Declaration of Dependence

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty

by which Christ has made us free, and

do not be entangled again with a

yoke of bondage.”

    Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)

"My soul, wait silently for God alone,

for my expectation is from Him. He only

is my rock and my salvation; He is my

defense; I shall not be moved. In God is

my salvation and my glory; the rock of

my strength, and my refuge, is in God."

     Psalm 62:5-7 (NKJV)

As we celebrate Independence Day in the U.S. this week, we have much to thank God for in so blessing this country. We have freedoms that many places in this world do not have.  We should not take them lightly or for granted.

As believers, we have amazing freedom in Christ---freedom from the penalty of sin, freedom from death, freedom from the cares of this life. We are also blessed by the truth we have in Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). That truth makes us free when we believe on Him and live by His word.

But freedom is only one side of the coin. Even while declaring our country's independence, the founding fathers recognized the importance of reliance upon God and the inalienable rights that come from Him alone. This applies to us as individuals as well.  The Christian life cannot be lived without dependence upon God.  For He has given us life and salvation, our very being and all the blessings we enjoy. We must walk humbly with the Lord, letting Him lead and acknowledging our reliance upon Him for all things. He alone is our strength, our defense, our refuge.  

I pray that we rejoice in the freedom we have in Christ but also that we joyfully declare our total dependence upon our gracious Lord.

Freedom In The Spirit

Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.  2 Corinthians 3:15-18

Reading God’s word can be convicting.  There are many times I will read something, and have a strong visceral reaction towards it.  I begin to ask myself, “Is this the flesh rebelling or is my heart in the wrong place?”  I reflect as if God is trying to teach me a lesson that will take an amount of time for me to learn.  Spiritual growth is supposed to be this way.  You feel uncomfortable, and you must start stretching it out testing it to get comfortable.  Then there comes a level of thankfulness as it sinks in.  Then as I write my a devotion based on it, I pray that God guides me to say the right things and not lead me and those who would read it wrongfully.  It is then that I can feel God’s Spirit begin to awaken, and it flows within me.  Before I know it, the words flow freely, and my confidence in what God is impressing on me sinks in.  My heart is filled with His love, and my mind and soul are free from hesitancy and inhibition.

Embracing God and His word is true freedom.  In a discussion with a good friend of mine, I was able to share a bit of my faith discussing The Greatest Commandment.  As I shared the lessons from it, I could see the glow coming to their face.  This was a great feeling as I did not worry where I was or who might have heard me.  It was just the conversation and the words God impressed upon me to say.  There are lots of things that cause us to think of words God would wish us to say yet somehow never make it out of our mouths.  Sometimes it is prudent to not say anything particularly as it may be harmful.  However, we must be able to discern the difference between prudence and fear.  Prudence is obedience to God much like patience.  Fear is a tool of the devil that prevents the best God puts in you to come out.  To combat this, we must be courageous as courage is the opposite of fear, and we know this much through God’s word.  Think of the many times Joshua was encouraged where the phrase “Be strong and courageous” was repeated to him multiple times (see Deuteronomy 31 & Joshua 1).  The more courageous we are, the freer we become, and it is this freedom Paul speaks of in the verses today.

Jesus Christ died so that we would be free from the bondage of our sins.  The love He showed is certainly far above anything we could imagine.  However, all because we cannot fathom His sacrifice does not excuse us to be meek followers unwilling to share His love, grace, and wisdom with others.  Don’t let the fact you are not Jesus inhibit you from being like Him.  Remember the words of Paul when he said, “Because of Christ and our faith in Him we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.”  Be willing to share what God places on your head, heart, and soul with others.  What message has God placed on your heart today?  What is the one thing God would want you to share with others?  My prayer is that on this Independence Day, we celebrate one of the greatest freedoms we have; the freedom in the Spirit of The Lord.  Amen, and Happy 4^th of July everyone!

Love and Faithfulness

Proverbs 3:3-4

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
    in the sight of God and man.

Continuing on from last week, Proverbs 3 is giving us instructions on how we should live in order to have a good life as God intended for us.  Here we are told to love and be faithful.  To bind them around our neck and write them on the tablet of our heart.  In other words, be clothed in love and faithfulness.  If we are clothed in them, others will surly see that in us. 

Being liked by others is often something we want in life.  Here we are told that by clothing ourselves in love and faithfulness, we will win favor and a good name in the sight of both God and man.  This is something that I know I find to be a desire of my heart. 

So how do we cloth ourselves or bind them around our neck and write them on the tablet of our heart?  What this really means is that you live it in all things.  It sounds so simple yet it can really be a challenge. 

How can you show others that you are clothed in love and faithfulness?    

His Marvelous Works

“I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;

I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

     Psalm 9:1 (NKJV)

Throughout the Bible, we are exhorted to praise God because He alone is always worthy of praise--not only for what He does but for who He is.  In the above passage, we’re told to tell of all His marvelous works and I’m here to do just that.

I just finished a very challenging project at work—filling in for another attorney editor on a book that I’d never worked on before. To make it even more daunting, the book was in a substantive area of the law that I didn’t know, working with authors I didn’t know and the book was quite large with a pressing deadline.  Needless to say, I was nervous and felt more than a bit overwhelmed when I started this project a couple months ago.  But God was faithful, as always. 

I committed myself and the work to God each day, and prayed for His help and guidance so I could do my best on it, that He would be glorified. He didn't fail but was there with me, day by day, each step of the way.  Oh I made mistakes, but He helped me make the necessary corrections and even to apologize when I needed to.  My heart overflows with gratitude to Him!  It is humbling and awesome to serve such a faithful, gracious Lord!

I’d like to invite others to share in the comments something that God has done in your life:  

Let’s tell of His marvelous works!

Let’s testify to His goodness and His greatness! 

Let’s sing His praises together! 

Doing so will encourage us and bless our gracious and worthy Lord.

Thursday Devotional - Chasing after the Wind of Accumulation

I’m a natural saver. As a kid, I even saved candy for years and years. However, when my sisters or Mom would find my “saved” candy and eat a piece, it wasn’t very good because of how old it was. There is such a thing as saving too much or too long. 😊

We’re to be wise stewards of the money God enables us to earn. However, a focus on accumulating and saving and hoarding more and more isn’t beneficial to us or others around us.   

Ecclesiastes 5:8-15      ⁸ If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. ⁹ The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

¹⁰ Whoever loves money never has enough;
    whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
    This too is meaningless.

¹¹ As goods increase,
    so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
    except to feast their eyes on them?

¹² The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
    whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
    permits them no sleep.

¹³ I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:

wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
¹⁴     or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
    there is nothing left for them to inherit.
¹⁵ Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,

    and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil
    that they can carry in their hands.

A focus on accumulation isn’t satisfying or beneficial in this life or the next. Those focused on accumulation are never satisfied. It’s never enough. Let’s prayerfully be generous with what God has provided, while wisely saving just enough.

Alice

Have A Talk With God

But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
    I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
I will praise you forever, O God,
    for what you have done.
I will trust in your good name

    in the presence of your faithful people.  Psalm 52:8-9

Trusting in God is not an easy thing.  One of the things I enjoy is listening to others and their life stories.  I laugh at their follies, and cry with them in their pain.  Everyone should be heard in my world.  We all want someone to hear us, don’t we?  I think of what God must hear when we talk with Him.  My conversations range between the very same things I hear people speak to me of.  Sometime, God is trying to teach me in a humorous way, and I look up to the heavens with a grin on my face saying, “God, you’re funny.”  Other times, I am tired and weary, and look to God to just help me get through the day.  Then I think of my wife, and am often overcome with emotion in how He blessed me with her.  I say, “God, I do not deserve this wonderful woman.  Thank you for putting her here and loving me so much.”  These are the things I talk about with God, and in hindsight, those are the reasons I trust Him.

However when I lose focus on these things, I am not so trusting.  I rely maybe too much on my wants and not what God wants.  These are dangerous times where doubt creeps in and sinfulness may be at hand.  It is then that I need to realize that doubt is the work of the Satan.  I must trust God and sometimes, that means I must pause.  This is where I stop, and God starts.

It is vital to have open communication with God.  A simple truth in any relationship is that the better the communication, the better the relationship.  I read this 52^nd Psalm of David, and initially thought this was about trusting God against your enemies.  But as I got to the end, David spoke about thriving in the house of God.  It was more about His relationship with God than all that was going on around him.  He spoke glowingly not only in front of others but also and more importantly to God Himself.  It gave me comfort realizing that we too have that same access to God.  Reading, going to church, and prayers all constitute as ways to communicate with Him, and as we talk more with Him, we gain confidence that builds the trust David speaks of.  Paul wrote in the opening of 2 Corinthians, “We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us.” (2 Corinthians 1:10b)  This is what a growing relationship in Christ sounds like.

Our relationship with God is real.  It is not one where we either go through the motions or read just to check off a box of a ‘To Do’ list.  It is motivating and often convicting.  It’s hard.  But if we are willing to search deep in our hearts and soul and share with God all that is our life, He will listen.  He will hear.  And most important, He will answer.  A song by Stevie Wonder speaks to this saying:

Many of us feel we walk alone without a friend
Never communicating with the One who lives within
Forgetting all about the One who never ever lets you down
And you can talk to Him anytime, He's always around

Let us continue to speak freely to our Heavenly Father with consistency and without fear or hesitation.  What will you talk with Him about today?  What joy, fear, or pain can you share with Him?  My prayer is that we break free of our stagnation, and simply as the title of Stevie Wonder’s song says, “Have a Talk with God.”  Amen.

Prolonged life of peace and prosperity

Proverbs 3:1-2

My son, do not forget my teaching,
    but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years
    and bring you peace and prosperity.

There are so many places in the Bible that teach us how we are to listen to our Heavenly father.  At the same time, we can relate these verses to how we as children or parents are to follow the teaching of our parents.  As we read these verses, you will never find it saying, do this because I said so (which by the way, I find myself telling my son too often).  Instead, it always says to obey the commands because it will prolong your life and guild you on the path that will be best for you.

I don’t know about each of you, however I do know that in my own life, I have struggled with understanding why God wants me to follow a specific path sometimes however I do know that it always leads to the correct destination.  Is there something in your life that you struggle to obey God’s teaching?  Today I just want to encourage you to search for where God is trying to lead you.  Keep his commands in your heart and he will lead you to a life full of peace and prosperity.

Watch and Work

“For the Lord Himself will descend

from heaven with a shout, with the

voice of an archangel, and with the

trumpet of God. And the dead in

Christ shall rise first. Then we who

are alive and remain shall be caught

up together with them in the clouds

to meet the Lord in the air. And thus

we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another

with these words.”

     1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NKJV)

The older I get, the more I think about heaven and that’s understandable.  But the return of Christ should be on the minds of all believers, young and old alike!  It’s so exciting to think about when the Lord will descend from heaven and we will be caught up with Him and never leave!

We’re told to comfort one another with these truths, and that’s what one dear sister and I do after church almost every Sunday. For example, she’ll say, when the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there – and I’ll smile and say me too! Or I’ll say, we need to keep looking up, it could be any day now — and she’ll smile and say amen!

Remembering the promise of Christ’s return is encouraging not only on good days but especially on days that are a struggle.  When you can hardly bear to read the headlines in the news anymore, when you see the moral decline in our society getting worse, when you're weary of all the sin and pain in this world ---that’s when it’s truly a comfort to think about the Lord coming for us.

We should be waiting with expectation for Christ to come again, but that doesn’t mean we check out and just sit around until His return. No, this is a time to be busy serving the Lord and sharing His good news to a lost world.  Because we don’t want to be ashamed when He comes; we want to be found busy doing His work. 

So watch for Him and work while there is still time.  Come Lord Jesus, come!

Thursday Devotional - Chasing after the Wind of Sounding Good

Some of us are naturally bigger talkers than others. Even those of us that don’t talk as much still need to be careful what we say. In fact, when it comes to talking to God, we’re to listen more than we speak.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7        ^]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

² Do not be quick with your mouth,
    do not be hasty in your heart
    to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
    and you are on earth,
    so let your words be few.
³ A dream comes when there are many cares,
    and many words mark the speech of a fool.

⁴ When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. ⁵ It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. ⁶ Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷ Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

We’re to be careful when making promises before God. We’re also to stand in awe and listen to God more than speak ourselves. He does want to hear from us in prayer, but He has lots to tell us – through His word and through quiet moments. One of my friend’s favorite verses is:

Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

Where can you and I go this week to be still before God? How will you and I take time to truly listen rather than spending most of our time telling Him our ideas?

Alice

Celebrate Love

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

So, this week I am on vacation, and it has been really fun.  It’s a time to forget about the hustle and bustle of work, cheer practices, and responsibilities, and take time to be thankful for the things I have.  For example, my wife and I have enjoyed spending time together like it is a second honeymoon.  She has had fun all the while poking fun at me.  I tell her how she hurt my feelings and she is why we don’t get nice things (playfully of course  😊).  I enjoy how much love there is between us.  I think of the times where we were truly upset with each other.  They were messy and ugly.  However over the years, I figured out something about love.  True unconditional love between two people is the same as love that often fails.  The difference is not the love.  The difference is what matters to them.  Conditional love focuses on those things that are not.  The insensitivity shown or failure and disagreements that occurred.  Unconditional love focuses on the things that are.  The smiles shared and the tough times we fought through.  Love is a celebration.  Not a sacrifice.

God’s love is about the beauty He sees within us.  It should not be a huge surprise that a devotion on ‘Love’ focuses on 1 Corinthians 13.  In science, it has been said that the simplest laws are often the most powerful ones.  For example, what goes up must come down is the law of gravity.  1 Corinthians 13 is exactly that way.  It is simply written but powerfully advanced.  As you read the verses, I asked myself, “When I said that I loved someone, was all of this present?”  I saw the moments in my life where I was not loving, and in each case, something from these verses was missing.  Then, I think of how God loves me.  He looks beyond my flaws and sees me as a person usable for His will.  He subtly guides me even as I may fight Him (like I had a shot  😊).  He corrects me sometimes harshly but always with a look toward the future.  It is why people say God is love.  Like the last verse, He, “never gives us, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

As I think of this week’s vacation, I have a greater drive toward righting all those things where love was lacking.  Whether it is a conversation with a co-worker or addressing a situation with my daughter, I am driven and inspired by the love I have for all of those near and dear to me.  Each of us has that within us to love.  If you feel a limitation of love then either one of two things must be true.  Either you have not let God in enough to expand your abundance of love or you may not truly love as much as you believe.  God’s love is sufficient for all, and if you happen to be a person feeling unloved I want to impress upon you these simple truths:

1. God loves you
2. Love yourself as God loves you
3. Love others, and that love will come back

“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”” (Matthew 22:37-40)  Where is your love abundant or lacking in?  How can you expand your love for others?  My prayer is that we see others as God sees us and celebrate our love.  Amen.