Devotional for Monday August 4th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts our foolishness.” Proverbs 15:1-2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “To avoid conflict, don’t give offense”

 

As a young man I was pretty much a jerk. I know, I know, you can’t believe it right? (On the other hand, maybe you can!) It was probably borne of a deep-seated insecurity but I was a smart-aleck who always had something to say about everything. And it was seldom nice. I was the guy who would make a wisecrack about someone else’s misfortune and I was also the one who would tease you about your shortcomings. I’m sure I thought I was being witty and clever, but mostly I was just snarky and mean.

 

Interestingly, people were always mad at me. Imagine that! Finally one day somebody asked me if I ever got tired of having people mad at me all the time and of constantly being the center of conflict. Up to that point I guess I had never really given it a lot of thought but in that moment I decided that “yes”, I was tired of always being in conflict with people and I really wanted to be the kind of person who was easy for other people to like.

 

It was about that time that I was introduced to a wonderful little book that helped me immensely. It wasn’t a Christian book but it helped me none-the-less (I wasn’t a Christian back then anyway). The title of the book was “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie and it helped to completely change my way of thinking, speaking, and acting. Even though it’s not a Christian book, it is a classic with respect to inter-personal relationships and I still recommend it to people. It’s a small book filled with simple, practical, and easy to understand tips, many of which deal with how we talk to other people.

 

Why is this important? It’s important because most conflict between individuals begins with words that should not have been spoken. Either the thing should not have been said to begin with, or it should have been said differently and with in a nicer tone. Remember, it’s not just a matter of what you say, but also of how you say it.

 

To avoid conflict, make it a point to not give offense. The number one way we give offense to others is through the things that we say. I encourage you to give careful thought to what you say and to how you say it.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional For Saturday and Sunday August 2-3

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! It is like fine oil on the head, running down the beard, running down Aaron’s beard onto his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has appointed the blessing – life forevermore.” Psalm 133:1-3 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Where there is harmony among Christians, there the Lord’s blessing is.”

 

In Psalm 133 King David attempted to portray how pleasant and blessed it is when God’s people are in harmony, without conflict. In the language of the day the fine oil on the head symbolized a special anointing from God. The dew of Hermon was meant to picture a serene and relaxing scene. That should also describe the gatherings of the people of God.

 

It is indeed sweet when our gatherings are marked by peace and harmony, but that’s not always so easy to achieve. I’ve often thought of church families as being a lot like the “Star Wars Bar” in the first Star Wars movie. In that scene, Hans Solo and his companion Chewbacca are in an inter-planetary bar which is crowded with the strangest looking creatures from around the universe. They were all different in dramatic ways and it’s a wonder they were able to communicate and get along at all.

 

Yup, sounds like church.

 

It has been said that God has created some very strange people – namely you and me. It’s true, we’re all kinda strange and just a little messed up. It’s like author John Ortberg once wrote, “Everybody is normal – until you get to know them!”

 

In the weeks to come we’re going to explore this subject in much greater depth and from a variety of angles but for now, there are two rules of thumb to keep in mind. First, give no offense. And second, take no offense. Give no offense, in that you go out of your way to be kind and gentle, giving careful thought to not only what you say, but also to how you say it. And take no offense, in that you are not thin-skinned and you are not easily offended.

 

And for goodness sakes whatever you do don’t be both at the same time! Don’t be that person with the porcupine personality who is always poking other people and rubbing them the wrong way, and then turning right around and also being easily offended, convinced that other people aren’t being nice to you! The person who is always giving  offense can be a real pain in the neck. The person who constantly takes offense is difficult to be around. But the person who is both at the same time can be absolutely impossible. Please don’t be that person!

 

It pleases God when we go out of our way to get along and live in harmony. In such a place, there His blessing is.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Friday August 1st

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” Matthew 22:37-38 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We need to understand conflict and handle it correctly”

 

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” It sounds so right. And yet, it can be so hard to do. Over the years I’ve had some “neighbors” I didn’t like very much. Not just the kind who lived next door, but the also the neighbors who worked in the next cubicle, or played on the same softball team, or worshiped in the next pew. Some people can be so hard to get along with! (And I’m certain plenty of people have thought that about me too.)

 

Sadly, since we live in a broken and sin-filled world, conflict is part of the human experience. However there are many different kinds of conflict and there are many different reasons for it. Much conflict is bad and unnecessary, but some of it is good and needed. Some conflict occurs on a grand scale, involves entire nations, and is often fueled by ethnic differences, border disputes, power struggles, and competing economic priorities. But most conflict is between individuals. It stems from broken relationships, poor communication, jealousy, greed, insecurity, and much more that is ugly and destructive in inter-personal relationships.

 

Sometimes conflict is necessary and right, such as when a nation must defend itself against an aggressor, or when an individual must take a stand for righteousness and justice, or when Jesus had to cleanse the Temple from the activities that were defiling that holy place. But many other times conflict is wrong and destructive.

 

How can we know the difference and how can we determine an appropriate response to conflict? All this month we will explore conflict from a Biblical perspective. Fortunately for us, the Bible provides very straight forward and practical advice and instruction about all aspects of conflict. As we delve into what the scripture teaches on the subject we will be enlightened, encouraged, and probably frequently convicted. And hopefully by the time we’re done, we’ll all be better at properly (Biblically) handling conflict. I look forward to exploring this with you.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday July 31st

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Jesus sets your soul free”

 

Luke 4:18-19 has been the inspiration for untold numbers of sermons, Bible studies, and devotional messages. First and foremost, the meaning is that Jesus preaches the good news of forgiveness for our sins and He sets us free from the oppression of Satan and from the imprisonment of an eternity in hell.

 

He also sets us free from a lifetime of imprisonment now. I once had the opportunity to work in partnership with a ministry called “Set Free Ministries”. Its focus was to assist men and women who had been “set free” by Jesus from a lifetime of imprisonment to drugs and alcohol. Jesus certainly does help us to achieve victory over such things.

 

But I think one of the many multi-layered applications of this passage also applies to the soul. Far too many of us go through life with souls that are effectively imprisoned. Either the soul is neglected and ignored as the individual lives on a very superficial level, or the soul is imprisoned by the past. In this case the individual is enslaved by past hurts, betrayals, and regrets. In either case, the soul is not free to be all God intends.

 

Jesus came to set the soul free. In John 10:10 He made it clear that He came to enable us to have life and to have it in all its fullness. In John 15:11 He said He wants us to experience the joy that He Himself has. In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul gave us a list of fruit from the Holy Spirit that should be evident in our lives and it includes things like love, joy, peace, patience and more.

 

When we pay proper attention to our soul and do the things necessary to ensure it is healthy, the soul is effectively set free to live in all the fullness of Jesus. That’s tremendously liberating. We’re not haunted by our past or enslaved by the pressures and expectations put upon us by others in the present. We feel no need to construct a false self or to wear masks that are not the real us. Instead, we’re comfortable and confident to simply be who we are in Christ. And we find ourselves empowered to live like Dallas Willard described, “We must ruthlessly eliminate hurry and anxiety from our lives.”

 

Yes, Jesus will set your soul free. But you do have to let Him set it free. You have to place yourself in a position before Him everyday whereby He can nurture your soul, break the chains of bondage to the past, and give you the confidence and courage to live free in Christ now. I encourage you to allow Jesus to set your soul free.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday July 30th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? … Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls, all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.” Psalm 42:1-2; 7

 

Our thought for today: “When we care for our soul we connect with God in a deep way.”

 

Psalm 42 has sometimes been referred to as “One of the great soul songs of the Psalms.” That’s a pretty good description. This is the song of a soul longing to connect with God in deep places. It is also the desperate cry of many of our souls.

 

Richard Foster once wrote, “Superficiality is the curse of our age.” That’s depressingly true. We live at such a fast pace, engulfed in so much noise and distraction and over-stimulation, that we don’t have the time or attention span to go deep with God. John Ortberg wrote, “The world conspires against our souls, keeping our lives superficial.”

 

And so our soul aches. It cries out for deep and meaningful time with God. Saint Augustine captured it perfectly when he famously wrote, “You have created us for yourself, oh God, and our hearts are restless, searching, until we find our rest in You.”

 

The soul was created for deep and meaningful fellowship with God. When that deep connection isn’t there, the soul is restless and empty, longing for that for which it was made. When we carve out the time to be with God, preferably first thing in the morning, the deepest need of our soul is being met.

 

I encourage you to start your day with quality time with God. Get up early if you have to. Get alone in a quiet place where you’re not likely to be disturbed. Sit quietly and enjoy just being in the presence of the Father. Read scripture, pray, meditate, and just let your soul soak it in as you connect with your heavenly Father in deep and meaningful ways. You soul is deep. God is deep. Deep calls to deep. Spend some time with Him today in those deep places.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Tuesday July 29th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.” Luke 6:12 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Jesus spent lots of time in prayerful preparation.”

 

WWJD (What Would Jesus Do)? We love to ask that question. The implication is that once we know what Jesus would do in any given situation that then will become the guide and model for our own behavior. That’s perfectly reasonable and appropriate. Being Christ-followers we should in fact be mimicking His behavior and relying on His example to guide us.

 

Part of the problem with this though, lies in the fact that we almost always associate the answer with some action. We like to envision Jesus as having been a man of action, and therefore we too should be men and women of action. Jesus did stuff, and therefore we do stuff too! But actually, it would probably be more accurate to say that Jesus did nothing much more often than He did something.

 

By most estimates Jesus was here on earth for thirty-three years. However His public ministry was only three years long. That means that of His thirty-three years on earth, thirty of them – 90% – were not spent in ministry. As we’ve already discussed in a previous devotional, during those “hidden” years Jesus was almost certainly living a simple and quiet life of obedience and devotion as God prepared Him for the three busy years.

 

And even during those three busy years of ministry, we often read of Him walking away from the crowds, withdrawing into solitude and silence, and spending lots of time in prayerful preparation for what the next hours and days would bring.

 

When we ask the question “What Would Jesus Do” we like to say “Well, He would do this, or He would do that, or He would do some other thing.” Well, maybe He would. But more than likely the answer is “He would pray”. Statistically, purely in terms of percentages of how He spent His thirty-three years on earth, Jesus spent much more time in prayer and preparation than He did in action.

 

And so should we.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim
 

Devotional for Monday July 28th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Be the voice of blessing in someone’s life today.”

 

In the fifth grade I was a mess. I was a year older than all the other students because I had stayed back in the second grade. I was also from one of the poorest families in the class, and most of my clothes were hand-me-downs which I had been given from the neighbors. And, even though only in the fifth grade, I already had a severe case of acne – pimples everywhere! I was awkward and self-conscious and I had a very poor self-image.

 

My teacher was a young woman by the name of Roberta Ryder. She was probably in her mid-twenties at that time and to me she looked like Ms. America. I was in love. And the best part was that she liked me too. In fact she adopted me as her teacher’s pet. Obviously she recognized a young boy who was struggling in life and so she made me her own special little project. She constantly found ways to affirm and encourage me.

 

One day we had a writing assignment. We had to pretend we were newspaper reporters and we had to write a story about something that happened in our neighborhood. I don’t even remember what I wrote about but I do remember what Ms. Ryder had to say about it. In front of the entire class she said, “Jimmy, you should be a writer. You’re good at this.” Her words of praise and affirmation went straight into my heart and they lodged deep in my soul. I drank in those words like a thirsty man in the desert and I’ve never forgotten them. Almost fifty years later I can still hear her saying, “Jimmy, you should be a writer. You’re good at this.” And my heart still swells. The remembrance of those words still makes me feel good and warm inside – even five decades later. (Actually another teacher had made a similar remark to me a couple of years earlier but it was Ms. Ryder’s statement, said with such warmth and kindness, and out of a tender relationship she had built with me, that really hit the mark and stayed with me.)

 

The point is that our words have power. They penetrate to the soul – to the very core of our being – and they take root there. In a world where people are verbally battered on a daily basis, we the people of God have the privilege and the potential to be the voice of blessing in peoples lives. In a world where people are chewed up and spit out on a regular basis your words can tell them “You matter, your life counts, God loves you and so do I.”

 

It costs us little, really, to speak words of blessing. But the return on that investment can be huge. I’ve received fifty years of life-giving encouragement from that simple statement which took Ms. Ryder less than ten seconds to make.

 

I want to encourage you to be intentional about peppering your speech with words of praise and encouragement. Words are powerful. They take root in the soul and they have a profound impact on people’s lives. Be the voice of blessing in someone’s life today.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim



Devotional for Saturday and Sunday July 26-27

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A healthy soul helps us to remain peaceful and confident in the face of adversity”

 

In my role as a pastor I tend to be allowed into people’s lives at a deeper level than most others typically are. People usually have enough trust and confidence in their pastor to open up and share with him some of the deeper and more painful struggles they’re dealing with. That being the case, one thing I have learned over the years is that everybody has issues. There’s nobody out there that doesn’t have something painful and difficult in their life. Even if it isn’t outwardly obvious, deep inside it’s there. It’s like C.S. Lewis once observed, “There is always one thing more going on in each person’s life of which you know absolutely nothing.”

 

Therefore everyone can use an extra dose of confidence, assurance, and peace. It’s God who provides this. One of the most frequent refrains in the Bible is “Do not fear.” Over and over again God’s people are told that they have no reason to live in fear because God is with us, He will strengthen us, and He will help us. And always, that promise comes to us within the context of a healthy and vibrant relationship with God. The deeper and more dynamic that relationship is, the more peace and confidence we will have, even in the face of difficult and painful circumstances.

 

This is one of the great rewards of soul-care. When we are intentionally and consistently doing the things necessary, on a daily basis to care for the soul, it nurtures our relationship with the Lord. That then results in increased peace, confidence, assurance, and less fear. A healthy soul does indeed help us to be peaceful and confident in the face of adversity.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Friday July 25th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “God cares more about what you become than what you do.”

 

God the Father spoke the words recorded in Matthew 3:17 about His Son Jesus at the time He was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. In her book “Anonymous – Jesus’ hidden years … and yours”, author Alicia Britt Chole notes that the truly interesting thing about this scene is that God the Father spoke these words of approval over Jesus before Jesus had actually done anything. At this point Jesus had preached no sermons, He had spoken no parables, He had not restored the sight of any blind people, He had healed no lepers, He had saved no souls. And yet, God the Father was already pleased with Him.

 

Most of the previous thirty years of Jesus’ life had been what we call “The Hidden Years”. There is little recorded about them in the Bible, and Jesus was not in ministry per se at during that time. These were quiet years of devotion and preparation. Jesus was living a simple and humble life as He grew and matured and was prepared by God for the short three year ministry that was yet to come.

 

When we read in Matthew 3:17 that God the Father was already pleased with His Son, it must mean that He was pleased with what the human Jesus had become during those quiet hidden years. Chole writes:

 

“In unseen places over underestimated years, Jesus had been making unrecorded, unapplauded choices that had prepared him for everything to come. And Father God – who values the seen and the unseen alike – was very, very pleased.”

 

The same is true for us. God is much more concerned about what we become than what we do. In fact, the “becoming” must take place before the “doing” will amount to a hill of beans. That’s why soul-care is so important. If you attend to the health of your soul you will already be in a condition that pleases the Father very much, even before you serve a single person, teach a single Bible study, lead anyone to Christ, or even before you ever even get out of bed in the morning.

 

God cares much more about what you become than about what you do, and taking care of your soul is how the “becoming” happens.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday July 24th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded the house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A healthy soul makes a good foundation.”

 

Arctic scientists who have studied ice burgs tell us that only approximately 10% of an ice burg is visible above the surface. 90% is submerged and is therefore unseen. But because of the enormous mass that exists below the surface and which therefore forms the foundation, ice burgs are virtually indestructible. The ice burg could sink the Titanic but the Titanic could not sink the ice burg.

 

Our soul can be a lot like that ice burg. It exists deep below the surface of our lives and it is the foundation upon which all the rest of life is built. The greater the mass, the firmer the foundation; the stronger, deeper, more expansive the soul is, the more substantial a foundation we have to build the rest of life upon.

 

Sadly, many people pay little attention to the growth and maturity of the soul. For them the proportions are reversed, their lives are 90% above the surface and only 10% beneath. Can you see how unstable that is? With most of their life existing above the surface rather than deep in the soul, their lives are very unstable and can easily come crashing down.

 

As a Christian – someone who is alive in Christ – you have a soul that is vibrant and strong and growing. It’s your relationship with Christ which makes that possible. Christ is your Rock and He’s the One who gives life to and animates your soul.

 

That means that the most important part of you, the most significant and substantive part of you, exists deep within you, not on the surface of life. The real substance of your being is your soul and the more developed it is – the stronger it is in Christ – the more firm your foundation. A healthy soul is the foundation for a solid and stable life. Are you doing the things necessary for yours to be healthy and strong?

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim