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Showing posts from February, 2018

Journal Entry ~ 02/28/18

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, - Ephesians 6:13-14 We must be careful to take the enemy very seriously. The battle is not a metaphor, there is a very real struggle happening between the good and the evil forces of the world.  It may be hard to imagine because it’s not as tangible as the chair you’re sitting on or the person standing in front of you, the enemy isn’t easily identifiable with horns and a tail, but it’s real. We are warned multiple times in Scripture about the reality of evil forces at work in this world. The enemy seeks to destroy you.  Since the enemy isn’t tangible in our day to day life, we have a tendency to minimize the spiritual battle that exists around us. We think we can manage anything that comes our way because we’re pretty good at managing ou

Journal Entry ~ 02/26/18

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. - 2 Peter 3:8-9 God is patient toward us. His plan for us include Him patiently waiting for us to recognize our need to change. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives, and He is working to cultivate the heart that needs to carry out the work He intends for us to do.  God knows our heart. He knows how impatient we can be, and so He gave us a book of stories that span thousands of years. Scripture is full of stories of God patiently waiting for His people to change. Abraham and Sarah are only one example of God’s patience. Through them, He wanted to grow a nation of people who would live faithful to Him, but Abraham and Sarah were not ready when He first came to them. Over time,

Journal Entry ~ 02/25/18

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. - 2 Peter 3:8-9 I hear this quote yesterday and it made me think of this verse - Never doubt in the darkness what God has shown you in the light. We all end up in the darkness, and it’s in those moments that it can be so hard to trust He will move us into the light again. When we’re waiting a long time to see God move in a situation we have prayed fervently over, it can feel as if our prayers are unheard. When He does not rescue us from a trial we’ve struggled in for years, it can feel as if we’re wandering in the darkness alone. When He does not free us from temptation over the same sin issues that we’ve wrestled with for most of our lives, doubts can creep in the darkness and we st

Journal Entry ~ 02/24/18

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. - 2 Peter 3:8-9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise - He IS fulfilling His promise in the waiting. The waiting is part of the plan, and it is there that He has so much for us to learn.  There are times in my life where God has answered my prayer surprisingly quickly, but there are more times where He made me wait. It is in the times of waiting where my faith has grown the most. See, when He answers quickly, my heart is happy, but my prayers are often a quick high five. Woo hoo!  Thank you for taking care of that God, you’re awesome!!  What doesn’t happen in those quick prayers is the humbleness or the searching of my heart, or the submitting and trusting of His will in my

Journal Entry ~ 02/23/18

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. - 2 Peter 3:8-9 God shows just how much He cares enough for each of us in His patience with us. Think about your own story and how long He waited for you to surrender your life to Him, and He’s still waiting for you to give up that part of you that you’re still struggling with. Our God is so incredibly patient with us. He give us so much more time that we should be allowed.  Some read the Old Testament and think our God was full of wrath, but I see a God who was full of patience for a stubborn people. Just look at how many times He gave Israel another chance, how many prophets He sent to warn them, how He continued to provide for them despite their whining and complaining, how He g

Journal Entry ~ 02/22/18

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. - 2 Peter 3:8-9 God keeps His promises, and though the timing may feel slow to us, it is not slow to Him. It is exactly when He plans to follow through. I tend to be an impatient person. As a solution-oriented person, my thought processes are quick. When there is a problem, I have a tendency to see quickly through to a solution, and I can easily get frustrated with people who don’t move at my pace. But not God. His timing is perfect. It’s been perfect for me, and it’s perfect for those people I pray for in my life. I have been praying a long time for some I love dearly to come to know Jesus as their Savior. If I had my way, His timing would be now. But my story has taught me to u

Journal Entry ~ 02/21/18

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:16-18 There are times that our faith will be tested, and in those moments we will either grow deeper in our faith or we will grow bitter towards God. When we are on our knees, begging God to keep us from the fire, to stop something we fear may happen in our lives from happening, those are the moments our faith is tested. Perhaps we’re praying the diagnosis doesn’t come because we don’t want to walk through treatment, perhaps we’re praying the layoff doesn’t include us because we don’t have the money, perhaps it’s a child or loved one we pray never walks away from

Journal Entry ~ 02/20/18

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:16-18 God wants us to take risks with our lives. He was a plan and a purpose for each of our lives, but to accomplish those great things, He will need us to take risks. He wants us to look into the face of fear and trust that He will be there to walk through the fiery trials with us. He wants us to overcome any obstacles that might stand in the way of our pursuit of obedience to His Word with a confidence that allows us to take risks.  Risk is an action that exposes you to the possibility of injury - could be physical or it could be emotional. The loss could

Journal Entry ~ 02/19/18

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:16-18 Verse 18 is the ultimate game changer verse. This is a verse that can shatter strongholds, and change your perspective of any trial in your life. “But if not”. When I finally understood the truth that God is still good, even when He doesn’t answer my prayers the way I want Him to answer them, my life and my faith were forever changed.  And if not, He is still good. God is able, but He is not obligated to do what we ask of Him. If we take a hard look at our prayer life, we have to admit the the majority of our time is spent telling God what we think He s

Journal Entry ~ 02/18/18

17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:17-18 The confident faith expressed in these verses is beautiful - we would do well to commit them to memory to pull out any time we face a fiery trial. Our God is able. He can deliver us from the trial in front of us without hesitation. Whatever you face, you can trust that He can rescue from the struggle. He can pull you out of addiction, bring home a prodigal child, heal a marriage, save a life. What may seem impossible to you, is nothing for Him. He can turn any situation around on a dime. Live your life believing that truth. I love the way these three spoke confidently to the king - without hesitation, they looking into an impossible situation and said God is able to rescue them.  Speak this t

Journal Entry ~ 02/17/18

17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:17-18 When these three men were brought before the king for defying his order and refusing to bow down and worship the created image, their response was:  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. - Daniel 3:16. There is such a wisdom in that response for me. We don’t always need to answer when the darkness tempts us.  There are times when I engage the darkness in battle and find myself walking right into temptation. Sometimes darkness knocks on my door, and rather than letting it pass, I will engage in an effort to prove I’m right. Maybe I’m being falsely accused, maybe my faith is attacked, maybe my int

Journal Entry ~ 02/16/18

17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:17-18 True biblical faith will never ask you to deny your reality.  It will never ask you to put on a happy face and act like everything is okay when your world is falling apart. Some think when we allow others in to see the challenges we face, we are somehow failing at the Christian life.  Unfortunately, I’ve been part of Christian circles that don’t want to look into the darkness, instead they choose to put on a front and act as if everything is okay. They shame people who struggle with temptations and point a finger of blame when a trial or a sin issues comes to light. Since I was a fairly new Christian at the time, I quickly picked up on the cues that we never let others see us struggle.  I

Journal Entry ~ 02/15/18

17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:17-18 Oh, to have the faith that these three men had as they stood in defiance to the king!  I often ask myself when I read this story if I would be able to get into the fiery furnace with the same complete trust that God would deliver me from the hand of evil. As amazing as this story is, it should reminds us that our faith can look straight into the darkness and still see the light.  There are those who act as if living the Christian life is about putting on a happy face and denying the realities of this world. For others, it's more about their status, or what people think of them - it's all a show. There are people who are more concerned with appearing they live the Christian life, th

Journal Entry ~ 02/14/18

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. - Ephesians 6:12-13 As we spend one last day in this verse, I’m caught again by the point that Paul is trying to make in the first verse - our enemy is not people. Our battle is not with flesh and blood, but we treat them like the are, don’t we?  I know this truth when I sit here and study His Word, but when I get out into the world, I quickly forget. As I engage with people throughout my day, I get pulled into the trap of thinking that people are my enemy because I see people and interact with them. Don’t get sidetracked by difficult people - they are not the enemy.  We will use hateful words to tear somebody down, or passive aggressi

Journal Entry ~ 02/13/18

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. - Ephesians 6:12-13 I think sometimes we can be overwhelmed by the battle.  We catch glimpses of the broader picture and the sheer size of the battle can defeat us. There is still so much to accomplish, there is no way our efforts will amount to anything. Or maybe there is so much coming at us today that there is just no way we can take new ground.  We wonder how we’re supposed to make new disciples when we can barely make it through the day.  We are reminded in this verse that we are only called to stand firm when the battle rages. We only need to stand our ground. Sometimes that’s all we can do. When a soldier is preparing for battle

Journal Entry ~ 02/12/18

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. - Ephesians 6:12-13 Because the enemy is powerful and wicked, we must recognize that we’re going to be doing battle most days. There will be glorious days when we get to take a break from the battle, those days when we feel the very presence of the Lord in the gracious blessings He bestows on our lives; but for the majority of our days, we will be fighting the enemy’s attacks. His attacks are sneaky and deceptive and they will be aimed at our weaknesses. His lies will show up in the morning as we trying to get our children out the door, causing us to explode with impatience, his schemes will mix up the tone of a text to a loved one, his de

Journal Entry ~ 02/11/18

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. - Ephesians 6:12-13 When Paul says “the evil day”, he is not necessarily referring to the big battle coming in the future, he is referring to those days in our future when we will be tempted into sin. The evil day is when you’ve been beat down by an awful day, and your child triggers does something wrong - we explode rather than responding in a Godly way. Or perhaps the evil day comes when you’ve been struggling in our marriage and a man in the office is kind to you and shows you attention. Or perhaps the evil day is when you’ve been struggling financially and living on such a tight budget, and an opportunity presents itself to spend money

Journal Entry ~ 02/10/18

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. - Ephesians 6:12-13 The enemy is purely evil. He is called an accuser, a slanderer, and the father of lies. And though God does limit his power, Satan and his league of fallen angels are powerful and should not be underestimated. The enemy comes as an invisible force - we are fighting an enemy we cannot see, making him more powerful and dangerous. He is deceptive and scheming, and he will draw us away from the truths of scripture by appealing to our own pride and understanding. He will tempt us into sin by portraying sin as attractive and fulfilling. The enemy is strong, he is systematic in his attack, and he is often successful. While it’

Journal Entry ~ 02/09/18

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. - Ephesians 6:12-13 When Paul says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, he’s telling us these evil forces are not earthly figures with physical bodies, but rather invisible spirits. We are fighting an enemy that we cannot see. There may be a sense that we are fighting flesh and blood because our conflict is often with people, but make not mistake about it - the evil behind the conflict is the enemy himself. The fact that we can’t see him just makes him all the more dangerous and powerful.  There are several ways the enemy attacks us. He will plant lies in your thoughts. If you have ever doubted that God is real, or given in to th

Journal Entry ~ 02/08/18

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. - Ephesians 6:12-13 When we don’t acknowledge that there is an enemy looking to attack us, we love our lives unaware and unprepared. We don’t bother to put on armor and we’re not ready for battle. We can be caught off guard by the dangers is sin, and our testimony can be destroyed. When we do acknowledge there are evil forces at work in this world, we can prepare for the spiritual battle in front of us.  Sometimes we don’t like to acknowledge there is a spiritual battle because we don’t like conflict If you’re anything like me, then you prefer peace. I would rather not to engage people in battle, but would choose to walk away from a fi

Journal Entry ~ 02/07/18

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. - Ephesians 6:12-13 Satan is very real and he’s powerful, but he’s difficult to talk about in many Christian circles. People either tend to think he’s not real or they downplay him, or they go overboard and blame every single thing on him. Mostly, I’ve found people are uncomfortable talking about him and his power - they don’t understand what’s true about him, so they avoid him altogether.  Both are dangerous points of view – the truth is Satan is real, but so is our power to overcome him.  We are told that he is real and his power is real in these verses, but we are also told how to fight the evil forces of the enemy.  I heard a s

Journal Entry ~ 02/06/18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. - Ephesians 6:10-11 Living the Christian life can be challenging. It can be challenging to get to church sometimes, it can be challenging to find time to spend with Him daily, it can be challenging to keep our thoughts pure and our eyes on Him all the time. It’s challenging because there is a spiritual war going on out there. Every morning we rise, we know we’re supposed to put our battle gear on, but far too often, we choose to leave it sitting there next to our beds, on our coffee tables, or tucked away in a drawer. We hit the snooze, we reason the God knows we have a busy schedule, and we make lame promises to get back to it later. Then enemy would like nothing more than for you to put off your daily devotion or time in prayer, and He delights when you skip church or small group.  Before we can have victory i

Journal Entry ~ 02/05/18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. - Ephesians 6:10-11 When things are going well in our lives, when we’re feeling strong, the reality is we just don’t spend as much time with Him. We spend far greater time with Him when we’re walking through a valley because it it’s in these moments that we recognize our weakness and His great strength.  Putting on the whole armor of God means making Him a priority every day,  not just when we need Him. We live in a world full of distractions - daily we fight the urge to allow things to our priority list, pushing Him off. Just for today, I’ll hit the snooze, just this once, I’ll take care of....I’ll get back to my devotion later today. In our arrogance, we think we can handle it. After all, things have been going quite well lately.  God wants to knock that arrogance and apathy right out of us, and so He wi

Journal Entry ~ 02/04/18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. - Ephesians 6:10-11 Our world often has us focusing on our strengths, we learn to define ourselves by them - my strengths include problem-solving, organization, teaching, faithfulness, self-discipline. The Bible tends to call these gifts instead of strengths - the difference is important. When we refer to them as strengths, the focus is on us - we are the origin of our strengths. But calling them gifts denoted grace because gifts don’t originate with us. Our strength comes from the Lord.  It is so tempting in this world to take credit for our strengths. The world will puff us up and reward us for our strengths, and we forget where they come from. We live in a world that promotes strong-willed, action-minded people, when our children are struggling with self-esteem issues we remind them of their strengths, we’re