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Monthly Archives: January 2012

Fishers of Men 01/11/12

26 Jan
Mark 1:17  “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”
Imagine tomorrow you’re at work, just a regular day of the tasks at hand to earn your living to provide for you and your family. A stranger approaches and tells you to quit your job right now, and follow Him. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Simon Peter and Andrew dropped their nets and followed. James and John did the same but even left their father in the boat. Can you imagine the commotion surrounding this scene? What was it that they saw in Christ that made them give up everything they had worked for in an instant and walk away? Did James and John even dishonor their earthly fathers business and leave him alone in the boat? What did they see?
I believe they knew they were seeing God. God had prepared their hearts and they saw Christ unsullied and pure as he was. Satan had not yet entered their hearts with the doubt and fears that the upcoming years in their walk with Him would bring. Satan would attack them all with doubt in their lives as the disciples. He is the ultimate deceiver, even with the apostles at Jesus’ side every day. I pray that you too will see Christ just as He is, unsullied and pure as our risen King. Draw near and follow Him just as they did in those days. We are living in a time of Spiritual Warfare on high regards that requires drawing near to Jesus and following Him closely.
 
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Posted by on January 26, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Great Law of Discipleship 01/10/12

26 Jan

This is one of the scriptures that have “haunted” me the past few years. After God began His work in me, and feeling the tug of some sort of ministry, I too began to count the cost. It is very humbling in so many ways.

Great Law of Discipleship

Luke 14:33     So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

What is the cost? In any endeavor or any expense, you typically weigh the cost. Homes, cars, appliances, food, you get the idea. What we are asking is, what do we receive, and what do we forsake, to move forward. Cause and effect. What is being asked here is really, what is more important to you. What you possess, what you will loose, and what you will gain.

Matthew Henry calls this portion of scripture the Great Law of Discipleship.  Have you felt God working in you? I have counted the cost, which are great. His Word tells us it will be a road full of persecution. It will come at a high cost. But once you feel it, you can’t deny it, you can’t hide it, you possess it.

There is security in remaining still.

There is Faith in forsaking all and moving forward.

 
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Posted by on January 26, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Pride 01/07/12

26 Jan
Pride

Proverbs 16:18    Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Pride. I can do anything I put my mind to. I can accomplish that task without anybody’s help. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13). Even in that last scripture, pride can creep in. Are we elevating ourselves, or Christ in that passage? Are we holding our head high when we say it, or holding our head low, admitting we can do nothing without what He provides. There is a big difference.

I am a prideful person. I have those attitudes I describe in the first couple of sentences. Through sanctification, revelation, and physical limitations, I have come to realized how prideful I am. God is changing me, and my prayer is that you to realize how prideful you can become, and seek God to reveal and strip that pride from you. A humble heart is close to His. God resist the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (Eph. 5:21)

 
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Posted by on January 26, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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NOW 01/04/12

26 Jan

NOW

John 16:37     Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.

Lord, I want to do it NOW! Why do I have to wait? Why cannot I do the thing? We live in the age of immediate gratification. We are wired with our “smart” phone computers at our side, we can get any answer, anywhere, anytime with a simple “click.” So why can’t we get God to answer or do this thing for us now?

He did not wire us to operate in the way of our current age. He provided us the plan in the seven days of creation. His is not a God of hectic, but the Lord of Peace. He operates outside the parameters of time, which our simple minds cannot grasp. If He truly foresees the past, present, and future, then His answer to our urgent request is, “I already have done it.” We only see what is before us, not what is coming to us, what we have been prepared for, what work outside our scope He is accomplishing through us.

As I read this morning, if there is ever doubt do not move. We can know that God is not the author of doubt, our enemy is. God will provide in His time, and only His time.

 
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Posted by on January 26, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Surrender 01/05/12

26 Jan

I’ve been spending time around John 13:36 this morning, led there by an awesome daily devotional I have been reading for probably three or four years now – My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. His writing style is very deep, and unique, but I love being stretched. Many times I have to read them three times to “get it”, if I do. Here is a link if you are interested. http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/my_utmost/utm.cgi
Hope y’all have a great day. No news media for me for five days now. Getting my weather fix online.

Surrender

 John 13:36-38    Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”  Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.

Once we accept Salvation, what happens next? Do we return to our lifestyles as before and just hope for God’s grace to allow us to heaven? Romans 6:1-23  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?  I believe the above verse speaks of how we must die to ourselves. There is no greater sacrifice than to lay down our life for someone. Whom better for that sacrifice, than the one whom paid the ultimate price?

It is an act of will to surrender. It must be a conscious decision to surrender our earthly vessels, to serve our King. Once we move forward in putting Christ first in all things, there is a peace that comes with it that the world cannot take away. If I am asked to describe my “religion” in one word, it is peace.

Let go…..let Him….surrender.

 
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Posted by on January 26, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Heavenly Love 01/25/12

25 Jan

This morning I was laying in bed watching a Christian TV show that just has beautiful pictures, and rolling scriptures. Today’s scripture verse rolled across the screen and I knew that was what God wanted me to write about. It has been so refreshing to not go to sleep (we do sleep with the TV on), and awake to the newscasts. My mind just simply feels clearer and more alert to the things of God, without all the mayhem that creates all that static between us. I hope you all have received a blessing as a result of our New Years resolution to Fast from the news. I honestly plan on continuing for some time. I just don’t miss it. Hope you have a great day, and I have some exciting news coming down the pipe about what you have unknowingly spurred me to do here ever day. I have secured a domain name, and a blog where I am in the process of getting ready to start these OneMinuteMinistries and continue sharing what God is revealing to me each day. I thank all of you for playing your part and the encouragement you have given me to do this, more than you realize.

Heavenly Love

1 Corinthians 13:    And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

God is a God of love, and you must possess love to emulate Christ. Chapter 13 is all about love and a great description of that love lies between verses 4-8. We cannot claim to be a Christian, and not have love for our fellow man. But we say, “How can I? Look at what they did!” What if Christ had said the same thing about you and I and the Redemption never came at Calvary? Their is no higher sacrifice that what Christ did for you, all from love, for all your sins past, present, and future. Once you realize that, humility and love come as a product of the reality of the Redemption.

The world we live in breeds only love for ourselves. Another reality of the depravity of the world that we live in, but once you are saved, you are no longer of this world. Faith is realization of the power of God for Creation and Redemption of the entire world. Hope is where place our security of future paradise with great expectation and the peace of living for that. Matthew Henry said of when we reach heaven “There is no room to believe and hope, when we see and enjoy. But there, love will be made perfect. There we shall perfectly love God. And there we shall perfectly love one another. Blessed state! how much surpassing seen as He is, and face to face, there charity is in its greatest height; there only will it be perfected.” Come Lord Jesus, come.

 
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Posted by on January 25, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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The Tower 01/03/12

25 Jan
What a day…we all have them. It just didn’t go as I planned from the start, but God can work it all for good. Tonight my boys wanted their bedtime Bible story, which we sometimes do. Usually we just open the bible, and find a spot and read. Tonight, of all places it was Habakkuk. I had no idea what to expect. But in the first verse, I knew God had placed it before me. I put them to bed and began to research around that passage.

The Tower

Habakkuk 2:1    I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower,  and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

This passage is about a prophet that has went to God in prayer “complaining” and seeking understanding of what they have endured. God speaks to him, and he writes it down, and it has become a test of faith. What struck me was “will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower”.

In battle, the watchman and the tower, are set above so they can get a clear view, or understanding of what is approaching. What if that approaching, is God speaking to you? If you are down here, in the world, numb to spiritual things from the distractions of our day, how can you discern the voice of God? How can you receive answers to prayer, if you are not spending time truly seeking Him, and more than just a stumbled request, or spending little or no time in His word?

God will speak to you, once you elevate yourself to the tower, a place above the cares of this world. He will confirm Himself through scripture, through Godly counsel, through circumstances He ordains, and through that still small voice inside you that only whispers once, that only may be heard, when you are on the tower earnestly looking out for Him to approach.

 
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Posted by on January 25, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Just Go 01/02/12

25 Jan
Just Go.

(Hebrews 11:8)    By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Just Go. Don’t ask, don’t analyze, don’t question, don’t disobey, just go. It seems like a simple statement, but yet how many times have you felt God inside you, speaking to you in your conscience about something, and you passed it away? You pushed it aside, you decided to wait, you can’t speak to that person about “that”. It is so easy when He puts a tug on our hearts to do the thing, that we simply answer “not right now”. I know we have all had that time when God wanted us to share Himself, or some encouraging word to someone He put before us, and we put that experience aside. We couldn’t just go. We may have robbed ourselves of a blessing, but we surely stole from those He put before us.

The go can be many things. The go can be changes in your life, your career, yourself. God will speak to you through those times with Him in prayer, His word, and those Christian brothers and sisters He has placed around you. When you begin to experience those “circumstances” that He has put before you, do not pass them off as such. He is at work in your life, and showing you the way…..just go.

 
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Posted by on January 25, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

The First One Minute Ministry – 01/01/12

25 Jan

I have to tell you this verse was given to me last night at 11:30 by my son. I had the idea of what I was going to send out this morning, but when he came in and read me this, I knew that was it. I knew that I must not “pass on” another devotional, but write something original as I sometimes do. But then Satan stepped in, and the distractions came, and I have found myself still battling them this morning…but I press on. The idea here is a simple One Minute Ministry.

Find The Good

Philippians 4:8    Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.

Where is your focus? Is it in the news story about the mayhem you just saw on TV? Is it all the gloom and doom being thrust into our conscious by the media everywhere you turn? The idea of our New Years resolution is to clear our minds for 30 days, and to make room for God from all the static this world creates.

The Apostle Paul was trying to encourage the Philippians in their walk as Christians. He knew their surroundings had an impact on their lives just as we. Even 2000 years ago, the similarities are striking. But the question is do we let our worldly focus be pulled to earthly things, or keeping our eyes on things above? If we once realize that we are not of this world, and our lives here only a speck of sand in eternity, the worldly things should not get a grasp on our focus.

The simplicity of the beginning of this verse is what we all have learned as a child- find the good in everything. Do you look for those silver linings in the clouds, or do you find yourself looking for the rain?  My prayer for you today is to take time to give thanks, and to see the good in what is around you,  tuning into God’s blessings, and tuning out the worlds woes.

 
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Posted by on January 25, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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And it begins…..

21 Jan

Today I start a new format here of sharing my walk with Christ. New to blogging, but writing is where God has gifted me, thus it seems a natural progression. I am excited to see where He will take me in this journey to spread the Good News in a world that desperately needs some.

 
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Posted by on January 21, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 
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