Morning Devotion: What God wants

Imagine being given the choice between staying chained to the railing of a sinking ship or having a seven-pound anchor shackled to your leg before you abandoned ship.

What a terrible choice! Of course, one choice offers no hope of survival. The other provides little confidence of being rescued, though.

It’s hard enough to stay afloat or swim with no additional weight pulling us down and having to compensate for more weight pulling us down would exhaust us in no time and we’d continually be gripped with fear of death.

Listen, God doesn’t want us to face such anxiety. That’s why He calls us into relationship with Him.

Without Him, we’re going down sooner or later because nobody can be perfect and thus earn eternal life.

But when our hearts are placed into His hands, we no longer have to worry about if our spiritual ship is sinking.

You see, nothing of this world is taking the Kingdom of God down or Satan would have already succeeded in doing so.

Remember that Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against God’s Kingdom.

And when our hearts are placed into God’s hands, we no longer have to swim with the anchor of guilt because God offers the promise that we are “new creations” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), the old has gone away.

Living and serving God without fear of His wrath and in ways that please Him and instruct others — this is our mission as believers as taught in Luke 1.

Embedded in that chapter’s words involving the birth of John the Baptist are these compelling, inspiring words that describe the life that God intended to bring to Israel through the advent of this future prophet.

“We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.” (vv. 74-75)

Please join me in committing this passage to memory. For it captures the core of what God wants from us — confident minds, holy hearts and godly choices.

Boldness. Holiness. Righteousness. For as long as we live.

Let’s do this.

As always, I love you
Martin

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Morning Devotion: Victorious devotion

The body has an amazing ability to retain strength and wellness when we don’t corrupt it with unhealthy food, vices or thoughts.

But there is this human tendency to do things like eating too much salt and grease and sugar or like falling into the pits of lust or bitterness or greed or vain independance from God’s ways.

The result is never good.

I recognize this weakness of human pride and strive to limit my waywardness. I’m not perfect, but every year the random divergence from the center line of God’s path seems to become less and less.

That’s a good thing.

I was reminded in today’s One-Year Bible reading as to why sticking to the center line of Christ’s example is such a good idea.

In a nutshell, Joshua 6-7 describe how the Israelites had just experienced the great, miraculous victory over the city of Jericho and all were excited — except God.

Why? Because an Israelite family had secretly defied God’s command that all the silver and gold from Jericho belong to God and should be placed in the national treasury.

Why Achan and his family thought they could get away with defying God’s command and keeping silver for themselves is beyond me. After all, Achan was trying to fool the Jehovah who sent the plagues, parted the Red Sea and the Jordan River and who knocked down the walls of Jerocho.

Remember, though, sin is never logical in a spiritual sense.

Right after defeating Jericho, the Israelites decided to attack a city called Ai. Surprisingly to them, they suffered an embarrassing defeat because they clearly weren’t getting any battle wisdom or strength from God.

God knew the reason and He wanted the people of Israel to learn it in a regimented, retained way.

He commanded a lengthy process of elimination that — in a way not described in scripture — ultimately revealed the culprit family and retrieved that which belonged to the Lord.

Until God was honored as He commanded, the power for victory would not flow from God. Here is God’s message to Joshua to be told to the grieving, confused and fear-filled people:

‘“Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.” (Joshua 7:13)

I encourage you to read Joshua 7-8 to learn from this sequence in Israel’s history. For it just might reduce the likelihood of your experiencing the heartache of spiritual failure, whether your own or that of another.

Listen, anything in our lives that God has told us to give up — whether it be tithing back to Him a portion of the wealth He pours into our lives or it be a sinful habit that is to be laid aside — let’s do it.

The consequences of defiantly refusing to do what God wants — and then thinking we can hide it from Him — should be avoided at all costs.

God created us to thrive in His love as we trust in His Truth.

Let’s thrive together, OK?

As always, I love you
Martin

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Morning Devotion: Compass needle

“The godly are directed by honesty” (Proverbs 11:5)

Everybody follows a compass.

But not every compass has an accurate needle.

In fact, most compasses are off-target because there is no absolute North in terms of truth established apart from human whim and opinion.

You know how a compass works — a magnetized needle points to the North Pole because that’s where the magnetic pull emanating from the earth’s mass is most pronounced.

And so people can go here and there with directional confidence because their compass has an established reference point that is reliable. If they head 180 degrees from where they are standing one day and then turn around two days later and take a path heading 180 degrees in the opposite direction, they’ll make it back home.

If only it were that predictable when there is no fixed reference point of truth.

This is why most people in the world are off-course spiritually.

Even if they and others tell them that they’re just fine.

After all, this argument goes, if most people are heading down a certain path that doesn’t follow God’s True North, then those people have to be right, don’t they?

Jesus didn’t think so and that’s why He taught that many people follow the path that leads to destruction, not eternal life.

It is very important that we consider what compass we are trusting and if it points at God’s True North as taught in the Bible with passages such as Philippians 4:8-9. Please click on the passage citation to read this centering text.

Listen, make sure that you are led by the Lord as you chart a course based on spiritual conviction. Life will be so much better that way for everyone in your life. Particularly for those whom you invite to walk the straight and narrow with you.

As always, I love you
Martin

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Morning Devotion: Honestly?

It’s not only the unselfish acts of mercy or generosity or personal holiness toward others that please the Lord.

Sometimes, it’s simply the choice to be honest in a business deal or shopping transaction that puts a smile on God’s face.

We all — including God — know that circumstances arise when it would be very easy to sacrifice integrity for the sake of financial gain.

In fact, not including God, we’ve all done so in one way or another at one time or another.

We put a frown on God’s face, not a smile.

Not good.

Hopefully, our predominant pattern has been to choose honesty ahead of illicit gain.

For it is when we please God that we are compiling enduring riches of knowing we’ve pleased our Creator and eternal Judge.

Here is God’s view on financial honesty.

“The Lord detests the use of dishonest scales, but He delights in accurate weights.” (Proverbs 11:1 NLT)

Please God today, my friend.

Let’s do our best to be completely honest with our business dealings or with what we claim to have earned at our job. Ethical lapses aren’t going to help us because God sees it all.

If you’re paid for eight hours, make sure that you work eight hours, not six hours and 37 minutes because of selfishly long coffee breaks or lunch breaks or any other disruption at or on the way to work.

If you’re selling something, don’t lie about its condition. Please make sure that the buyer knows accurately what he or she is purchasing.

After all, Jesus said do for others what you would want them to do for you.

None of us like being cheated.

Let’s make sure that we don’t find ourselves listed among the cheaters.

God wants the best for us and from us.

Honestly.

As always, I love you
Martin

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Morning Devotion: Working hard

For those who think the Bible is hard to understand, here’s a verse that is as clear as it gets.

“Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.” (Proverbs 12:24)

Wow.

No confusion there as to the meaning.

Goof off and it will cost you.

Do your best and others will appreciate you more.

We each have opportunities during the week to show others we’re willing to work hard. Isn’t it much better to be seen as such a person rather than as a slacker?

Jesus said that by the fruits of our labor, people will know us.

What is hanging from your fruit tree? Flavorful, instructive examples of how to work or how to speak or how to think?

Or are your branches barren?

Please…. don’t wait for somebody to have to drag you into doing what you should as if you were a slave.

Show initiative. Go the extra mile at your job in order to show the boss that you can be trusted with more responsibility because you have more commitment and good character than do most.

Set a good example with your schoolwork so that you’ll not only inspire others but also help them when they’re struggling academically.

It’s always better to be a leader than to be a slave. Even if the leadership role involves influencing just one other person.

Every soul is precious and your being a hard worker just might open the door of influence for you to lead another away from apathy and into a diligent, devoted relationship with the Lord.

As always, I love you
Martin

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