40 Day Devotionals 2014 Day 40

Hiyo! Exhausted from Confirmation Retreat! But devotional is here!

I learned a valuable lesson. Try not to be the last adult up on an overnight retreat. I am a bit rusty. Most of the overnight retreats our ministry has done has been sleep-away camps. We haven't done a lock-in on campus for a while. The students just didn't want to sleep. Thank goodness I was overwhelmed with spiritual happiness, because my earthly patience was in short supply. Guess it is good practice for an infant!

Must. Stop. Giving. Teenagers. Sugar. Before. Bed!

Day 37

Scripture

Mark 10:17-22

-    Before Reading the scripture today; Pray and ask the spirit to guide you in the reading:
-     17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
-       18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.”
-     20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
-     21 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.”
-     22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Wisdom

-    Jesus did not take it easy on the rich guy. Here he comes saying “what can I do to get to heaven?” and Jesus tells him to sell all of his possessions and follow him. Harsh? I don’t think so. Look at what Jesus is really asking? Jesus isn’t saying that giving up everything will get you to Heaven. What He is saying is that nothing should be holding you back from getting closer to the Father.
-    The rich man, though morally good was attached to his worldly possessions as I am sure many of us are. Can we live without our cars, computers, and cell phones? Can we live without nice things? Sure we could, but would you want to? It could even be something deeper; a relationship, a job, a commitment, an activity, anything that you haven’t given up to God.
-    Christ asks us to sacrifice everything for Him. Keep in mind, He may not ask you to ever do that, He just wants to know if you are willing and able for Him.

Apply

-    What strings are attached to your heart holding you back from getting closer to God?
-    Take an inventory of your heart and look at things you cannot live without? Is it a person, a thing, an activity?

Prayer

-    Pray that the Lord frees you from the strings that bind you to worldly possessions. Pray; if your heart is ready, that you could be like the disciples who dropped everything to follow Jesus. Thank God for the Grace he gives to you. Ask Him to make a connection with him that is unbreakable.

40 Day Devotionals 2014 Day 39

There will not be a devotional today. Well not much of one.

I am at the Confirmation retreat. Sleeping over in our church fellowship hall with 16 teenagers who refuse to sleep. All the adults are asleep. :-/

Here is a thought for today however.

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John 13:1-17

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them
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When you think about Jesus being so humble as to wash his disciples feet what comes to mind? He even washed the feet of Judas! Wow! Knowing that His friend was going to betray Him, he still felt Judas was worthy of forgiveness before the act.
Can we have forgiveness and humility like that?
On the servant aspect; where do you fall as a servant? Is it something that comes naturally to you?
Also, if Jesus was washing your feet and sending you out, what do you think he would call you to do? Is there a place in this world He wants you to serve or bring His love and direction to?

Pray for guidance and direction. Ask the Spirit to show you what God is calling you to do with your life and mission. Whom do we need to serve? Whose feet do we need to wash?

40 Day Devotionals 2014 Day 38

Some of you are probably thinking that Easter is a bit over a week away and we are almost out of 40 days. The reality is that the 40 days of Lent don't include Sundays. I actually post a devotional for every day between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Which is more than 40 days. This is way for those of you, like myself, who try to focus on the whole time as reflection on your faith, you can do so.
I would like for anyone who reads this blog entry to be praying for my wife and I. The whole baby perpetration is starting to become a little over whelming. I'm not sure which emotions my wife is feeling or how she is dealing completely. There is so much to do. Between youth preparation, home preparation, budgeting, and mental toughening, we are a bit stressed. It is a lot more than we would thought it would be. I'm sure many of you who are parents already know all of these feelings.
Welcome to the hood, parenthood.

Day 38

Scripture

Colossians 4:2-6

-    Before Reading the scripture today; Pray and ask the spirit to guide you in the reading:
-    2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Wisdom

-    In this passage by Paul we read of 4 distinct values that he puts upon the church and its people. 1. He is asking us to devote our time in prayer and communication with God. 2. He asks us to pray for others to be able to stay strong disciples and spread the word of Christ. 3. Watch yourself as you act with folks who aren’t church-goers. Take advantage of meeting people who aren’t Christians as ways to spread the words of Christ through your actions and words. 4. Watch what you say, being mindful of what is coming out of your mouth and who is listening. This way no one can question you.
-    Take some time and read through this passage a few times. Think about what you do well out of these 4 values and where you need work. Pray about that.


Apply

-    Has this season of Lent helped you become stronger in prayer and commitment?
-    Do you see yourself continuing devoting time to the Lord daily even after Lent is over?

Prayer

-    Pray that the Lord helps you grow in your faith. Ask the Lord to give you the strength of the Spirit to watch your words, actions, and overall witness to others. Now stop and pray for other Christian friends. Ask that the Lord give them the strength and courage to spread the words of Christ and stay devoted to Him.

40 Day Devotionals 2014 Day 37

So I was thinking about what to write tonight for some insight. I really have to write about the small group that our group experienced tonight. We did a lesson on the power of words. Some of the students came up to me over the last few weeks and told me they had been hurt or had hurt others by their words. In fact, it was so bad, students were gossiping to me about other students! When you are done reading this part, think about how the devotional for today, plays a part in your life through your words.
We talked about the impact of our words. We all have people that frustrate us or irritate us. But when we express those negative feelings in hurtful ways, in essence we express those feelings towards the creator of that person. So how can we praise God with the same mouth we curse His creation with. So when you decide to curse someone for hurting you, you curse God. When you give the finger to the guy who cut you off in traffic, you give the finger to God. When you gossip about the flaws in someone behind their back, you are telling God he is flawed. When you feel hatred for one of God's children; your family, friend, enemy, or stranger on the street, pretty much every human ever, you express hatred towards God. You get the point, at least I hope you do.
In order for our students to understand the point, we broke bread together (well, its youth group, so we had cupcakes... Oh My GOODNESS! Communion Cupcakes! We would be the most attended church EVER!). But in order for a student to take a cupcake (or in Lizzie's case, apples and caramel since she gave up dessert for Lent) they had to make a positive comment to 7 people in the room. By the end of the sharing time, which went overboard, we were about 15 minutes late leaving small group (Sorry Parents, I love you and your patience!) each person had received at least 2 compliments that made them smile, brightened their day, or in some cases, brought them to tears. There were amazing positive emotions. There were hugs in the end, hearts were mended, smiles for everyone, and everyone was happy with one another.
I have been doing small group since I was 18, this has been one of my favorites. I was honored to be a part of such an amazing moment of Love that was shared. This was a God thing. I was just happy to be along for the ride. Thanks Jesus!

Day 37

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:1-8
-     1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.  4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Wisdom

-    We are visiting the passage of love once again to examine what Paul wrote about this important topic. He talks about how love is more important than being generous, than understanding everything, even from a strong faith. He then goes on to describe how important love is.
-    But it is hard for us to love like this. Think about when you didn’t keep track of the times people hurt you? Think about when you always trusted or hoped in God. Were you always patient and kind? Have you dishonored your parents of family? These things are really tough! Pure Christian love is putting the interest of others before our own. Helping someone else, even someone we may not like, is love.
-    It is easy for us to not like or love people that don’t like us. We don’t want to love someone that doesn’t love us. But the scriptures challenge us to love even when we are not. It is easy to point out when someone is being mean or evil, but it is difficult to see it in ourselves.
-    We are called to love God and others. Experiencing God’s love and then sharing it with others should be two of the greatest joys you will ever feel.

Apply

-    Who can you share God’s love with today? Is there someone that really needs a healing touch or forgiving hand?
-    Is there someone in your life that you need to express love to so that you can repair your relationship with them?

Prayer

-    Praise God for the love He has and the love he shares with us. Pray for His love to pour into your heart so that you can pour into others. Ask the Lord to show you the people in our life that you need to pour more love into. Ask Him to help you be more loving. Pray that His love be shared with everyone.

40 Day Devotionals 2014 Day 36

I recently had a conversation with someone about social media. As many of you know, I am a fan. A huge fan! This person was talking to me about the dangers of the web and how they don't want their kids on any social media at all because of the dangers of pictures and that teens don't know how to healthily express themselves and all the other dangers associated with the internet.
It is an argument that I have heard from a lot of people. Being that I am young (32 is still young right? Isn't it!?) I tend to err on the side of positive benefits from social media. I look at teens a bit differently I guess. Since I work with them daily and use many of them in leadership and teaching roles I have a lot of confidence in them. I also know that as teens, we all stumbled in our pride, arrogance, and stupidity. Heck, we still do that as adults! I don't think not letting students on social media will protect them from themselves, as much as I don't think home schooling is better than public schooling. It is all a user experience. You get what you make of it. If you want to live a double life online, you will. If you want to wear a "mask" in public and pretend to be different for the sake of protecting the real you, you will. I also believe people can just be natural. They can learn to be themselves in all facets of life.
Here is a reality check if you haven't realized it yet. The internet is here to stay. Social media has become a new fabric of our current generations like the telephone was for older ones. It is a new way to communicate. Learn to use it for the positives. Excel at it, and you can do the world a whole lot of good! Sure you can make yourself look dumb. But I've learned in life that you don't need anything to look dumb, you can do that with absolutely nothing at all.
On a daddy note, I know these are thoughts I will have to wrestle with as my daughter gets older. I remember pretty well when I was a teen, probably because my students help me do that. I hope I can use that experience to remember how my daughter is feeling at those ages. I will do my best to raise her in a protected environment. But I know that most of that protection comes from God. I will be constantly be praying for her.

Day 36

Scripture

James 4:7-10

-    Before Reading the scripture today; Pray and ask the spirit to guide you in the reading:
-    13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
-     17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Wisdom

-    There are so many passages on prayer and how to pray and what to pray about, but this passage in James strikes me hard. It isn’t just a how to guide. It is telling you about what prayer does. It tells you that if you believe in your prayers the Lord will respond. To go along with what we ended our study with yesterday, I want to talk about believing in your prayers.
-    This is a controversial passage. Many denominations use it for different purposes to support different ideas behind prayer but in the end it is a passage about Faith. Do you believe that God listens to your prayers and do you believe He answers them? I love the example James gives of Elijah the prophet. Elijah prayed for rain to stop, and it did. Then he prayed for it to rain, and it did. The faith of Elijah was so strong in his faith that he was able to control rain! Stop and think about that for a moment? Controlled the weather! That is amazing! I never doubt anyone that says they believe prayer to the Lord can accomplish amazing things. Because it can, if you have Faith that it can.

Apply

-    Do you believe that the Lord will listen to your prayers like that?
-    Where in your life are you sick and hurting? Where do you need forgiveness? Where do you need to rejoice in your life?

Prayer

-    Pray about all the things you just answered in the questions. Pray that the Lord strengthens your Faith daily. Take time to appreciate His listening ear for you. Ask Him to help you focus on your life to strengthen your belief in His work in your life.

40 Day Devotionals 2014 Day 35

In a hurry! Do not have much to write today because I do not have the time to! Kelli and I have a doctor's appointment. More testing. Oh boy, Fun Fun! Be praying for us. Obviously this has not been an easy go for us with the pregnancy. On the bright side, I keep feeling the little girl kick and squirm in her mommy's belly. Makes me smile every time. :-)

Day 35

Scripture

James 4:7-10

-    Before Reading the scripture today; Pray and ask the spirit to guide you in the reading:
-    7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Wisdom

-    This is a great passage in James. A passage of contrasts. It asks us to submit our lives to the Lord and it asks us to resist the devil. To laugh and mourn and then be happy and sad. Why would the scriptures ask us to do that?
-    I think the scripture is actually asking us to take the devil seriously. Sometimes we joke about him. The media glamorizes him; music sings about him, writers try to define him, TV and movies joke about him.  But the scripture warns us to take him very seriously. Sometimes we don’t give Satan enough credit and other times we blame him for all work in the world. I think both are wrong. We need to recognize that the devil actually does work in our world. To fight him shout a loud “No” to him and whisper “Yes” to the Lord. Remember the power the Lord has given you. Live confidently that in Christ we always win, we don’t have to afraid.
-    We probably don’t talk about evil enough. We always talk about God being good and us trying to make our lives better and connect with Him. The reality is, evil is real, the battle is real. We are not Christ’s soldiers because there isn’t a battle. There absolutely is. The devil wants us, but Christ has us. Turn to the Holy Spirit in your struggles.
- This is a great skit by the Skit Guys explaining Baggage in our lives and how God frees us from it if we turn to Him. Baggage by The Skit Guys

Apply

-    Are you tempted to sin? Verbally fight temptation; say “no” to Satan and let the Holy Spirit help you.
-    In what ways has Satan worked destructively in your life or those around you?
-    Recognize in your life how sneaky the devil can be. Be aware of evil around you. Turn to the Holy Spirit in the challenges.

Prayer

-    Pray out loud to have The Spirit help you fight off Satan. Pray the Lord puts a shield around you to help you get through your daily life. Pray that He help you understand the scriptures so that you can learn more about what God has in store with you.

40 Day Devotionals 2014 Day 34

I've been struggling with a concept lately. Many of you may be familiar with the concept of Confirmation in the church. Ours is a little bit different than the Catholic practice but some of the elements are the same. It is a spiritual journey that a student goes through involving classes, activities, worship services, and small groups. At the end the student gets a chance to become baptized and accept Jesus as their savior. They also became members of the church. It is a great process and most christian denominations have something similar. I really enjoy that the students become full members of the body of Christ because they actually understand what that means.
My struggle is that I look at the verse in 1 Corinthians 12 and see how we are all a body of Christ and then look at how we carry the weight for each other. If I were to take these scriptures and digest them that means that those who work hard in God's kingdom help do the work for those who don't carry their weight. The 80/20 rule, 20% of the people do 80% of the work. As a ministry worker, this can be frustrating to watch. I would love to accept this figure and say it is just normal. But Christ didn't call us to be normal! He calls us to step up and go beyond. So my questions is, if so many people are reading the same Bible I am, then how come so many people aren't moved to serve in the world around them? It's actually quite perplexing. This is something I have been praying about for quite some time. I know there are simple answers to this, but I don't accept those. There has to be a deeper reason.
As you read the devotional for today, think about that. Think about how you take in the scripture. If your faith is a critical part of your life, how are you responding to the scriptures and its guidance?

Day 34
Scripture

2 Timothy 3: 12-17

-    Before Reading the scripture today; Pray and ask the spirit to guide you in the reading:
-    12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Wisdom

-    Paul is assuring Timothy that he will be protected from the evils of this world if he keeps the word close to his heart. Earlier in this chapter Paul tells Timothy that people will be proud, lovers of themselves, abusive, disobedient to their parents, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure, unholy, and without love. I broke the list down a bit because Paul uses a lot more adjectives. But Paul tells Timothy that everyone who wants to live a Godly life will be persecuted, and to protect yourself from that you must use the scriptures.
-    I love verse 16. It is so important to our faith. Read it again. It reminds us that we must use the Bible for all that we do; to teach, to hold each other accountable, to fix our ways, and to grow closer to God.
-    Do you know what God Breathed means? It’s not just a way to say that the words on the pages are from God, but also a way to say that God speaks to you through the word! Imagine living in a world where we can have a one-on-one interaction with God. How awesome would it be to have the creator of the universe as your confidant and best friend? Well the scriptures are the closest thing we have to that.
-    Though the concept is controversial to some people, I believe the scriptures are completely true and given to us by God. It is just that we, with our imperfect minds, misinterpret much of the love and guidance on the pages. Studying scripture doesn’t mean just reading it and quickly applying it, you have to study it, look up context, see who God is talking to, and then see how it applies to us today. These can be tough concepts, but hey, this is our Faith, it is the most important aspect of our lives! We have to work hard at it!

Apply

-    Do you believe that all scripture is God Breathed? Meaning it is all accurate and true?
-    Can you imagine God speaking to you through the scriptures? Giving you firm but loving advice?

Prayer

-    Pray to God as if He was your best friend sitting right next to you. Have a conversation with Him. Thank Him for giving you the opportunity to daily talk to Him. Ask Him to guide you in your reading of the Word. Pray the He protects you from everything in this world that can hurt you.