Devotional for Thursday January 23rd

Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Change”
Our Bible verse for today: “Luke, the dearly loved physician, and Demas greet you.” Colossians 4:14 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We need to change how we think about mental illness.”
There’s little debate about the fact that Luke, the Apostle Paul’s traveling companion and partner in ministry, the author of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, was a medical doctor. The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible says that there are around 400 medical references found in the books of Luke and Acts. Paul himself referred to Luke as “the dearly loved physician.” So that means that Paul had is own personal physician as part of his traveling ministry team.
But why? Few people in the history of Christianity have ever been endowed with more miracle-working power from the Holy Spirit than the Apostle Paul. If he was sick he could just heal himself, right? And surely he would be able to simply lay hands on any of his traveling companions who were sick and they too would have been healed simply by prayer. So why did God give Paul a medical doctor to travel with him?
The answer is because medical science, medical treatments, and medicine itself is a gift from God and such things are frequently used by God to minister to the physical needs of His people. Dr. Luke was an instrument of ministry in the hands of God, and his medical skills were used by God to provide treatment for Paul and others on his team.
Yesterday I read an article in the Southern Baptist magazine “Facts and Trends”. The LifeWay Research group (an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention) recently conducted a study about Christian attitudes regarding mental illness. The study revealed that 48% of Christians believe serious mental illness can be overcome entirely by means of prayer and Bible study.
Ed Stetzer, the President of LifeWay Research, worries that Christians fail to see mental illness as an illness. There seems to be a belief that mental illness is nothing more than a problem of thinking and perception, and that it can therefore be dealt with by means of a simple attitude adjustment. Pray enough, recite enough Bible verses, have a strong enough faith, and that ought to do the trick.
Well yes, sometimes mental illness can be cured in that way. Likewise, sometimes cancer is miraculously cured by God too – but usually not. Usually if there is going to be a cure, God sends it in some way other than a miracle. If you break your leg the correct thing to do is to go to the Emergency Room for treatment and when you do, nobody will accuse you have having weak faith in God. Likewise if you have cancer and choose to accept chemo therapy to treat it, few people will criticize you for doing so. Why then the stigma about using medical treatment and therapy to deal with a mental illness?
It’s true that in the Bible there are no examples of mental illness being treated with medicines and therapy. But there are also no Biblical examples of liver transplants, or of heart by-pass surgery, or dental implants. The reason is that such procedures didn’t exist in those days. But they do exist in our day, and we should thank God that they do. We’re fortunate to live in an age of history when medical science can provide us with treatments like that. Those treatments and procedures are a gift from God – His healing miracles in our day, and we should rejoice and be glad for it!
That’s also the case when it comes to treating mental illness. We should pray about mental illness every bit as much as we pray about cancer, and recovery from a stroke, and heart surgeries. But we should also accept the medical treatments that are available for such things.
Mental illness is an illness. And like any other illness, there are treatments for it. The fact is that we need to change how we think about mental illness.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday January 22nd

Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Change”
Our Bible verse for today: “Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.” Genesis 17:5 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Sometimes change is a symbol of something even greater.”
Have you ever known someone who changed their name? I’ve known several. I know a man whose life pretty much fell apart in his late 50’s. Once he got through it and entered into a new season of life, he started going by his middle name instead of by his first name – symbolizing to himself that he was a new man with a fresh vision for the rest of his life.
Sometimes the name change is ridiculous. A few years ago there was a professional athlete who legally changed his name to “Meta-World Peace.” At other times the change goes in the other direction from ridiculous to reasonable, such as when a young person matures and stops going by a silly nickname.
There are many other kinds of change that also symbolize something greater, something deeper than the obvious outward appearance. Take for example the young man who wears saggy pants, a backwards ball cap, and who has an intentionally sloppy appearance but who then suddenly starts dressing nicely. What does that change signify? It shows that he grew up, that he matured, that he became a man.
In Genesis 17:5 God changed Abram’s name to Abraham to signify the beginning of a God-given mission that would encompass the rest of Abraham’s life. The name change was highly symbolic of something much greater.
The truth is that God is in the business of changing people, and when a big God-directed change occurs, it will be symbolized by other changes that in themselves are less significant, but which point to the bigger and more significant change.
What changes is God bringing about in your life and in what manner will those changes show up, how will they be symbolized? You probably don’t need to change your name, but do you need to change your style of dress? Are you a Christian man who walks around with his pants below his butt? Or maybe you’re a young Christian woman whose clothes are too tight and too revealing. How about your lifestyle or the people you associate with, do they need to change?
Is there some obvious outward change that needs to occur in your life which will symbolize a deeper, more significant inward change that has occurred? Sometimes the observable outward change is a symbol of something greater, deeper and more significant.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Tuesday January 21st

Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Change”
Our Bible verse for today: “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Sometimes we just need to change our focus.”
If you’re like me then you probably have a tendency to focus on the events of life, especially the difficulties and the trials. Our minds tend to dwell on such things, thinking about them endlessly, worrying about them, chewing on them like a bull dog on a bone. We just can’t let it go.
What we fail to remember at such times is that Jesus is Sovereign over all the events of our lives and He has either caused the events directly and for a purpose, or by His permissive will He has chosen to allow it into our lives, for a season and for a reason. Since He is Sovereign over those events, and since He is also all-powerful and therefore has complete control over them, we need to change our focus from the event itself to the one who has control over the event. We need to shift our focus to Jesus and keep it there.
This morning, as I continue to try to help my family work through a difficult and painful situation that we have been dealing with for some time, I spent some time in Psalm 34. As I did, I was amazed to discover what a reassuring and helpful Psalm it is. Let me share a few of the verses with you:
“I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” verse 4
“Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed.” verse 5
“Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!” verse 8
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them from all their troubles.” verse 17
“The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.” verse 18
“Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” verse 19
It’s true – sometimes we need to change our focus. We need to take it off of the events which are troubling us in life, and put it on the one who controls those events. We need to shift our focus to Jesus and keep it there.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Monday January 20th

Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Change”
Our Bible verse for today: “As the 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?” Psalm 42:1-2 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Wanting more of God is a good thing.”
Since we live in such a materialistic, consumer-oriented culture, many preachers, teachers, and writers in the Christian world preach, teach, and write about the importance for all of us to want less and to learn to be content with what we have. Lessons abound on the subject of nurturing a spirit of contentment and to stop lusting after more, bigger, better, houses, cars, careers, money, etc.
Well, when it comes to our culture’s insatiable desire for more and more material things, we as Christians do need to rein it in a bit and learn how to be satisfied with less instead of more. But spiritually the problem is exactly the opposite. Spiritually, Christians in America today tend to be satisfied with far too little. C.S. Lewis once described it with an analogy of children content to play in a mud puddle, uninterested in a vacation to the beach, because they have no concept of what a vacation at the beach would be like.
In our very busy, very noisy, very materialistic world, we have become content to play in the mud puddles of superficial spirituality because we have little understanding of what a deep and dynamic and intimate relationship with the living God of the universe would be like. It would be good for us to want less of the world and more of God. And once we do experience the depths, the riches, the majesty and wonder of our Awesome God, like the Psalmist in 42:1-2, we will want more and more of Him.
An ever-increasing and never-satisfied lust for the things of the world is a bad thing and needs to be resisted. A deep longing for more and more of God is a good thing and needs to be pursued. Ask God to change your “wanter” so you want more of Him and less of the world.
For an expanded teaching on this subject you can go to my web site at http://www.JimMersereauBooks.com, click on the tab “Free Articles” and download the articles “Room for the Singing of Angels”; “Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times”; and “What Makes a Woman Truly Beautiful?”.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday January 18-19

Good Morning Everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “Change”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord changed His mind about the terrible disaster He had threatened to bring on His people.” Exodus 32:14 (NLT)
 
Our thought for today: “Sometimes God changes His mind.”
 
Does it surprise you to learn that God sometimes changes His mind about things? He does. It’s a divine mystery and difficult for our human minds to comprehend but even though God is Omniscient (He knows everything before it even happens), and therefore He knew what He would do even before it came to pass, the Bible is clear that He still sometimes changes His mind based upon the prayers and actions of His people.
 
In the situation in Exodus chapter thirty-two, the people of Israel had sinned greatly by worshiping the Golden Calf. God was so mad at them that He decided to wipe out the entire nation, except for Moses, and then start all over again by raising up a new people for Himself. But Moses pleaded with Him to please spare the people and so, despite their great sin, in verse 14 we read that as a result of Moses’ plea God changed His mind and relented.
 
We read of a similar situation in Genesis chapter eighteen when Abraham pleaded and negotiated with God for the deliverance of the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham kept asking God to change His mind and to spare the cities if a certain number of righteous people could be found in them. Every time Abraham asked, God changed His mind and agreed to the conditions Abraham proposed. Unfortunately for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, despite the fact that Abraham kept lowering the number of righteous people needed to ensure deliverance, and despite the fact that God kept agreeing to it, none were found and the cities were destroyed. But the point is that God was willing to be persuaded to change His mind.
 
Those are just two Old Testament examples. There are many others in both the Old and New Testaments. God is willing to change His mind about things based upon the prayers and petitions of His people. Biblically are there any conditions that must first be met in order to get God to change His mind about something? Yes, there are. In James 4:3 we read:
 
“You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires.” (HCSB)
 
Also, in 1 John 5:14 the Apostle tells us, “Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.” (HCSB) 
 
So first, your motives for asking have to be right. But beyond that, if what you’re asking for falls within the realm of what God is willing to allow, He could be persuaded to change His mind and the situation could turn out differently than it would have if you had not prayed. The Biblical truth is that sometimes God does change His mind.
 
God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Friday January 17th

Good Morning Everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “Change”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “We have a priceless inheritance – an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.” 1 Peter 1:4 (NLT)
 
Our thought for today: “As a child of God you own something that does not change and will not decay.”
 
On her nightstand my wife has a three-part picture frame with pictures of me as a six month old baby on the left, as a eight year old boy in the middle, and as a thirty year old Navy Officer on the right. She says I was a cute baby, a good looking freckle-faced boy, and a handsome young officer. I’ve chosen to defer to her judgment on the issue.
 
But then I look in the mirror. At fifty-nine the picture isn’t so pretty. I’m mostly bald, have more hair in my nose and ears than on my head, there are wrinkles, my hair is turning gray, and there’s a good bit of sagging going on too. The years have taken their toll.
 
My house is suffering from the passage of time too. It is twenty-five now and things are starting to go. We’re in the process of replacing the ac/heating unit (again); recently we had an old pipe burst and the carpets had to come out; and eventually the roof will have to be replaced. And let’s not talk about my 1998 Ford F150 pick-up truck with over 210,000 miles on it. The old beast is still running, but the a/c is out and the odometer hasn’t worked in five years.
 
The point is that with the passage of time things change – and not always for the good. Physical things, whether they are bodies, houses, or trucks, decay and deteriorate with age. Also, jobs are lost, careers end, friends and loved ones die, technology changes and therefore devices must be replaced, and on it goes.
 
The lesson in all this? Just that the things of this world are temporary; they are in the process of decaying and passing away and they will soon be gone. So if we’re relying on them for our security or happiness, it’s just a matter of time before we will be mourning their loss.
 
But in 1 Peter 1:4 the Apostle tells us of an eternal inheritance, kept for us in heaven, that is pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. It is our heavenly home and our heavenly inheritance. It’s what Jesus was talking about in John 14:1-3 when He spoke about that special place He is preparing for those who belong to Him and it’s why, in Matthew 6:19-21, in the middle of His “Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus said:
 
“Don’t collect for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.” (HCSB)
 
What things in life do you value the most? What are you relying on? Where is your treasure and your heart? There is an inheritance for you that is eternal and that is untouched by change and decay. I encourage you to put your faith in your eternal inheritance.
 
God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday January 16th

Good Morning Everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “Change”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me. Lord, Your love is eternal; do not abandon the work of Your hands.” Psalm 138:8 (HCSB)
 
Our thought for today: “Change takes time.”
 
One of my favorite movies of all time is “The Karate Kid”. Daniel La Russo is the new kid in town. He’s a bit undersized and unsure of himself and predictably, the target of some local bullies (bullies who also happen to be students of a karate master who himself is a bully and who teaches the kids to be bullies too). Daniel is befriended by Mr. Miyagi, who is a wise and elderly Japanese man who also happens to be a quiet and unassuming karate master as well. Throughout the course of the movie, Mr. Miyagi teaches karate to Daniel and turns him into a level-headed but confident young man who is now able to defend himself against the bullies. Ultimately he even defeats the leader of the bullies in a karate match.
 
My favorite scene in the movie occurs at a point where young Daniel is impatient for results in his development and is voicing some frustration about it. The ever-wise Mr. Miyagi gives him a long slow look and says, “Patience grasshopper …” and he then goes on to teach Daniel an important lesson about the fact that development in anything worthwhile takes time, patience, and perseverance.
 
Sometimes I think I can hear Jesus saying that to me. “Patience grasshopper, your development will come. Just continue doing what you’re doing and give it time.” And like Daniel, the up and coming karate kid, I sigh and roll my eyes, and then get on with doing what I know I need to do.
 
Psalm 138:8 is actually and Old Testament version of Philippians 1:6 where Paul writes, “I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (HCSB)
 
The fact is that change takes time. God is at work in you and He is in the process of transforming you into the person He wants you to be, but great works take a long time to complete. The greater the work, the longer it takes. You are one of God’s greatest works, one of His masterpieces. Therefore His work in you, and the changes He is in the process of bringing about in you, take time.
 
Patience grasshopper … your development will come.
 
God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday January 15th

Good Morning Everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “Change”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair.” Isaiah 61:1-3 (HCSB)
 
Our thought for today: “Jesus is for you.”
 
Now there’s an encouraging thought: “Jesus is for you.” That’s right, He’s your biggest fan and He wants the best for you. Read Isaiah 61:1-3 again. God sent Jesus to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, and to proclaim liberty and freedom to those in various forms of captivity (this is a reference to being in captivity to sin, and to things like drugs and alcohol, as well as to actually being behind bars). He came to proclaim the Lord’s favor as well as the Lord’s judgment. He comforts those who mourn, and He brings festivity and rejoicing where there had been mourning and despair.
 
I don’t know what you’re dealing with in your life right now, what kind of despondency, despair, depression, or addictions you might be wrestling with; and I don’t know what financial pressures you may be facing, or if key relationships in your life are in turmoil. I also don’t know if perhaps you could be struggling with a sense of shame, guilt, and inadequacy.
 
What I do know however, is that in and through Jesus we find true freedom and victory. I also know that whatever change is needed in your life, Jesus is the One who can bring it to pass. He can lift you out of the depression; He can free you from the drugs and alcohol; He can heal your broken heart, restore your joy, provide for your needs, and remove your shame. Yes, Jesus is for you. And, He is able. He is able to deliver you.
 
God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Tuesday January 14th

Good Morning Everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “Change”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “When Jesus stood up, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, Lord,’ she answered. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus. ‘Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” John 8:10-11 (HCSB)
 
Our thought for today: “Jesus gives us the opportunity to change, and to make a fresh start.”
 
I love the scene John records for us in John 8:2-11. Bible scholars debate whether or not it was part of the original manuscript of the gospel of John but I personally believe it must have been. This is so Jesus!
 
Here we have a woman caught in the act of committing adultery. Evidently there was no question about her guilt. She did it. She was caught in the very act, and the self-righteous, overly pious, hypocritical religious professionals were eager to make an example of her. So they bring her to the temple compound, make her stand in the center of a circle of her accusers, and then ask Jesus to pronounce judgment and punishment.
 
We don’t know if it was a one time event or if this was a promiscuous woman who had a habit of engaging in illicit sex, but it really doesn’t matter. We do know that she was guilty of this offense and there was something about her that needed to change. In a masterful way, Jesus cleverly turns the tables on the accusers by convicting them of their own sinful ways. But then, in a beautiful act of mercy, grace, and forgiveness, Jesus grants the woman clemency. There will be no punishment. The only caveat is that she change her ways – “Go and sin no more.”
 
Jesus is more interested in changing us than He is in punishing us. Oh, there will be godly discipline if that’s what’s needed, but He would much rather teach us, forgive us, and send us on our way as changed people.
 
Is there something in your life that needs to change? Maybe you stand accused for it before others; or maybe you just stand accused as you look in the mirror. Either way, Jesus is willing to forgive, forget, and help you to move on. If you’re willing to change, He’s willing to help you do it. All this month we’ve been considering strategies that will help to facilitate needed change. I encourage you to go back and review some of them now.
 
God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Monday January 13th

Good Morning Everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “Change”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to all humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (HCSB)
 
Our thought for today: “You can resist temptation.”
 
Change is hard. You’ve probably heard the old adage that the only one who likes change is a wet baby. That’s a funny and clever saying and although maybe not entirely true, it’s close. Positive change requires effort and sacrifice and usually, even if we do want the change to happen, we’re still not crazy about the effort required to bring it about. Therefore we’re often faced with the temptation to give in or to give up. We give in and eat that twinkie. Or, we give up and drop out of college. Change is hard and the temptation to give in or give up is real. So what do we do?
 
In 1 Corinthians 10:13 the Apostle Paul gives insight into a great spiritual truth about temptation and change. He writes that God will never allow us to be faced with a temptation we’re not able to resist. Paul says that with every temptation, God will also provide us with a way of escape so that we don’t have to give in or give up.
 
The lesson here is that before you give in and eat the twinkie; before give up and drop out of college; before you allow the temptation to deter you from the change and transformation God is trying to bring into your life; go to Him in prayer and ask Him to show you the way of escape from the temptation. It will always be there. The challenge for us is to resist the impulse of the moment long enough to bring God into the situation by means of prayer. If we do that, and if we then wait for Him to show us the way out, we will be a lot more successful at resisting temptation and we will experience a lot more positive change in our lives.
 
You can resist that temptation – if you ask God to help you.
 
God Bless,
Pastor Jim