Sunday Devotional ~ Go and Sin No More

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” (John 8:11)

When we have forgiveness of our sins, Jesus tells us to sin no more. We are to live a life that is free from sin, but it is not free from temptation. Each day of our lives we struggle against the temptation to be complacent, the temptation to be comfortable, and the temptation to be unsatisfied. But in all of these things, there is a simple cure.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)

We are double-minded when we put the temptations of our own comfort before or equal to that which God asks us to do. If we'd rather relax with Netflix after working a long hard day instead of spending time in meditation with God, we're looking for our own comfort instead of furthering God's kingdom in a way we know we're supposed to do. The only thing that keeps us from our sins is to draw nearer to God through prayer, studying His word, and worship.

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12)

The east and the west never touch each other. They never see each other. God not only removed us from our past transgressions, but also our present and future ones. He wants us to draw near to Him because the closer we are to God, the further we are from our sin. Conversely, the closer we are to our sin, the further we will feel we are from God as well.

Today my prayer is that we will draw near to God in every way. That we will worship even when we're tired... that we will step forward in faith even when we're complacent right where we are... that we will allow God to be our satisfaction when we feel unsatisfied. Lord help us to draw near to you today!

Sunday Devotional - Have I Been Holding Back?

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and 

with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37)

God wants it all. He wants 100%. So if I give Him 90% of my heart, it's not enough. If I give Him 95% of my soul, it's not enough. And if I give Him 99% of my mind... it's not enough.

So many times we think we're doing enough because we are doing more than our neighbor. If we compare ourselves to others, it may seem unfair that even though we hold back that 5%, our neighbor doesn't even give 50%, so how does it seem he's more blessed than us? Why is God holding back when we give Him so much?

 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, 

you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, 

which leads to death,

 or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

Everything we give into, yield to, or indulge in takes away a little portion of ourselves that God wants. If we give in just a little bit to selfishness, then that part is taken away from God. If we give in just a little bit to lust, soon we find that lust takes over a small part of our lives too. The more things we give our time, energies, and hearts to, the less time, energy, and love we have for God. He wants to give us freedom and life, but we're too busy making ourselves slaves to every little inclination we have. He wants all our hearts, souls, and minds, but are we holding back?

Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” (Mark 10:28)

Absolute surrender is when we leave everything and give up everything for the sake of following God. He doesn't want us to come to Him and hold back something for ourselves. He wants us to give everything to Him, not because He wants us to have less, but because He wants to give us more. He intends to give us greater and better things when we're willing to give up the small things that we cling to now. 

So what am I clinging to? What am I unwilling to give up? Shouldn't I consider that the piece that I'm missing--that's holding me back from the breakthrough I desire most-- is worth giving up anything? Today my prayer is that we realize what we're holding back from God in our lives... our little indulgences... so that we can be willing to lay that small thing down at God's feet to gain bigger and better things.

Sunday Devotional: Am I missing a step?

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Step 1 - Faith. When we come to Jesus we start with faith--no matter how small. At first it may be like a mustard seed, but Jesus already promised that we would be able to move mountains with the smallest amount of faith. (Matthew 17:20)

Step 2 - Goodness. In the Bible, God is called good and His word, goodness (Hebrews 6:5). So if we add to faith the goodness of His word, we're working toward the next step.

Step 3 - Knowledge. By reading God's word and praying for Him to help us understand it, we will grow in the knowledge. (Proverbs 3:5)

Step 4 - Self-Control. This one is a hard one for me. Once we have the knowledge of the things we should do or should not do, we suddenly find them impossible to accomplish, just like Paul did in Romans 7. But we need to remember that Jesus promised His yoke is easy and His burden light - because He knows that He will carry the greater burden for us if we remember to turn to Him for help with this self control thing. (Romans 7:25) (Matthew 11:30)

Step 5 - Perseverance. Ugh. We cannot develop perseverance without being tempted, overcoming obstacles, or without pain. Either we learn to persevere by denying the temptation over and over again, or we develop it by keeping the course with obstacles in the way, or we stay faithful no matter what pain or suffering we're going through. (Romans 5:3)

Step 6 - Godliness. When we overcome the steps we've worked on so far, we discover the freedom that Jesus has given us and the hope of a freed, abundant, eternal life... which He'd promised us was not only for Heaven, but here on Earth, too -- no matter what our external circumstances (Titus 1:1-2)

Step 7 - Mutual Affection. Only by encouraging each other and building one-another up can we overcome all the steps that have helped us get this far together. (1 Thessalonians 5:10-11)

Step 8 - Love. The final goal is one where we can learn to love the way Jesus did. Love whether the person loves us back or not. Love when the person hates us. Love the most sinful person. Love when there is no gain for ourselves. We can only love this way when we have completed all the other steps and drawn closer to God than we are when we start. We spill over with His love so that it reaches everyone we touch. (1 Corinthians 13)

I am finding myself having to renew my mind each day through steps 1-3 just so I can get some handle on steps 4 and 5. I know that the freedom and godliness that God promises can only come through perseverance. Nothing worth having comes easy. I pray today that you will overcome what you're going through, and that reading this breakdown will give you hope and encouragement to reach the next step, too!

Sunday Devotional Blog: But I want it now!

Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act!

 Keep traveling steadily along his pathway and in due season 

he will honor you with every blessing, 

and you will see the wicked destroyed.

(Psalm 37:34 TLB)

I'm broken.

At 42 years old, I feel like I've been broken for so long that I'm beyond repair. But God promises me that there is nothing about me that He cannot change.

and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- 

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, 

the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise

 instead of a spirit of despair. (Isaiah 61:3 NIV)

Although there are times when He heals things miraculously and instantly, most of the time, He does not. Sometimes, we have to reap what we sow. Sometimes, we have to feel the pain of the sin that caused us to get into the predicament we're in and then rely completely on His strength and His timing to help us out of it. 

I cannot rush a broken bone's healing any more than I can rush this process of healing for myself.

Impatience is too much like unbelief. If we feel ourselves loathing God's timing, we start to doubt that He really has what is best for us in His mind. We start do doubt that He cares. And if He doesn't care, than why should we? Satan feeds us this line of lies because he wants for us to GIVE UP. It's too difficult, too painful to endure. Satan wants us to choose the easy way now because he knows that things will get harder for us in the future if we do.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood

 in your fighting against sin (Hebrews 12:4 NAS)

Sure, the struggle is hard. The fight is real. When we're battling against our demons, we feel the pain and suffering that comes with it, but we do not bleed. We do not die physically. The battle we are engaging in is not against flesh and blood. 

"Truly, truly, I say to you, 

unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, 

it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24 ESV)

And we are called to die to the flesh in order to live. Those people who have overcome their sins and been healed are much more alive than this broken version of me. There are so many things that my sin has robbed from me. If we take an honest look at whether our sins and addictions are worth the cost, I think we can wholeheartedly say that it is worth the little bit of suffering now for the joy we receive later.

Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5b NIV)

The night can seem like such a long time that we begin to wonder if the morning will ever come. But we need to remember that we're not alone in the night - we have a guide. He has better night vision than we do, and is guiding us along this tough trial. He won't let us stumble and hurt ourselves worse. We only need to hold His hand. Also we need to keep believing, keep the faith, and keep watching while we wait for the signs that the morning is coming. Listen for the birds that start singing before dawn. Watch for the first vestiges of light that prove the morning is on the way. We'll see God even more clearly in the morning than we do in the night right now. He's promised that the morning will come, we just need to trust Him and believe it.

Sunday Devotional - Dealing with Discontentment

One of the hardest things to deal with as a child of God is when we're disappointed with the One who provides all things. Sometimes we think that we deserve more than we have, better than we have, or something faster than we're getting. It's easy to see other people gaining what we want and then feeling like it's unfair that God's holding back His blessing from us. Especially when we've been good.

Like a child throwing a tantrum, we want to rail at God for being unjust.

Satan moves in like a lion waiting to devour right about now, too - he's there to provide all the coaxing that we need to feed our feeling of dissatisfaction.

• Everyone else has more, even though they aren't even believers.
• You've worked so hard this week, you deserve that reward - but God didn't care to give it to you.
• Why should you bother fighting temptation when it makes no difference?
• Why should you have to keep waiting for what you want?
• God obviously doesn't care.
• He doesn't really love you.

The eyes of all look to you,

    and you give them their food at the proper time.

You open your hand

    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

(Psalm 145:15-16)

God has not changed who He is. He does love us and He does care. He is the provider of all good things - but in the proper time. His time. Our every desire will be satisfied by His hand. Just because He provides differently from what we expect, or at a different time than we hope, doesn't mean He won't provide. 

When feeling discontented, the first thing we need to do is tell God how we feel. If we're mad, tell Him. If we're sad, tell Him that, too. The Psalms are full of discontented voices asking God to hurry up. Once we've emptied out our feelings, we then need to denounce the lies and remember the truth of God's word. His promises are real and meant for us. We need to remember everything He has provided for us already, then thank Him and praise Him. Lastly, we need to wait upon Him. Wait for the contentment, or the blessing. If we know we are going to receive His promise, but haven't yet, we need to wait for it in great expectation. It's coming, even if it's not on our timetable. 

I've had a great bout with discontentment this week. I felt as though I'd been battling hard, fighting to gain ground, but when I checked to see how much ground I'd gained, I'd actually lost some. I was heartbroken, cried, and spent a few hours having a temper-tantrum of sorts. Then God reminded me of His provision. He reminded me that it's about the relationship I'm developing with Him, not about the outside sources or rewards. 

Jesus is the only source of true joy and satisfaction. He is my reward. 

Yes. I had a child-like tantrum and afterward, I felt a great deal of guilt. But God gave me a good hug and reminded me that I'm already acceptable to Him. If you're feeling discontented like I was, I pray that this short message and testimony will find you where you are and help you remember where you're reward is, too. May God bless you on your continuing journey with Him.

Sunday Devotional: Bringing Dead Dreams Back to Life

When we were younger, we had so many dreams. We believed we could do anything, become anything, accomplish anything. Walking, talking, reading, riding a bike--these all seemed like impossible tasks until we overcame them, so if we could do that, nothing was outside our grasp. Then reality hit and some dreams became dead to us because we found out they were too difficult for us to accomplish on our own especially when we didn't have the resources to overcome them.

No matter how much we try to push ourselves to overcome the thing, it was impossible to do on our own. Inspired initiative is when we hear God say, "Arise from the dead." (Ephesians 5:14). Only when the inspiration comes from God are we able to arise our dreams from the dead and do the impossible thing. Because God's words come with miraculous power and the resources we need to overcome any obstacle.

But there's a catch to it.

God doesn't give us life until we do as He says. In order to "arise from the dead," we have to get up. In order for the man with the withered hand to heal, he hand to "stretch forth" his hand (Mark 3:1-6). God gives the order, and we have to take Him at His word and move when He says to. If we believe Him and get up, we'll find that God gives us overcoming life immediately. We'll find strength where we had none, help where we didn't see it, and the power to overcome when we were overwhelmed.

So what is God asking you to do today that you think would be impossible? What dream did you think was dead, but God is telling "arise?" My prayer today is that we take God at His word and move forward, believing that He will give us the power to overcome any obstacle.

Fruit of the Spirit: Love (Part 7)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

To demonstrate love, we have to remember the 15 attributes of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13~

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

Love does not envy.

Love does not boast.

Love is not arrogant.

Love is not rude.

Love is not selfish.

Love is not provoked.

Love thinks no evil.

Love does rejoices in truth.

Love bears all things.

Love believes all things.

Love hopes all things.

Love endures all things.

Love never fails.

In the rest of this blog series on Fruit of the Spirit: Love, we'll go over a few of these attributes per post.

Love does boast:

Boasting about what I have or have done is all about taking credit. It is showing off. But not in a good way. Instead of allowing God to reward me for my accomplishments, I want to see everyone patting me on the back and telling me what a good person I am and how wonderful I have done. Or I boast because I want to feel better about myself, because often I don't feel good about myself unless I compare myself to someone else.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and[b] prayed these things with reference to himself: ‘God, I give thanks to you that I am not like other people—swindlers, unrighteous people, adulterers, or even like this tax collector! I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that one! For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14)

God doesn't want us to compare ourselves to anyone but Jesus. Not because He wants us to be down on ourselves that we can never be good enough, but so that we keep striving toward a goal with the understanding that we can do nothing on our own without Him. Once we understand that each of us are striving toward the same goal, we can do the opposite of boasting, encouraging.

Encouraging others is the opposite of boasting. Instead of pointing out to someone else how great we are or how much better we are than them in an attempt to make ourselves feel better, we'll often feel the opposite, empty. But in encouraging people and lifting them up, we'll find the fulfillment we were striving for.

A person of blessing will be enriched, and he who gives water also will be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:25)

So today my prayer for you is that you will find a way to encourage others and lift them up and in doing so, find yourself lifted up, too.

How did you miss Jesus?

How is it possible to go to church every Sunday and not see Jesus?

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. (Luke 24:13-16)

These two people had walked and talked with Jesus before the cross. They knew Him once. They heard of His crucifixion, and had even heard of His resurrection. He was standing right in front of them. And yet, they didn't know Him.

What kept them from recognizing Him?

[Jesus] said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (Luke 24:25)

Lack of faith.

They heard, and yet they didn't believe...much. They sort of believed. Likely, they wanted to believe completely, but reason held them back. So Jesus reasoned with them.

In the World, Satan has perpetuated his lies and made them the standard of intellect. He claims Christianity is not a reasonable faith. And yet it has more evidence to back it up than the "theory" of evolution. Although I am not an apologist, and cannot argue with an atheist nearly as effectively as C.S. Lewis or Ravi Zacharias, I can not hide my head in the sand, either.

How is it possible that someone can work side by side with me everyday and not see Jesus in me?

Am I ready?

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15)

Am I actively reading the word?

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)

How can I walk the walk and talk the talk if I'm not letting Christ rule in me? Being a nice person is not enough. I have to understand God's purpose in my daily life, in each and every moment. I need to breathe Him in so I can exhale Him out. Only then will people see Jesus in me. Only then can I give the reason for my hope by the words He gives to me. And I'm not talking about beating people over the head with my faith. I'd hope that anyone who knows me would know that I wouldn't do that. BUT I'd also hope that they know that I am a follower of Jesus.

Opening the Door

Do we ever make our dreams for success or accomplishment as God's purpose for us? Do we think that if we obey God will accomplish great things with our obedience?  His purpose may well be just the opposite.  God's end, His purpose for us IS the process of submitting our will to Him. It is today that He wants us to focus on.  Oswald Chambers said, "God's training is for NOW, not presently.  His purpose is for this minute, not for something in the future.   We have nothing to do with the afterwards of obedience; we get it wrong when we think of the afterwards.   What men call training and preparation, God calls the end. . . if we realize that obedience is the end, then each moment is precious."

Our obedience will accomplish great things.  Perhaps we will never see the repercussions of what our faith does.  Maybe God will give us a goal that He has no intention for us to personally reach.  There were missionaries who felt that they were to go and preach the word to an indigenous tribe in South America - but when they got there, they were slaughtered within days after arrival by the very people they were trying to bring the gospel to.  But when more missionaries, including their familes came - not to seek revenge, but to share God's love, the tribe who did the murdering came to Christ.  It is said that the church is a plant that is watered by the blood of saints.  Are we truly willing to shed our blood in order to bring God glory?

The Bible is full of ordinary people who went to impossible places and did wondrous things simply because they decided to obey God, even when others said "You can't do that." They weren't more qualified for their tasks then we are.  But they trusted God to open doors and give them the power the need in their situation.  Can we trust God to open doors that seem closed?  The doors God sets before us are much like grocery store entrances - they doors seem closed, but the minute you step up to them, they open.  God opens the door the minute we step up in faith.  But if we never take the step of faith, the doors will always be closed.

Be Fruitful

John 15 :1-11 – I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

~*~*~*~

Galations 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.

I am new to gardening.  My husband just built a flowerbox for me at the front of our house, and filled it with good fertilizer.  I don’t know much about flowering plants other than annuals last a season, and perennials come back again next year.  When the flowers I planted stop producing buds about two weeks after planting, a friend of mine suggested that I prune the old flowers.

Pruning is a strange concept to someone who knows nothing about plants.  The act of cutting off unfruitful parts so that the fruitful ones can flourish seems an unusual thought.  But if we think about it rationally, it may start to make sense.  If we consider the fact that resources are limited: that the soil only holds so much nutrient value, there is only so much water that a plant can take in, and there are only so many hours of sunlight in the day.  Then we might start to realize that taking away unfruitful branches help the fruitful ones to gain more resources that would have been used up by the unfruitful branches.

The same is true of our lives.  There are only so many hours in the day, and we only have so much energy.  If we spend our resources on things that are unfruitful – that bring us down instead of raising us up, we won’t have the resources necessary in order to help our fruitful branches bear more fruit.  Sometimes we spend ourselves on things that are not necessarily bad, but not best either.  There is nothing wrong with watching the news on TV, but now that there are 24 hour news networks, we could spend every waking moment watching it.  This would certainly take away our time to do better things, such as spending time building a relationship with the Lord.

Sports and activities keep us healthy and allow us to socialize with people we have common ground with.  This is a good thing.  But if we become so obsessed with a sport or activity that it takes time away from relationship building and fruit bearing, it too needs pruning.

We need to put everything under the obedience of Christ.  If it is not fruit bearing, prune it.  We need to spend more time in praise, worship, and meditating on scripture than we do watching television.  If we prioritize our lives and make God a greater priority, we will not regret the fruit that we bear.  Let’s make this our prayer today.

Ephesians 5:8-11 – For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.

My Exodus

When I graduated High School, I weighed 250 lbs.  I started on a diet rollercoaster that let me fluctuate between 205 and 250.  Seven  and a half years ago, I discovered a secret to losing weight!  If I stopped following my stomach and desire for food, and followed Jesus and transferred my desire to Him, I lost weight.  Not just a little bit, but over 100 lbs. 

Then two years later, I was the thinnest I'd ever been and looked forward to reaching the single digits in clothing size for the first time in my life, post puberty.  I was at the Jordan River, looking at my promised land!  And just like the Isrealites, I counted the cost and was afraid to cross.  I remember vividly the exact day this happened. Now I've wondered in the wilderness for six years.

What was I afraid of?  I was afraid of not living a "normal" life.  I thought that maybe following Jesus was just too hard, that He asked too much of me.  I didn't want to be committed to Him any more.  So He gave me what I wanted.

Over and over again, I tried to resume our relationship, but I just couldn't find the intimacy that we once had.  The pounds packed back on no matter how much exercise or dieting I attempted.  I gained back 85 of the 105 that I originally lost.  Praise God that I still sat at 15 lbs less than the highest I'd been.

Now for the past month, Jesus has told me that it's time.  I know that I can't loose this weight on my own.  I know now that I don't even want to do it for myself anymore.  I've lost 11 lbs, and I'm finding my center once more in Jesus.

If you are tired of living as a "Fat Christian" than this blog is for you.  Join me as we encourage each other to press on in Faith!  I'll be updating daily as I review my journal entries from 7 years ago, and sharing scriptures that God shares with me today!  I hope you'll consider taking this journey with me.