Our theme for this month: “Personal Responsibility”

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You are responsible for your own happiness.”

As we’ve been following our friend David on his adventures through time in the book “The Traveler’s Gift”, we read about him having brief encounters with actual historical figures. In each case he is taught an important life principle which, if he implements it, will have a profound positive influence on his life.

On his fifth stop in history David finds himself with the young Jewish girl Anne Frank, hiding from the Nazis in secret rooms in a building in Amsterdam during World War II. For three years Anne and her family lived a secret life confined to small rooms in an office building where her father had worked. And yet, despite living in such confined surroundings for such a long time, hiding from those who would take her to a concentration camp if they found her, Anne was a bright, happy, perky teenage girl who was a pleasure to be with. (Her story is recorded in the famous book “The Diary of Anne Frank”).

When David marvels at Anne’s positive and happy attitude despite her terrible circumstances, she tells him that happiness is a choice and we are all responsible for our own happiness. Here’s a summary of the life lesson David learned from his encounter with her:

“Happiness is a choice. I choose to be happy. I can choose to think thoughts and engage in activities that bring me joy. I choose to be happy. I choose to be grateful and I choose not to complain. I smile at people. People are drawn to me because I have joy in my heart, a smile on my face, and laughter in my voice. Life itself is a privilege. I choose to live it with joy and to the fullest. I do not deny the reality of my situation, but I do deny the finality of it. This too shall pass. I choose to be happy.”

In Nehemiah 8:10 we’re told that the joy of the Lord is our strength. In other words, when we look to the Lord for our joy, instead of to our circumstances, it makes us strong and gives us the ability to look difficulties in the face and smile. In Galatians 5:22 the Apostle Paul taught us that this joy is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Joy is something the Spirit develops in our lives as we grow in our relationship with Christ and become more spiritually mature.

You are responsible for your own happiness. It’s all a matter of how you think and the source you’re looking to for your joy and happiness.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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Our theme for this month: “Personal Responsibility”

Our Bible verse for today: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “You are responsible for having a vision and for then acting on it.”

“The road of life is paved with flat squirrels that couldn’t make a decision!” So says the meme on Facebook, and I believe it’s true. A lot of people are like those flat squirrels – they get run over by life because they can’t make decisions. People who don’t have vision and purpose end up drifting through life with no sense of direction and they tend to be indecisive. Consequently they end up like a flat squirrel on the road of life.

That’s not God’s desire for us. He wants us to have vision and direction in life, and then to walk it out, day-by-day, one step at a time, putting one foot in front of the other, always moving forward with purpose and conviction. This is one of the keys to a successful life. Successful people know what they’re about. They understand their purpose and direction in life and they take the action necessary to fulfill that purpose. They don’t procrastinate and make excuses, they move forward.

That’s what Proverbs 3:5-6 is all about. Make sure your heart is right and you truly are seeking God’s will and not your own; check Scripture; consult with friends; make a plan; and then get going and keep going.

In the book “The Traveler’s Gift”, which we’ve been consulting in recent days as we consider this issue of personal responsibility, the fourth life principle our man David is taught is “I have a determined heart”:

“I have a vision. I have purpose. I am determined. I will persevere. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I have the power to control my direction, as well as my forward movement in that direction. I do not procrastinate. I have passion. Passion breeds conviction and conviction turns mediocrity into excellence. Passion overcomes obstacles. All my problems become smaller when I confront them. I have a determined heart.”

What could you accomplish in life with a vision, a determined heart, and the conviction to just keep moving forward? I encourage you to find out.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Personal Responsibility”

Our Bible verse for today: “Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise. Without leader, administrator, or ruler, it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest. How long will you stay in bed, you slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?” Proverbs 6:8-9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You are responsible for taking action.”

The primary difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people simply go out and do what needs to be done, while unsuccessful people procrastinate and make excuses. You would think that the key to success in life would be something like talent, skill, or intelligence. But no, the most important ingredient for success is action. The world is filled with intelligent, talented, skilled people who failed because they didn’t act.

In Proverbs 6:8-9 Solomon used the example of the ant – an insect known for hard work and diligence. The ant is a self-starter who doesn’t need to be instructed and closely supervised – it just goes out and does what needs to be done. He contrasted that with a person who is a lazy, excuse-making slacker. The Biblical wisdom being imparted here is that we are to get off the couch and be productive.

In recent devotional messages I’ve been referring to the life-lessons taught in the great little book “The Traveler’s Gift”. In the book the main character, David, is travelling through time having encounters with real historical figures. At each stop David is taught an important life-lesson which, if implemented, will make his life substantially better. At one point he had a brief encounter with Civil War hero Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. Colonel Chamberlain was known as a courageous man of action. The principle David is taught in this encounter is “I am a man of action”. Here’s a summary of it:

“I am a person of action. I will not dwell in a pit of despair. I will not waste time regretting lost opportunities. I will take the action necessary to make my life better. When faced with a choice of doing something or doing nothing, I will always choose to act. Successful people make their decisions quickly, change their minds slowly, and move forward with confidence. I am a person of action.”

This is what Solomon taught in Proverbs 6:8-9, God expects us to be people of action. We are not to procrastinate, make excuses, or be lazy. We have a responsibility to take the action necessary to accomplish the things that need to be done.

I encourage you to be a man or woman of action.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Personal Responsibility”

Our Bible verse for today: “Rather, each will die for his own iniquity. Anyone who eats sour grapes – his own teeth will be set on edge.” Jeremiah 31:30 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You are responsible for your choices.”

Probably one of the top ten most inspiring and motivational books I’ve read is “The Traveler’s Gift” by Andy Andrews. I’ve mentioned this book in the past in previous devotionals.

The story revolves around a man named David who is at a low point in life and who has no idea how to get himself straightened out. As the story unfolds he finds himself on a journey through time. At each stop in history he encounters a real historical figure who teaches him an important life-lesson which will help to make his life better. Those principles become what he called “The Seven Decisions”. They are seven principles that a person can adopt and which will have a great positive impact on his or her life. All of them have to do with our topic of personal responsibility, so over the next seven days I will paraphrase and expand on each of those seven principles.

The first principle is “The buck stops here” and it comes from David’s encounter with President Harry Truman. Truman’s life lesson for David is that he must accept personal responsibility for his own choices, and for what those choices have brought into his life. A summary of that principle reads like this:

“I accept responsibility for my past. I am where I am because of my thinking. The way I think determines the choices I make. The choices I make determine how my life develops. My thinking creates a pathway to success or failure. Therefore, from this point forward, my thinking will be constructive rather than destructive. I will be my best mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially because of the way I think. My future is my responsibility.”

The way you think determines the choices you make. The choices you make will determine how your life turns out. You are where you are today because of the choices you have made in the past. Where you will end up tomorrow will largely be determined by the choices you are making today. You are responsible for you. It’s not up to anybody else to provide you an income, pay your bills, put food on your table, mow your lawn, make your bed, or anything else in your life. That’s the point of Jeremiah 31:10. It’s all about personal responsibility.

If you make good choices you will get good results. If you make bad choices and you will get bad results. It’s your responsibility to think right, act right, and live right. This is the life that God will bless.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Personal Responsibility”

Our Bible verse for today: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.”

2 Thessalonians 3:10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “God expects us to support ourselves”

Today is Labor Day and so I thought it would be good to write a devotional about the personal responsibility we have to work and to support ourselves.

Labor Day is a national holiday intended to celebrate the contributions American workers make to our nation. Although some other countries have also come to celebrate Labor Day, it’s a distinctly American holiday. We celebrate it on the first Monday of September and it can be dated to the early 1880s. It became a national holiday in 1894.

The celebration of Labor Day helps us to remember the importance of hard work, and the personal responsibility we each have to work in order to support ourselves and to provide for those who depend on us. Having a job was God’s idea. He established the concept early in the creation story when He assigned Adam the responsibility of caring for the Garden of Eden. Then, all throughout Scripture, work is portrayed as a good thing not a bad thing. The Proverbs especially praise hard work and diligence, and they condemn laziness and poor performance.

In 2 Thessalonians 3:10 the Apostle Paul went so far as to say if an individual will not work then he shall not eat. He was referring to people who can work but don’t, and who then rely on other people or the government to provide for them. Paul taught that we should let such people go hungry rather than giving them hand-outs. The idea is that if they get hungry enough, they will get a job so they can earn some money and buy their own food.

Paul’s instruction may sound harsh and cold, but he’s teaching us not to enable bad behavior. God wants us to work if we can. If someone can work but doesn’t, and you then enable them in their chosen unemployment by providing them with the things they ought to be earning for themselves, you are enabling them to continue disobeying God.

Granted, this requires discernment and good judgment. It’s difficult to know all the reasons behind someone’s current circumstances. So we don’t want to be insensitive or unkind, but we also don’t want to enable bad behavior.

I hope you enjoy your Labor Day holiday today. I encourage you get good rest and some relaxation too, so tomorrow you will be ready to go back out there and do your part to provide for yourself and for those who depend on you.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Changing the tone of the conversation”

Our Bible verse for today: “A fool finds no pleasure in understanding, but delights in airing his own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Take the time to listen to other people’s opinions.”

There’s an intellectual disease spreading like a cancer throughout our society today. It is eating away at our collective ability to engage in rational and reasoned conversations with those with whom we disagree. It is also destroying our ability to objectively consider all sides of an issue before we arrive at our conclusions.

The disease is known as “confirmation bias”. It’s not a physical disease but a mental one. It’s a short circuit in an individual’s reasoning power which limits his or her ability to arrive at accurate conclusions that fairly reflect reality. The condition of confirmation bias is a situation whereby we have already arrived at our conclusion before we even engage in the conversation, and therefore rather than seriously considering the point the other person is trying to make, we’re simply out to prove our own point.

Confirmation bias is often based on political affiliations, tradition, prejudice, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, emotion, etc. Because it is a “bias” it is often not based on objective facts and a sincere desire to determine the actual truth of a situation. Confirmation bias also lends itself to demonizing those with whom you disagree.

This is what’s being described in Proverbs 18:2. Such a person has no interest in arriving at truth, or even in making an attempt to understand why the other person believes as he or she does. Their only concern is to voice their own pre-determined opinions.

Those who oppose Christianity and Biblical principles often know little about Christianity and Biblical principles. Instead they have some superficial and inaccurate pre-determined ideas which they cling to as truth, and they have little interest in having a serious discussion about it. But as Christians we do this too. How many of us have had a serious discussion with an atheist or a homosexual, listening closely as they explained what they believe and how they feel?

The mental disease of confirmation bias is becoming more and more of a problem in our society and it’s the major reason that people simply are not listening to each other. We should be sure of our own positions, but that certainty should be based on facts and study and logical thought, and it should include time spent giving serious consideration to the other person’s opinion. We will talk more about this tomorrow.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is: