 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 Psalm 131:1 “I do not occupy myself with things too great…for me.” |
God's Game It’s a fine line for me, trying to figure out what to release to God and what to do myself. I know there are things He expects me to accomplish on my own so that I can grow. I have to make myself get up. He won’t come down and grab me and pull me up. Throughout Scripture there is the voice of God saying, “Come unto Me; draw nigh to Me, seek Me…” (For exact location of these Scriptures, may I refer you to the Bible!) He always expects me to make the first move, except for the move of Jesus, dying on the cross. That was a really big “first move” on His part, one I cannot match.  God wants
to know that we are willing to move toward Him. That is an act of faith. He
is not going to come down and move us like mystical chess pieces, putting us
where He wants us to be. Instead, He uses our lives as a big game-board,
giving us the Commandments (and daily wisdom) to help us to make the best
moves for our lives. Ever go to make a move in your “life-game” and you
hear, “I wouldn’t go that way if I were you?” But you go any way and your
next few days, or even years, are miserable. With God’s Grace, we still get
to where we want to go, but it sure takes a lot longer and there is a lot
more pain involved. Ask Him to show you where it was that you refused His
help, then retrace and re-step, if you are able. How wonderful the day is
when we say, “You are right, that would be a dumb move!” and listen to His
voice. Peace. It comes from willful obedience on our part. Do the things
that you can do, then leave the rest to Him! Prayer God, you made our game pieces and game boards and You also give us daily strategies to succeed. Help us to listen and be smart! Amen. . Additional Scripture Psalm 23:4; Psalm 7:1; Psalm 25:4
Cheryl D. Wyatt
|
NOTE: This page contains 5 devotions. Pick
one using the above buttons. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
| Isaiah 54:2 “… stretch...” |
Exercising My Faith Just ask any competitive body builder what happens when he or she is not attentive to proper nutrition and workouts. Their physique diminishes, shrinks and begins to look flabby. Muscles that are not used and exercised will atrophy, that is, shrink and waste away. Our faith is much the same way. Belief, action and faith are partners. We are
told how electricity works and we believe the information. We take action by
flipping the switch that allows the electricity to flow and do its work. Our
belief in the facts of electricity is exercised and we tell others about its
wonderful uses. Our faith in electricity grows with each use. Really! Just
think about what happens when you flip the switch and the light does not
come on right away. In complete belief, you try to flip the switch again
before you realize the bulb has burnt out. This action is one of faith.When we
accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, it is because we believe the truth of
the Word. Jesus tells us to go into the world and tell others. The world
cannot see Jesus physically any more than we can. Jesus has returned to
heaven to be with the Father. But he sent the Holy Spirit to teach us all
things and remind us of everything Jesus said and did. (See John 14:26 NIV)
Others need to hear the Jesus information and then see Jesus in action in
us. Taking action exercises and enforces our faith.Here are
other ways to exercise our faith, so we can stretch outside our comfort
zones and strengthen our faith: Meet and greet people as they come into the
church; usher folks to seats; help with the parking lot flow control; help
at the information desk and in children’s class rooms; begin tithing or
consider an increase in your current financial contributions; assist with
guest books and tithe baskets during services; join the camera crew, sound
booth crew and/or technical crews; join a cell fellowship group or one of
the many available classes; work at Feed the Hungry; serve at one of the
conferences; become a lay pastor; visit the ill; perform random acts of
kindness that are done in a manner that only you and the Lord know about
them; join the devotions team, the media ministry, the cyber ministry; share
your testimony; join the choir; give someone a ride to church; fix a car;
buy groceries for someone in need. Just get up and stretch! In John 15:8,
NIV, Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit,
showing yourselves to be my disciples.”Prayer Dearest Jesus, you know my desires. You know that I can be very content right where I am, wrapped up in your love. Please take me and lead me out of a couch potato mode and into spiritual aerobics where I can stretch out and strengthen my talents and grow to be better used for your kingdom. I long to be part of your glory. Amen. Additional Scripture John 14; John 15:8
Dawn Swinford |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
| Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he will eat with me. |
Open Hearts; Open Doors For whom have you opened the door of your heart or home? Does the person for whom you have invited in cause you to grow like Jesus? Or does he cause you to hide in fear and anger? Jesus stands on the outside of your heart waiting for us to open its door. It can only be unlatched by you from the inside. My
imagination takes me to a time of letting Jesus into my house and eating
with Him. What would we eat? What would we talk about? It would be
delightful to sit and talk with Jesus! I would probably be thinking more
about what He was saying than the food being eaten. I believe we would talk
about the Kingdom of Heaven and all of the treasures there. His final
commandment on earth was to "Go into the world and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
(Matthew 28:19-20) Today there are many avenues to follow so we can
accomplish this. Never has there been such a time in history where
transportation and communication are so available for us to either go to the
world or it can come to us!In l955,
Brother Andrew invited Jesus into his heart. He traveled from his home in
Holland to Poland and discovered in that war torn country, a remnant of the
Christian Church. He sat down and watched as an army of Communist youth were
marching. The pages of his Bible blew open to Revelation 3:2: "Wake up!
Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds
complete in the sight of God." He knew he needed to take the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to the world. But how would he do it? He started smuggling Bibles
behind the Iron Curtain to Asia and Africa. He soon had a team of Couriers
who smuggled Bibles and other Christian literature to people hungry for God.
Today, Open Doors sends people with millions of Bibles to persecuted
Christians throughout the former Soviet Union, Asia, the middle East ,
Africa and Latin America. These people risk their lives and freedom. As
people go, many of us stay home, pray and send money.We also
have many opportunities today to minister to people around us. Jesus is
inclusive of all people: male or female, Jews or Greeks, Muslim or Hindu,
rich or poor, sick or well, old or young, weak or strong, fat or thin, ugly
or beautiful. He desires that ALL people come to Him.Recently,
I attended an Aglow Conference in a motel where there was a small group of
teen age girls celebrating their friend's birthday for the weekend. An Aglow
sister noticed them and started praying for them. God drew these girls into
our Conference and they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. What
a joy!Let us
WAKE UP, dear sisters and brothers, and open the door of our hearts to let
Jesus come in and eat with us. He will call our attention to the lost so
they can open the door of their hearts and receive Him. Whether we are 9 or
90, our days are numbered to win the lost and set the captives free.Prayer Father, forgive me for not sharing the good news more often. Open the door of my heart and show me how to get others to open the doors of their hearts so they can receive you and then give of themselves so others can receive You. I love You Lord! Amen. Additional Scripture Isaiah 61:1
Evelyn Rhoades
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
| Matthew 7:7 “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.” |
Wolf In Sheep's Clothing Just today I noticed a woman at work who professed to be a Christian and yet I was very turned off by her. It seems that every time I notice her, she has a scowl on her face or she is holding her chin up very high, in a majestic sort of way. The first thought that crossed my mind was, “She sure doesn’t act like a Christian. She doesn’t seem very friendly. She seems mean.” Then, almost as if a mirror were cast up in front of me, my second thought was, “I wonder what I look like to other people? Do they say the same about me?” There is
another lady I have known for 15 years and she always smiles and sings and
is always willing to listen and give encouragement. I talked with her about
the thoughts I had and she let me know that we all have bad moments. That I
had been suffering from expecting too much of myself. I actually heard
myself say to her, “But I should be perfect like Jesus all the time!” Lucky
for me she was there to talk to because she gently reminded me that we can’t
always be perfect like Jesus. It is through building a relationship with Him
that we become more like Him, but we don’t become Him. Only He was perfect.I am a
happy Christian and work hard to fulfill my mission for God. I fell in love
with Ginghamsburg church because it is non-judgmental and service oriented.
But as those thoughts crossed my mind this morning, after hearing the
message yesterday about opening the door wide, I couldn’t help but think
that I, too, had turned people off and made them think I was one of those
hypocritical Christians as I am not always smiling at work and I tend to be
self-centered while there. That is the biggest challenge in my walk with
Jesus, to be His messenger at work. I pray to Him constantly every day
(harder than usual) because I am so weak when I am in my work place. But I
know that Jesus is with me, because He puts others in front of me at work
that are also on a mission for Him. I can talk to them and tell them how I
am feeling and ask their opinions about how I can be better, or if I am
simply good enough! I do not want to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I want
to be authentic. The first step toward that is to become the door knocker on
that wide open door. If my facial expressions are open, then people will not
be afraid to knock.The rest
of the day, I concentrated very hard on making eye contact and smiling a
lot. I don’t know if many knocked, but my day was a lot less stressful and
more fun! What does your door knocker look like? Prayer Father God, I thank you for the gentle reminders you often give me. They nudge me to grow stronger and closer to you. I pray that you may help me polish my door knocker so that all will want to come and see what is in store for them in knowing you. Give me the strength to weather the elements in life’s storm so that my door knocker may shine bright, even in the darkest hour. Additional Scripture Isaiah 60:3; Ephesians 5:8
Kate Geiger
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
| Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." . |
A Friend In Need Have you ever been paralyzed by sin? Through disobedience, gotten yourself into such a place that you just couldn’t find a way out? I have. And while I was mourning my sin and crying out to God, I was afraid and asked Him if there was a way for me. I was at a point in my life that I could not get up and bring myself to God. It just was not in me. Then God spoke to my heart and sent me to Mark 2 in His Word and I read of the four men who brought their paralyzed friend to see Jesus. What the man could not do for himself, his friends stood in the gap and did for him. They were determined to get their friend to the Lord. Then I read that the Lord said, "Son, your sins are forgiven." I then realized that God, in His infinite mercy, will rescue you and get you to the Son, even if he has to have others carry you. Jesus didn’t say to the man, “Be healed, or go give thanks.” Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven,” indicating it was sin that had put him there. What hope
flowered in my heart in that moment. Realizing that even in my hard place,
there were friends ready to hear God’s call and stand in the gap for me.
They were God given people who were in my life for such a time as this. Oh
that we all could have such friends as those in Mark 2!However,
the church is to be such a friend. Not a club for saints, but a determined
friend, willing to risk reputation and resources to get others to Jesus
Christ. A friend who will risk to God all that they have in order that more
may receive. “Freely you have received, freely give.”
Prayer Thank you, Lord, for those who went before me, preparing the way for me to receive. By their sacrifice and resources, I enjoy many benefits. By their vision and courage, my walk is made easier. Now help me to build up the road and remove the obstacles from the way of the next generation of believers. Forgive me the times I have huddled around my blessings. Deliver me from the fear of "lack" and write your promise on my heart, "You shall lack no good thing." I have freely received all things from your hand. Enable me, therefore, without restraint, to freely give out of the abundance of my blessings of time, finances, prayer and love. I throw open the doors of my heart. Enlarge it for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and His great love of all people! Amen. Additional Scripture Matthew 10:7-8; John 7:38; Matthew 28:19-20; Isaiah 57:14
Lisa Sowry
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
