Tag: moving on

September 7, 2023

September 7th, 2023

Thursday – Letters

Reading – Ephesians 3-4

Highlight Verse:

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I have a confession to make.

I have OCD tendencies.

Not only is that a fault of mine, but it also makes it more difficult for me to overlook the faults of others.

Yes, that pair of socks on the floor in front of the sofa I’m sitting on kinda drives me nuts; but not enough for me to pick them up, thereby spoiling the child who left them there.

Or maybe I should pick them up if I’m to follow the command of this verse.

Yes, the imperative tense of this verse makes it a command. Actually, three commands.

These are some of the toughest commands to follow.

They’re also some of the most important commands.

So, pardon me while I go throw a pair of socks in the laundry.

And pray for me that I may keep a grip on my attitude.

Are the faults of those around you driving you up the wall?
Are you doing the same for them?
Can you find a way to make allowances for other’s faults?
September 6, 2023

September 6th, 2023

Wednesday – History

Reading – 2 Samuel 1-2

Highlight Verse:

“After this, David asked the Lord, “Should I move back to one of the towns of Judah?” “Yes,” the Lord replied. Then David asked, “Which town should I go to?” “To Hebron,” the Lord answered.”
‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The “this” referred to at the beginning of this verse is David’s mourning of Saul and Jonathan’s deaths.

At this point it would seem obvious that David and his men and family should move back to Israel. But what does David do?

He asks God first!

There are many times in our lives when our next steps seem obvious. Logic would dictate prudent moves.

In David’s case this time, the obvious move was the one God would have chosen for him.

Sometimes the next step is not the obvious one.

That’s why David asked for God’s guidance.

That’s why we should ask too.

Is your first inclination to pray for God’s guidance when a major decision comes up?
What has been the result of seeking God’s guidance with a major choice?
What has happened when you didn’t seek God in a major decision?
September 5, 2023

September 5th, 2023

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Exodus 9

Highlight Verse:

“Please beg the Lord to end this terrifying thunder and hail. We’ve had enough. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭9‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Pharaoh and Moses had an interesting relationship.

You have to ask, “Why didn’t Pharaoh just kill Moses and Aaron?”

Did Pharaoh respect him? Fear him? Fear God?

Maybe it was all of the above.

One thing is certain, by the time the plague of hail came, Pharaoh knew for certain that Moses could stop the plagues with a prayer.

So why did he wait until the worst plague possible to stop going back on his word to let the people go?

Maybe we should ask ourselves the same thing.

We do that thing that God asked us to not do, or we don’t do that thing he asked us to do. Then we repent. We earnestly turn to the right path and swear we’ll never do that again. And then we blow it again. Or we mess up in an entirely different way.

But if we truly trust Jesus, we will make progress.

We may have relapses or discover something else that is wrong with how we live. But we trust Jesus to guide us on the best path and learn with each step.

Pharaoh never really learned his lesson. You’ll read how that turned out for him later.

Do you trust that Jesus will guide you on the best path for you?
Do you act on that trust?
August 17, 2023

August 17th, 2023

Thursday – Letters

Reading – Galatians 3-4

Highlight Verse:

“How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I have had days when every little mistake made me feel guilty. I felt like I had to be perfect in order to appease God.

I was doing the same thing that Paul admonished the Galatians for.

We shouldn’t try to be perfect so that we appear to be good Christians. We should trust Jesus for our salvation and do good things out of love and gratitude and because we trust Him to guide us.

And when we mess up, we shouldn’t beat ourselves up and try to do better to appease God.

Instead we should fall back on the trust we have in Him.

So how do you know whether what you do is out of guilt or out of trust?

Guilt knocks you down. Trust builds you up.

Be encouraged today because God is on your side and wants only what’s the best for you.

Then act out of trust, not out of guilt.

Do you act out of trust or out of guilt?
Can you tell the difference?
August 15, 2023

August 15th, 2023

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Exodus 3-4

Highlight Verses:

“But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?” Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If you read the whole reading, you know that Moses was tending sheep in the wilderness on Mount Sinai. Of course he has the tool of his trade – his staff.

It’s kind of like if God spoke to me while I was repairing a copier –

God, “What’s that in your hand?”

Me, “A power screwdriver.”

God, “Throw it down.”

Me, “What, no way! It cost over a hundred bucks!”

Okay, maybe not exactly the same but…

God used what Moses had.

Frankly, going into the job, Moses didn’t have much.

He couldn’t speak well.
He ran away from Egypt and his people.
He didn’t even know God well enough to recognize His presence in the burning bush.

But he had his shepherd’s staff.

Maybe it’s the same with us.

God will use what we have to do His will.

If we are willing, he will take our little and do a lot.

Like Moses, we might take some convincing before we’re willing to step out in faith with our meager tools. But, once we do, there’s no limit to what God can do with us.

Have you had any of those “step out in faith moments?” Please share!
Are you willing to step out in faith when God calls you?
August 11, 2023

August 11th, 2023

Friday – Prophets

Reading – Jeremiah 28-30

Highlight Verse:

“And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.””
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Israelites had been sent into the lands of their enemies. The survivors of Babylon’s conquest of the land were uprooted and forced to live in a foreign land.

And Jeremiah says to work and pray for the peace and prosperity of the city they’d been dragged off to?

Aren’t you glad you don’t live in that time?

Aren’t you glad that prophecy doesn’t apply to you?

Or does it?

Many of us have been put into less than ideal situations. For some, corporate takeovers have landed you with jobs in companies you thought you had avoided. Maybe circumstances have forced you into less than ideal living conditions.

We all have things we could grumble about.

Jeremiah basically says to live your life to its fullest praying and working for the best of those around you. Just because life isn’t ideal doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy it.

Please note that I am not advocating staying in abusive and/or dangerous situations. God and other people can help you find a way to safety.

For the rest of us,

let’s be thankful in our situations and and work and pray for the best.

Do you maintain a positive attitude even when situations don’t seem very positive?
What ways have you found to make the best of a less than perfect situation? Please share!
August 1, 2023

August 1st, 2023

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Genesis 49-50

Highlight Verse:

“So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭50‬:‭22‬ ‭NLT

Here’s a silly question –

Why?

Joseph lived in Egypt for many decades. Most of that time, his extended family was there too.

Why didn’t they go back to the promised land when Joseph, a powerful man in Egypt, was still alive?

Their land claims would have still been fresh. They could have resettled the land without much conflict.

Instead, the people of Israel chose to stay where it was comfortable. Egypt supported them as long as Joseph was alive. They had a good gig. They didn’t want to give it up.

Isn’t that just like us. We get comfortable and we don’t want anything that would challenge that comfort.

Let that go on too long and we end up just like the Israelites, gradually enslaved and trapped.

When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone to do the right thing at the right time?

How did it turn out?
July 26, 2023

July 26th, 2023

Wednesday – History

Reading – 1 Samuel 19-20

Highlight Verses:

“But one day when Saul was sitting at home, with spear in hand, the tormenting spirit from the Lord suddenly came upon him again. As David played his harp, Saul hurled his spear at David. But David dodged out of the way, and leaving the spear stuck in the wall, he fled and escaped into the night.”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭19‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I love how honest the Bible is.

In this case we see Saul in full blown mental illness.

I won’t try to diagnose Saul nor excuse his actions. He was obviously jealous to a disturbing level.

David, on the other hand, stayed level-headed and got himself out of that bad situation. He maintained respect for Saul despite his obvious problems.

It’s so easy to lash back when we’re hurt. The injustice and feeling of persecution puts us on the defensive.

What would happen to us if we were able to stay in control and just remove ourselves from terrible situations?

In David’s case, he outlasted the persecution with integrity

which resulted in him becoming one of the greatest kings of all time.

How do you react when persecuted?
What would happen if you removed yourself from the line of fire while maintaining respect for your persecutor as a person?

If you are a mental health professional, please tell me if I am way off with this line of thought.
July 23, 2023

July 23rd, 2023

Sunday – Poetry

Reading – Psalms 89-91

Highlight Verse:

“For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Please excuse me if you’ve heard this old story before but it immediately popped into my head when I read this verse.

An older gentleman was determined to stay in his home even though torrential rains were bringing flooding to his neighborhood. He prayed fervently,

“Lord please save me from this flood.”

Despite his prayers, the water still rose. Soon it was entering the ground floor of his home. A neighbor came by in a row boat and offered him a ride out. “Nope, I believe the Lord will save me!”

They left and he climbed the stairs and fell to his knees. “Lord, I’ve always been your faithful servant, please save me from these floodwaters.”

By the time he finished praying, another boat came up to the second floor window and offered him a ride. “No thanks, the Lord is going to save me!”

They shook their heads at him and sailed off.

Not long after, he was forced to climb up to the top of the roof. He started praying again. Just then, a helicopter swooped down and offered him a ride to safety.

He waved it off yelling, “The Lord is gonna save me!”

Pretty soon the waters took him away. He drowned and went to heaven. As soon as he saw Jesus he chased him down and asked, “Why didn’t you save me from the flood?”

Jesus replied, “I sent two boats and a helicopter, what more did you want?”

I know that’s a silly story but it reminds us that sometimes God’s help comes in ways that we don’t want to accept. I’ve seen people rescued from bad situations through arrest, bankruptcy, and even divorce. Sometimes the rescue is as simple as accepting help or advice from someone you don’t want to deal with.

None of those situations is good on the surface.

But sometimes we have to go through some tough times to get back on the right track.

In some of those situations, I’ve seen finances, marriages, and even lives restored.

Have you rejected God’s help in the past because it wasn’t what you wanted?
Has your life been restored by taking the tough rescue?
Are you faced with deciding whether to accept that tough road now?
July 20, 2023

July 20th, 2023

Thursday – Letters

Reading – 2 Corinthians 7-8

Highlight Verse:

“We are careful to be honorable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to see that we are honorable.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The context here is the handling of donations to help the believers in Jerusalem. Paul and those with him had taken the utmost care not only to handle that money with integrity but to be transparent so all could see they were handling it with integrity.

That integrity should carry over into all aspects of life.

We live in a society that values privacy above almost everything – except maybe convenience.

I have friends who can’t believe I have smart speakers in our home. They’re concerned that they are spying on us and could target us for what we say in our home.

To that I tell them, if they’re listening in to our home, they’re gonna get terribly bored.

When you don’t have anything to hide, you don’t worry about privacy beyond practical modesty and decency.

If you want to find out if you’re living a life of integrity, simply ask yourself, “If someone was listening in on everything I say, would I be embarrassed?”

If so, it might be time to bring some of the junk out into the open so you can deal with it.

To that end, I highly recommend Celebrate Recovery to get over life’s hurts, habits, and hangups.

Are there areas in your life that need to be brought out into the open so that you can act with greater integrity in them?
Do those around you see you as a person of integrity?

Tag: moving on

I have a confession to make.

These are some of the toughest commands to follow.

So, pardon me while I go throw a pair of socks in the laundry.

He asks God first!

Sometimes the next step is not the obvious one.

That’s why we should ask too.

Pharaoh and Moses had an interesting relationship.

Maybe we should ask ourselves the same thing.

But if we truly trust Jesus, we will make progress.

I was doing the same thing that Paul admonished the Galatians for.

Guilt knocks you down. Trust builds you up.

God used what Moses had.

If we are willing, he will take our little and do a lot.

Or does it?

We all have things we could grumble about.

let’s be thankful in our situations and and work and pray for the best.

Why didn’t they go back to the promised land when Joseph, a powerful man in Egypt, was still alive?

Let that go on too long and we end up just like the Israelites, gradually enslaved and trapped.

I love how honest the Bible is.

In David’s case, he outlasted the persecution with integrity

“Lord please save me from this flood.”

Jesus replied, “I sent two boats and a helicopter, what more did you want?”

But sometimes we have to go through some tough times to get back on the right track.

That integrity should carry over into all aspects of life.

If so, it might be time to bring some of the junk out into the open so you can deal with it.