28 Monday May 2012
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Have you ever been in a situation where you felt the need for God’s mercy on you? I definitely have! For David, you can feel it in Psalm 57:1, Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. When we face times of trouble, God comes along and calms our hearts and minds. Only He can truly give us peace and I love Him for protecting and loving us even when we don’t deserve it.
20 Sunday May 2012
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It wasn’t until later in my life that I realized the importance of the company I keep. I always figured as long as I went to church and most of my friends were believers, it would be enough. What I’ve found as I’ve grown older is I need people who lift me up and, more importantly, are positive influences in my life and in the lives of others. Psalm 1:1 starts the Psalms with a powerful description; Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. This is one of those verses that cause me to weigh different influences in my life. For example, you may think this is funny, but I use Twitter on a daily basis (that’s not the funny part). One of the things that has caused me to stop following people on Twitter who I consider personal friends is negativity. While I know there is little to no weight in a tweet, I simply don’t enjoy listening to people, who are believers and who have experience God’s love and grace in their lives, choose to use a public forum to tear other people down(even public figures who do stupid things). It bothers me down to my soul and breaks my heart. I don’t make it a public spectacle and announce to the world that I’ve stopped following someone, but I consciously choose to not participate in their shenanigans and not sit in the seat of mockers.
17 Thursday May 2012
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A few years ago I was struggling with what my relationship with God was supposed to be. I had a hard time believing that a perfect God could ever want to look at me, much less have a relationship with me. Then one day I decided to take the time and read the Bible cover to cover. Once I got through the tedious task of reading through books like Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, I was excited to read about amazing characters like Joshua, Saul, and David. But it wasn’t until I got to the stories of David, a man after God’s own heart, that I realized there really are no perfect men in the Bible. In fact, I realized God doesn’t even expect us to be perfect. Actually, He does expect perfection, but He knows we cannot attain it on our own. This is where David’s life spoke to me so powerfully. David, a man after God’s own heart, made mistakes… he made a lot of mistakes. Sometimes he made multiple mistakes in a single try (when he committed adultery with Bathsheba he committed murder in an attempt to cover it up). But what made David a man after God’s own heart was he realized he needed God to make him clean and presentable for His presence. Psalm 51:10 and 11 says, 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Even David, a man after God’s own heart, wasn’t perfect and needed God to renew him and purify him. It was the first time in my life I realized that God doesn’t expect perfection. He expects obedience and a real relationship with Him that acknowledges our 100% reliance on Him. Yes, God is perfect, but He is also merciful and His plan is perfect!
21 Saturday Apr 2012
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There were a couple of things that stood out to me in today’s reading. The first was in Saul’s conversion when The Lord speaks to Ananias and says, 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” It is very clear that Jesus is fully responsible for Paul’s conversion, but what I found interesting is that even though Paul is completely turned around, he is still going to suffer according to these verses (we see this throughout the rest of Paul’s life) Let none of us ever think that a life of following Jesus is going to be like a bed of roses, in reality, it is more like a bed of rose bushes. There is certainly beauty in it and a sense of pure joy as we cultivate our walk with Him, but there is also suffering to be felt in order to attain it. The older I get, the more I realize that pain is a part of living a fulfilled life. The U.S. Marine Corps has an amazing saying, “Pain is just weakness leaving the body” For us it can be said, Suffering is just obedience entering our souls.
The second thing that stood out to me today was Peter’s raising Tabitha from the dead in verse 40, Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. Yes, this is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times. God can use any of us for great things if we just allow Him to use us. No matter how bad We have made mistakes, Jesus’ mercy and grace is much more powerful than our sin. Jesus conquered sin once and for all and our past or present sins do not limit His ability to use us.
15 Sunday Apr 2012
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It is sometimes easy to take God’s provision and act as if we had done it ourselves. When Peter and John took part in the healing of the crippled beggar, they were very clear as to where the power of healing had come from; verse 6, Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Even after the fact, when they were in the temple, Peter and John made it clear that the power was not their own but from the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. They wanted to make sure everyone was clear who the glory belonged to. This is the perfect example of how we should be about everything we have and do. Without the power and blessings of God we can do nothing. It is by His grace and mercy that we are blessed.
31 Saturday Mar 2012
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We can assume that the man in the white robe at Jesus’ tomb is an angel. I love what he says in verses 6-7, “6 Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” What I love is that he says and Peter. The significance is that he made a special mention of Peter to show that in spite of Peter’s denials, Jesus did not disown him. In fact, Jesus had great plans for him to fulfill in the establishment of the “soon to be” Church. It is encouraging to see that God can use anyone despite what they have done in their past.
20 Tuesday Mar 2012
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The passage describing Peter and Jesus’ interaction when He washes the disciples feet it’s humorous and a good parallel to how we sometimes choose to interact with God. When Jesus goes to wash Peter’s feet, he refuses. This is very much the way we sometimes react to God’s attempts to bless us. We feel unworthy and sometimes feel we need to earn it. Jesus takes the time to make Peter understand that he can not have a place in God’s kingdom if he doesn’t accept God’s gifts and blessings. While we may sometimes not be worth, Jesus’ mercy and grace are sufficient for us.
17 Saturday Mar 2012
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There is a lot to absorb in today’s reading. The first thing that stood out to me was in verse 62 when Jesus answers the high priest’s question as to whether He is the Christ or not, “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Even when Jesus answers truthfully He is still called a liar and is beaten. This is something for us to remember. Just doing the right thing and telling the truth about Jesus does not guarantee that everything turns out ok. Notice that Jesus points to His reward in heaven, not here on earth.
The second thing that stood out to me was Peter’s denial of Jesus. It took Peter 3 times before he reaches verse 72, Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept. The tough part is seeing Peter walking right into the middle of it. However, the really good news here is that Peter still becomes one of the foundations, The Rock, of our faith. No matter how bad we mess up, God can and will still use us.
02 Friday Mar 2012
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I often read verse 21 and jump to a conclusion that Jesus is simply talking about money, Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” If you aren’t careful you can miss the first few word in the passage “Jesus looked at him and loved him”, even when God corrects us He really does love us. I equate this to my kids and how there are times it breaks my heart when I have to take corrective action, but I never stop loving them. How much more does God love me and how much more does it break His heart?
20 Monday Feb 2012
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In verses 27 and 28 Jesus answered the expert in the law’s question about how he could inherit eternal life, “27 He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”” I found it interesting that the expert didn’t ask about salvation, he asked about eternal life. Jesus acknowledged the expert’s assessment of how to gain eternal life with the story of the Good Samaritan. I love this story because it not only shows what is right but also the spirit of doing what is right. Sometimes it is not easy to love people who are difficult to love. We need to reflect the love of Christ in all we do no matter how difficult it may be sometimes.
Daily Devotion 