Daily Devotionals

Evangelism is a critical part of the Christian faith. Christ left the instructions to “Go, baptize and teach.” It is hard to feel like I’m accomplishing anything worth while since I’m at home with my family and meet very few non-Christians during my normal routine.

This morning I received a devotional that reminded me that it all comes back to one thing. I can spread the Word by living a life based on the key and the world will come to know Christ. The funny thing is that it’s not even a difficult request. It doesn’t require me to change my lifestyle or leave the country. It is simple.

I am called to love!

Before I raise money for a missionary trip, before I go on a trip and before I teach the 5^th grade Sunday school class I must love. Without love every thing else is worthless. Without love the world can not see Christ in me.

Love will show Christ whether I’m writing an article for a travel magazine in my own home, hosting a play day for fellow homeschoolers or standing in the check out line at the grocery store. Love brings unity among the brothers and reveals Christ to the world.

Love God. Love others. Every thing else that I need to do or that I am called to do will be led and guided by the principle of love. It is a simple thing to remember it’s just not always that easy to do.

When I love I don’t fight or I work to heal that fight. Love stops me from arguing over the little things, it helps me to get along, it brings me an inner peace and joy that removes the desire to always be right. Love is the way to bring unity and it is only through unity that we can save the world!

Additional Reading: John 17

Lord, help me to love so that I can live the calling that You have placed on each of us.

I am not my own. As a Christian I was bought with a price – saved from the curse of sin and delivered from bondage. My Savior deserves my devotion.

As a wife, I am bound to my husband – the two become one. He deserves the same consideration he received before the union. There was a time when I did every thing (dressed, talked and walked) with his response and reaction in mind.

As a mother I am committed to the stewardship of each life entrusted to my care. My life, my words and my actions are the guiding force for the life of my child. My children deserve the best guidance that I can provide them.

Society focuses on the “me” and the “I” of most situations. There are so many other people involved in the equation that the “me” and the “I” barely factor in. God – You – me. Keeping things in this order will help make my life (and the lives of those I encounter) a much more joyous experience.

Matthew 22:40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Lord, expand my heart so that Your word and the people that you have placed in my life are the top priorities in all that I do, think and say.

Almost every diet from 1984 until 2008 has crossed my path at some point or time. It is easier for me to cling to the rules and the regulations than it is for me to listen. There is no excuse for me being in the condition that I am, but it is excuses that have gotten me here.

God desires that I be prosperous in every area of my life – that includes health. He did not make me the way that I am (short, voluptuous and a lover of all things sweet) just to torture me. I am unique in all the world.

The difference between me and my husband (who can still wear his jeans from high school grrrrrr) is that I am not obedient when it comes to the temple of God. I eat what I want to eat, when I want to eat it and then am shocked that it is hard to get up the stairs at church. To add to the problem I’m not nearly as active as I should be. My shield from activity is excuses and I have a ton of them just waiting to be used.

The choice is mine – it always has been. I can live the abundant life that God has planned or I can live the life of a prisoner. Obedience is the key – it is almost always the key. I have to be obedient to the body that God has given me, listen to it and not my desires, and give it the chance to become all that it is suppose to be.

Isaiah 1:19 “Be willing and obedient and you shall eat the good of the land.”

Lord, forgive me for the steps that I have taken and give me the knowledge and the wisdom to turn around and choose your blessings.

The joy that I felt all day yesterday was not shared by many others. There WERE people that were happy about the outcome of the election, but very few that I talked to were actually joyful. There happiness stemmed from something else:

1. A barrier that some predicted would NEVER be met was shattered!

2. Change would finally come.

3. Help was on the way.

Maybe this is true and maybe it isn’t, and I can feel exited and smile because these are all realities or possibilities. But none of them are reasons for my joy. When I went to sleep on November 4, 2008 it didn’t matter who was President or who was going to be President of the United States. All that mattered then and all that mattered now is that I serve a God who loves me.

1 John 2:17 “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

Lord, help me to stay focused on you and on your will and not be distracted by things that I have no control over. The world, the people, nor the politics are my guide. You are my promise, my strength and my blessing and You alone will hold my trust.

Additional Reading: 1 Corinthians

There seems to be a bit of panic in many conservatives about the upcoming election. News casters were talking last night about the possibility of a clean sweep by the Democratic Party if Obama wins the White House. My emails and forwards about the election are increasing by the hour.

I’m not worried. The outcome of the election does not determine the direction of this country. Instead of arguing over which candidate is best for the job, I’m getting on my knees for all the candidates – presidential, congressional, state and local. In the end, I know who is in control and I’m choosing to trust Him.

One of the emails that I received recently prompted my thoughts. It asked me to join the sender in prayer for this country for one minute at 8 pm Central time. That is what I’m talking about when politics are brought up.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray . . . then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

It was through one heart dedicated to God that the entire county of Egypt was brought into submission. Joseph was a young, inexperience shepherd but his prayers brought him into the second highest position in the one of the greatest countries in the land.

It is time to stop worrying and to start praying instead. It is okay to still get out the vote and work for the candidate of your choice, but let us combine our prayers and really save this country!

Suggested Reading: Proverbs 21:1-2

Lord, I trust you. No matter who is in power here on earth it is You who truly reigns. Help me to stand boldly in that knowledge and to daily put my faith to actions with prayer for this country.

There are days when I hate the word consistent. Today was one of those days. For the past several days I have managed to stay on schedule and get most of my to do lists done. Today I fell behind from the word go and it just got worse as the day progressed.

It was just when I thought I would give up and start again tomorrow that I read the words “being consistently constant.” I know that consistent is one of the key elements to success. The concept of persistence has been poured into me for most of my life. But I often find it is easier to “just start tomorrow” than it is to be consistent in just doing what I know to do.

Patience is not just about me keeping my cool when my children are running through the house like wild men. It is so much more than that. Patience is the ability to push on through the circumstances by consistently doing what I know to do and not what I feel like doing.

Suggested Reading: Hebrews 6:10-15

Lord, the key is already in my possession. Give me the courage and the strength to use the key of consistency each and every day.

God does not want my sacrifice. It is not my good works that He is searching for today. The truth is that the only thing God wants from me any day of the week is my heart. “A broken and a contrite heart” is the desire of my Father.

Each morning I wake up with the intention of giving Him my heart – completely with no restriction. There are even days when I make it all the way through lunch focused on His Will. But most days (if not all days) there comes that moment when I slip back into the “I” factor.

It is the moment when I choose to think more about “I” than about Him that I get into trouble. There only needs to be one little temptation at that time and I will jump on it. My eagerness to follow my desires is often scary for me.

The good news is that my Father is loving and forgiving. He still only wants my heart. He is even gracious enough to set out life preservers for me all around so that all I have to do is reach out and He will pull me back into the fold of His Arms.

Today I will aim farther and try harder to leave my heart in His Hands. It is not my strength that will get me there, but with His strength I can go farther and be more than I ever imagined possible.

Suggested Reading: Psalms 51

Lord, I know that I miss it. There are days when I try and days when I refuse to even try because I know I’m going to mess up. Help me to focus on You. When I set my mind on you then my heart will follow.

The last several years I have been telling people that I am self employed. I do work at home and I do not work for a regular position. But I am not self employed. This simple fact hit me hard when my husband (in response to my complaint of him not getting up early enough) asked me what time I wanted him to get up. My first thought was that he should be getting up just like he was employed.

That’s when it hit me. I should be getting up just like I am employed, because I am. Each and every day I am serving the Father. How I utilize my time, energy, finances and other resources should be determined by my employer. If I put His desires first in my life then I would get up earlier, work harder and stay on it much longer than I do when I am focused on myself.

I determined at that moment to get serious about how I spend my talents (the time and resources that the Father pours on my life). I made out a schedule that includes all of the things I know I need to be doing consistently. I then broke down that schedule into thirty minute sections. So far, I’m staying close to on track.

What steps will you take today to help direct your life to that place that God has been calling you to go?

Suggested Reading: 2 Timothy 2:4 – 5

Lord, I desire to be a blessing in Your life. Help me to grow to the place where I exalt you as much as I would an earthly employer.

There is so much going on around me, and it all seems determined to push me off track. For three full days I have adhered to my new schedule. The chores have been done, meals have been prepared and eaten together, writing has been completed for pay and writing has even been done for fun.

Yesterday I got a call asking for a favor – nothing major, but it would interrupt my schedule. Or I should say it could have interrupted me schedule. I knew when I would be gone and what I would normally be doing at that time so I just took my schedule with me. For the most part I was able to stay on track.

But I don’t always do that. More often than not I let a change in circumstances sway me from my path. There are times when the actions of others (or the inactions) will lead me in the wrong direction.

Today I got it right – mostly ;).

It is not easy to stay on target when the whole world seems to be pulling you astray. The key is the relationship with God. Nothing in life is more important than that personal connection with the Father. Take time in the morning, in the evening and any time through out the day that you feel compelled to go a different way just to talk with God. Read and reread a psalm or a chapter from Proverbs until it locks in your head.

Stay focused on the things that matter despite the distractions around you and God will lead you into a path of deliverance and prosperity (nothing missing and nothing broken).

Suggested Reading: Obadiah

Lord, help me to ignore the circumstance and to stay focused on the outcome that You have already provided. Teach me through the consistent pouring of Your word into my mind and heart that You are my deliverance, my peace and my all and all.

There was a time when I tried to convince myself that the bible says I don’t have to exercise. After all, what’s really more important, my physical shape or my spiritual shape? But I’ve giving up on the delusion. The truth is that they are both equally important.

The Proverbs 31 Woman was physically fit. She even “girds herself with strength.” You’d have to be fit and healthy to be able to do all the things that she does – work in the field, serve the poor, up late and up early just to name a few.

It is not possible for me to serve God in the position that He desires of me if His temple is in bad shape. I need to take the time to fuel the temple correctly, to keep the floors picked up and swept and to keep the outside in good condition as well.

No more excuses and no more just getting by. It is time to find the physical strength that I need to live a Proverbs 31 Life.

1Timothy 4:7-9

Lord, there is so much I still have to change and mold in my life to become the person that you have called me to be. Help me find the wisdom to develop the physical strength, endurance and health that will help me be the best me that I can be.