Remembering were we came from..........

Good morning peeps! Have you thought about today? Have you thought about what this country is celebrating? Or, is it just a sweet three day weekend for you? What is Memorial Day? It might mean a something a little different to different people. Do you have someone in your family that lost their life defending our freedom? Have you or someone in your family served in the armed forces defending our freedom? These are the people that we should be remembering today. We should be lifting them up. I know this country is in a bad place right now but, we have men and women all over the world still defending us! Plus we have the families back home that are supporting those men and women! We should remember them too! Hey guys, it even talks about remembering those before us in the Bible. Let's dig into the good stuff and see what we find........... 

Bible Verse: Exodus 13:3 "And Moses said unto the people, remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place."

 

Every year, we Americans remember those brave men and women who fought are fighting and gave their lives so that you and I would have the rights that we do! The privileges  of  living  in  a  free  country. I know you may not think about your freedom most of the time but, if you have ever been somewhere that people didn't have it you would cherish it even more. I think that remembering is important. So much so that, God instructs His people on many occasions in the Old Testament to remember from where they came

We should never take our freedom for granted! Listen, there are few things that should be protected till the end. Our freedom is one of them. It is a precious commodity for which the world hungers. And it is a powerful charge for you and me to protect. Can you do me a favor today? If you know of someone in your life who has served or who is serving in the armed forces of this country or maybe someone who has lost a loved one serving. Make a point this week to express to them your gratitude for their service. Have a great day and God bless!

 

Tattoo's of the heart......

What's up peeps? How has your week been going? Well, it's hump day and you should be happy your week is almost over. Now, my work week on the other hand starts Friday. I know, bummer right. I was thinking about tattoo's this morning. I am not sure about how you feel about them. Like them or not, people have them. They get them for various reasons. Some get iconic emblems, names of spouses, children's names, cartoon characters, favorite drawings, or maybe even scripture. Well, I have two. One on each arm and thought about how much time went into me preparing to get them. I thought about the design for years before I got it. It was a pretty big decision right? Well, it should be. It is a lifetime decision and commitment. Let's look at something in the Bible that God laid on my heart about a type of tattoo. Let's dig in.........
 
Bible Verse: Deuteronomy 6:6 "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts."

Ok, let's visualize someone getting a tattoo . Now, this is their first one. They should spend months, sometimes years agonizing over what to get, how big to get it, and where to have it inked. And why not? It is a lifetime decision and commitment, right?

Now, this might sting a bit. Most of us are way less careful about what to put on our hearts. In fact, a lot of us just hold our hearts up in the air, waiting for something or someone to come along to hand it over to. We're ready to cover our hearts with the names of boy/girlfriends, Justin Beiber / One Direction, sports teams, whatever ignites a little passion. Whatever is the flavor of the week or month.

Here we go! Here's some meat. Solomon warned us to guard our hearts, because we have just the one life. And here, God gives us something worth inking on our hearts: His commands. His desires for us. It's one of the ways we love Him with all of us. For some reason we struggle with this an awful lot. Our hearts get so full of other junk that we don't have a lot of room for God. He might get the guest room with no view.

Now, I have a question for you? Have you ever put something on your heart too easily? Have you ever given your mind, will, and emotions over to something that turned out to be a waste of time (or, worse, really hurtful)? How can you put God's commands and desires on your heart?

There is a flip side to this. Have you ever given your heart over to something that was totally a God thing and He has shown you how awesome it is and can be? When you continue to seek Him and His will in your life, I have no doubt that He will be that lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path! God can and will bless us in we are obedient and keep our eyes on the prize!

 

 

 

We got this..........

Good sunny day! It has been storming for the last two days. I was at a church dinner last night for Cinco De Mayo and it had been raining all day. Well, all of the sudden you hear people start clapping and when I looked up there was the sun shining through the clouds! it brought joy to everyone's hearts. Even though it had been nasty and storming for days, the sun showed its face and made everyone realize the storm was almost over. This is the same in our lives. We just have to keep our eyes on the prize while we are in the storm. Keep our eyes on the Son. Let's dig into some of the good stuff and see what it shows us.........

Bible Verse: John 6:20 "But He saith unto them, 'It is I; be not afraid.'"

Alright, now here is some Bible trivia for you. Did you know that 365 times in the Bible, that's one time for every day in the year; God has told us not to be afraid? Three hundred and sixty-five times! Check that out. In one way or another, He said. "Be not afraid" or "Fear not." Now the problem is that the devil is the master of fear, but the Lord tells us not to be afraid.

In John chapter 6, the disciples, some of them seasoned sailors like me, are filled with fear. They were probably rowing for their lives. Now, it's too far from the shore to swim and the waves are huge. They think that they are going down. And on top of all of this, where is Jesus? Why hasn't He come to them? Why has He left them? Why has He forsaken them?

When all of the sudden they see Him. Dude, Jesus is walking on the water. What's crazy is, this doesn't bring them joy. Now their fear has turned to raw terror. Who is that? What is that walking on the water? Is it a ghost? And then, all of the sudden they recognize Him, it's Jesus. Jesus is walking on water!

Hey listen, you can look around everywhere and see heartache. I was talking to a woman yesterday that is going through a lot right now. She is in the middle of a terrible storm. Heck, she just came out of a major one and now she back in another. We have to just keep our eyes on the Son because the storms will come.

How do you find peace in the midst of your storm?  Hey listen, having peace doesn't mean you don't have problems in life. Peace is having the power to meet those problems head on. That peace comes from the Lord. Can you do me a favor? Let's commit to memory John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." We got this! Have a great day and God bless.

Spoiled milk.........

Good morning! Well, I had to work last night and when I arrived back home this morning I heard a strange noise in the kitchen. I heard a beeping noise. As soon as I heard it I knew what it was. It was the alarm on the fridge door. If the door is left open after a minute or so, the alarm will start beeping. When I got to the door and opened it I could already smell some of the stuff in the fridge had started to sour. It showed that it was 61 degrees in the fridge. So, I started to go through and throw all the dairy products out. What really awesome is I have a problem with buying. For some reason when I buy yogurt I have to buy 5 million of them. So, I put about 15 Greek yogurts, milk, cottage cheese, salad dressings, and so much more into the trash. While I was doing it, I couldn't help but think about God doing this in our lives. Maybe some things have spoiled or gone bad. Maybe it was because of bad decisions or bad circumstances. I think God can and does do the same thing in our lives. He can purge out the bad and forgive. He can kick start our fridge and get it cooling again. Let's dig into the good stuff and see what it can show us.........

Bible Verse: Romans 12:19-21 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Ok, I know I brought out the subject of forgiveness. This one kinda stinks sometimes. There are some people we just don't want to forgive. We hold on to it. What is hard is that it requires both attitude and action. I know what you’re saying "I just can't forgive them. You just don't know what they have done to me!" You are totally right. I don't have a clue. Trust me when I tell you this. I have a real problem with forgiving too! I am going to flat out tell you that I struggle with forgiving some of the people that were closest to me. I feel I have been wronged and pushed aside and feel totally hurt. Now, the hard part is, who do you think this is hurting the worst? Go ahead and say "You Tony!" Sure is, I don't think they have lost any sleep over it. I know for sure that I have. But, the bottom line is that I must forgive. Maybe I might need to put a hand out. the right actions might bring forth the right attitude. I guess what I am trying to get at is the word "Sin" that is pretty much what it is all about. Just like the fridge. I had to purge my fridge of all the stuff that was going bad. If I didn't, it would have just made my fridge smell horrible. I would have had a stinky fridge. Just like our lives. We should allow God to purge some of those things from our lives. It maybe bitterness or an unforgiving heart. We need to get rid of the stuff that is spoiling so we don't start stinking and spoiling. Just a thought, from me to you today. Know that I live these devo's before I can ever write them. Have a great day and God bless

Chalk up.......

Good afternoon! Can we rejoice? Do we rejoice? Are we thankful for something to rejoice about? When you pray and God answers your prayers. Do you thank Him? Do you realize when things are good? Do you have to experience bad to know good? Do you have to go through storms to cherish smooth sailing or calm waters? Are you thankful for the storms? Are you thankful for the hard times in your life? Let's stop and give God His props for where we are in our lives. For without Him we would be lost. Let's dig into some of the good stuff and see what it shows us......... 

Bible Verse: Psalm 46:1 - "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

Did you know that it is totally impossible to have a valley without a mountain? They are beautiful complements in God's grand creation. The valley is the place of vision. It is the place of reflection. The mountain is the place of discovery, a place to become strong, and a place to get a little pep in your step. If you find yourself in a valley, it is because you have come down from a mountain. If you're on a mountain, you came there by way of the valley. I know this sounds weird but, we should rejoice when we are in the valley. Because we should know that sooner or later we will be on a mountain top with a smile on our faces. If you haven't been on a mountain top in awhile. Search your heart. What is going on? Have you made base camp in the valley? Maybe it is about time to break camp and load the pack mules! I'll meet you on the peak of the mountain. A friend of mine told me the other day that he goes hunting out west and he has to climb some very hard terrain. Taking one hand hold at a time. He told me there is nothing like being at the top of one of those mountains. He said it is like you can just talk to God and He is with you! Guess what? He is always with us. Even when we are in the lowest of lows. He will be your help and your refuge. We just have to cling to Him and start climbing. One hand hold at a time! Are you in the valley or on the mountaintop? Do me a favor read Psalm 46 about the strength of the Lord. Rest and rejoice in His strength wherever God has you right now. Have a great day and God bless!

What's in your heart???????

Good morning! When you see people. What do you see? Do you gauge people by their success? Do you see someone driving a $60,000 car and say "They must have it going on." Do you see them living in a half million dollar house and say "Wow, they must have everything figured out." How do we see success? What really is success? Let's dig into the good stuff and see what it shows us........

Bible Verse: 1 Samuel 16:7 "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."

I have a friend that is a big strapping dude. Works out all the time, has a good job, the ladies like him, drives a nice car, and has a nice home. You would think he is squared away. Well, I've gotten to know him over the years and he has problems just like the rest of us. Really probably worse but, to look at him you would think he had everything worked out. Just like David's older brother Eliab in this scripture was a big, broad-shouldered, handsome man. If you had gone to look for a king, you would have said, "Surely there's a kingly man if I ever saw one." But God didn't have His eyes upon Eliab, He had his eyes on David.

Sometimes we see people and say, "Oh, they have it all. I wish I could be like that person, look like that person, sing like that person, serve like that person. I wish I had their ability. I wish I were this or that." It's so great to know that God doesn't see as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

Here is the thing! At the judgment seat of Christ, there will be a day of revelation and the things that are highly esteemed among men may look much different then. Jesus spoke to those who were self-righteous in His day, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God." (Luke 16:15)

I have to tell ya. I am glad, my friend, for that day of revelation that's going to come? When it does, the focus is not going to be upon size but upon quality. It's not going to be about looks but about works. God is not primarily interested in quantity. God is interested in quality. We get that confused sometimes. We are our own worst enemy. Remember this.....Your heart will always be where your treasure is.......Have a great day and God bless!