.  A deep, dark fear may swallow us up, but when you cry out to God for help, He will hear you and answer you; He will comfort and strengthen you.  He hears us when we seek Him.  He cares.  Let us not forget to run to God when we are paralyzed with fear and worry.  Let Him hear your cries and give you what you need.  Let Him comfort you and sustain you.  He will always give you what you need. ~ Amen

One Audience

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That’s why the world hates you.” ~ John 15:18-19

I have to be reminded that the things of this world may rub me wrong because I don’t live as the world does, but try to live as Christ has called me and that is oftentimes in direct opposition of each other.  Only God’s view of us and our life should matter. We are called to live only for Him and differently than this self-centered world.  All of us have experienced some kind of persecution for something we did, or did not stand up for.  As followers of Jesus, we are told to expect this as we remember that this is not our home.  If Christ, who loved all people, was persecuted while here on earth, how much more will we be persecuted?  We must remember, however; that we are called to meet hate with love and to turn the other cheek.  Followers of Jesus do not, or should not show hate for hate, but instead show love and have a prayerful heart.  A life and faith built on what Jesus Christ has done for you will look differently than a life and faith based on the world’s standards.  Can people tell where your life and faith lie?  Do you live differently than the unbelieving world?  Have you been mocked, or criticized for your beliefs?  The world should see something different in you.  That fact that I live in the United States means I can worship and show my faith openly, but in places all over the world Christians lose families, jobs and sometimes even their life for their faith.  Would you be willing to love and follow Christ through that kind of persecution?  I have often asked myself what it would take for me to denounce my faith in Jesus Christ.  Is my faith strong enough to withstand the loss of my health, job, or heaven forbid, a child?  I sure hope so.  I pray I have built my trust and faith so secure that nothing, even debilitating loss, or the hatred and persecution of this world, would have me turn away.  Let us live differently, expect persecution and trouble, but hold steady and unwavering from our hope and faith in Jesus Christ.  Let us remember that He will make all things right and new in the end.  Let us live for an audience of one. ~ Amen 

Endures Forever

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. ~ Psalm 107:1

In this world everything will fade, grow old, die out, but God’s love is eternal and will never fade, but will last forever.  Even when this world is gone, God’s love will be exceedingly poured out on all who followed him.  There is nothing we can do that would ever make God not love us.  He may be disappointed, but He still loves us.  He has unfailing kindness and unfailing and unconditional love for His children.  God will always uphold His side of His relationship with you and will never leave you, or forsake you.  He is a God of relationship and restoration.  Healing through love.  His love is not conditional.  It’s not a “you do this for me and I’ll do this for you”.  He is love and good all the time.  Amid friendships, marriages, family relationships, people have loved each other and left only to leave wounds that sometimes never heal and betrayal that is hurtful for a lifetime.  God is not going to do that.  God’s love is steadfast, pure and faithful.  He deserves our praise and gratitude.  Our God sacrificed His only son to have a reconciled relationship with us so that we could be with Him forever.  This is not a natural love; it’s a supernatural love that far exceeds anything this world has to offer and it’s yours for the taking if you would commit your life to Christ and accept what He did for you on the cross.  He will never forsake you, or leave you.  If you feel distant from God could it be that you’ve pulled back?  Run back to Him.  He is waiting with outstretched arms.  So many people will let you down.  You’ll let others down.  God never will.  In his love He has provided, sheltered, protected and heard all our cries and by his faithfulness and grace He has been good to us and has never left us.  Let us give Him all the praise and glory He deserves with thankful hearts for His unfailing and steadfast love. ~ Amen

Enjoy Joy

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared.  This day is holy to our Lord, do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ~ Nehemiah 8:10

In Nehemiah, the people of Judah had just rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem and the walls were not as impressive as other city walls, or even the old ones of this very city.  This discouraged some of the people.  Not to mention that there was great opposition to the walls being rebuilt in the first place, so even though the work was complete, there was a quiet lull around the people.  They had listened to Ezra, the high priest, read from the Book of the Law, worshipped God and then began to weep.  They acknowledged their disobedience to God and felt defeated.  Nehemiah, the governor, seems like he became a little annoyed and wanted this to be a joyful celebration.  These people had forgotten they were God’s people and the rebuilding of the walls was a great accomplishment.  They had forgotten their joy.  I dare say they were also a little downcast because they had forgotten some of The Law and God was now in a process of restoring them.  The people of Judah had let themselves get distracted and now it was time to repent and repoint.  Anytime anyone repents to God, it’s a great time to celebrate.  The moment anyone addresses their sin and wants to repoint their lives to Christ, He is there waiting to rejoice with them, not demean them.  Nehemiah wanted these people to realize that God is in the business of restoration and forgiveness.  Rejoice!  This is holy ground and we should celebrate with everyone!  Even in the middle of our life’s biggest mistakes and messes, God wants to meet you there.  God doesn’t expect you to clean up before He can show up.  Just invite Him.  He can take the dirty and make it clean!  He can give you a joy that you’ve never experienced before!  Not the joy that comes from this world and your circumstances - that’s circumstantial happiness.  True joy can only come from the Lord when we abide in what He has done for us and the greatness of what’s to come.  True joy stays focused on the eternal perspective of life and produces strength to endure whatever comes our way.  True joy is not circumstantial, but consistent focusing on God’s promises even through the fire.  And true joy is to be shared - shared with others so they may be drawn to Christ.  True joy is shared and finds trust and comfort from God no matter the circumstances.  Repentance is a great starting point to finding joy in the Lord.  Let’s be joyful for everything God has done for us and is yet to do. ~ Amen

Will Weep

Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.  You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ~ John 16:20

Young and old non-believers rejoiced when Jesus was crucified thinking they had finally put to death this radical man who was disturbing the religious and political leaders of the time, but Jesus had told his disciples that even though his death would bring them great sorrow, their grief would turn to joy.  In deep sorrow we struggle to understand how anything can be good again.  We wade through the thick mire and murky weight of grief weighing us down in a broken world, but if you are a follower of Jesus, there is always hope.  Under great grief is the potential for tremendous growth.  Cling to Jesus.  Jesus never promised that we wouldn’t experience sorrow, grief, or hardships, but He did promise to walk through those times with us.  Jesus himself experienced grief and horrible pain while on earth, but He also experienced joy that He knew only came from His father.  Battles in this world are just that - battles of unbelievers and worldly desires, but we can turn from the battles of the world and rejoice in what we know is at the end of this life for us.  By basing and anchoring my joy to the foundation of Jesus’ death and resurrection, I can have a joy that will carry me through heart ache and sorrow.  Asking, seeking, and following Jesus through every circumstance can bring me peace.  Never doubt that God doesn’t see your pain and sorrow.  He desperately wants you to press into Him and trust.  Amid great turmoil, we must remember that this world is not our home and our joy will be made full and complete when we are in heaven, at home, with Jesus.  But in the meantime, we have the Holy Spirit to comfort us, guide us and give us peace that passes all understanding.  Lean into Him.  Let us mourn, weep, and wade through difficult times with Jesus knowing that joy can be ours again if we keep our gaze on the eternal reality that this is not our home and we are not alone. ~ Amen

Pisgah Peek

Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east.  Look at the land with your eyes, since you are not going to cross the Jordan.  But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you see.  ~ Deuteronomy 3:27-28

Years and years passed through Moses’ hands as he led the Israelites to the promised land - so much wandering, so much complaining, so much walking!  The land God is leading them to will meet all their needs, wants and expectations, but Moses will not be the one to get them across the finish line.  He rescued them out of Egypt, but he will not be the finisher of this race with them.  His race for the Lord will finish before they get there.  His job will be done.  We know that God is a good God, but when we disobey Him, there are still consequences.  In Numbers 20:10-13 Moses was commanded by the Lord to speak to the rock for flowing water; however, Moses struck the rock with his rod instead and so for his disobedience, God told him he would no longer be the one to cross the Jordan.  Instead, he was charged with encouraging, and strengthening Joshua and to pass the baton of leadership to him.  True godly leaders want to help, serve, encourage, pray for and uplift those coming up behind them growing in leadership.  Good godly leadership starts at the top and trickles down so that each leader is a good role model for the next.  Leadership should not be self-seeking, but God seeking.  Personally, I find this verse to be a bittersweet reminder - that even though we might not get to see the fruition of God’s promises here on earth, they will still happen.  God gives us glimpses of things ahead even if we won’t  see them happen with our own eyes.  I can continue to pray for deliverance of addiction for a loved one and know and trust God has them.  I can pray for my lost loved ones and know and trust God has them.  God’s work will continue somehow and somewhere from generation to generation in my family after I am long gone.   Most importantly, I can trust in God’s plan and remain faithful to the end whenever He decides my time is up.  I can trust that His plan is good even in dark times.  Greater things are always around the corner.  God’s promises are true for everyone even if I don’t get to see the completed picture here on earth.  I can’t imagine how Moses felt standing on top of Mount Pisgah looking over the Promised Land knowing he wasn’t going over.  Sadness.  Relief.  Unbelief that they finally made it.  Happiness.  Bitterness.  Humility.  Gratitude.  Whatever it was, I am also sure He wrestled with the fact that His time had come to an end.  He had finished his God given mission.  I am sure he felt the sovereignty and goodness of God.  May we all lead our families and friends into a relationship with God and hold on to His promises that everything will be okay.  Let us lead like Moses and trust in God’s plan for our lives and our families lives and pass the baton on. ~ Amen

Morning Bring

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.  Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. ~ Psalm 143:8

This is a prayer of devotion to God and to acknowledge that David depends on God for guidance and direction.  A beautiful request we should memorize and tuck into our hearts.  David had been through many dark trials and great times of victory and he knew God to be his refuge and strength.  He knew he could trust God with his life and lead him daily.  The love of the Lord never fails and His mercy and grace is fresh every morning.  It’s an unlimited supply from God.  Life is hard.  We were never promised a trouble free life, but we were promised, as believers of Christ, that He would never leave us.  To trust Him with decisions in our lives even when they may not make sense.  Hearing God may not always be easy, but if you dive into His word in the quiet of your day, pray and wait, you’ll be amazed at the nudge and revelation you will receive.  Sometimes there is no great change in our direction, but sometimes when you trust wholeheartedly, the phenomenal may happen.  Having developed a habit of quiet time every morning since a teen, if I miss my time with God in the morning, my day just doesn’t quite feel right.  I feel like I have missed my daily refill of what God has to say to me and sometimes I even find myself cranky.  Let me be the first to tell you that if you can make it a habit to meet with the Lord first thing every morning, your day starts off with the good news and hope before the rest of the world comes crashing down, crowding and expecting from your day.  Being filled up with His word and putting my burdens at His feet and leaving them there trusting He will take care of them is a powerful privilege for Jesus followers.  I don’t need to trust in my own strength and wisdom for the day.  I can invite God to lead me and give me direction and know that He loves me enough that I can trust He only wants the best for me - even when it looks difficult, or impossible.  Let us give our days and steps to God every morning knowing we can trust Him completely.  How liberating! ~ Amen