My new book, How To Raise A God Wise A God Wise Kid in A Satan Rich World, will be available on June 1, 2017 in ebook form for Amazon Kindle, Nook, Inktera, iBooks, 24 Symbols, Kobo, Playster, Scribd, and Tolino.
The paperback version will be ready in July of 2017 and will include images to accompany the devotionals.
So one of the lessons I am catching on to is to learn through other people’s experiences. I don’t want to repeat their mistakes to learn their lessons. How the song go? Each one teach one. I am sharing my experience because I have learned a lot.
I am surrounded by people who have helped me learn and I also share the things I have experienced..
In this devotional, I share ideas of how to help your children have a personal relationship with God. Through scripture, art and stories, I share the opportunities I had to teach my own child to get to know God.
I am sure before Christ’s resurrection the aroma of the sacrifices for sin filled the space. The Bible tells us that the best cut of meat was sacrificed on the altar as an atonement for sin. I think the fragrance of the prayers of the saints overpowered it. I am sure it was amazing to breathe.
Today, I walked through an area where smokers hung out. Not only was the smell of tobacco in the air, but it was stale. I tried to hold my breath until I got past it.
The smell I abhor is walking into a restroom and it smell like urine. As I was hurrying trying to get out of there I thought. “Lord, is this what it was like coming to earth? You left the amazing smells of Heaven for the filthiness of earth.”
I can’t think of anyone I like enough to stay in a situation that smells bad. Yet, I can only imagine what Jesus gave up for His love of us. He went to the depths of Hell for us.
Bulls and lambs are no longer sacrificed. Prayers are still the fragrance of the saints. Jesus offers eternal life to all those who believe. Jesus has only one stipulation to those who want eternity with Him. John 3:16.
in the middle of worship this morning and I couldn’t stop to answer the phone. Yes, Chris Rock is still my ringtone. It is normally my habit to turn the ringer off before I enter the church. I did the same thing today, but it came back on in the middle of church service, but fortunately I was up in the sound booth, and only the folks up there with me heard it.
Another habit I have been practicing a little longer is sacrificing something for Lent. I am not Catholic or any type of Orthodox religion. I just appreciate the season. I was thoroughly amused when a friend asked me what I gave up for Lent. I have been doing this long enough that folks who know me know.
One of the things I chose was to praise God everyday in a very physical way. So on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, Instagram and here I posted my praise in the form of His Word. It was interesting to see which scriptures resonated with my friends.
I also believe that it is not a sacrifice unless it cost you something. How can I offer to God something that is free to me? How can I offer something that means nothing to me? So I sacrificed things that I valued.
As I approach this last week before Easter, this Holy Week, I am reminded that He is a Holy Uncreated God. Everything I see is created, He is not created. Even though I cannot wrap my finite mind around this, it is true.
I am also reminded as I make my way to the cross this week with millions of other Christ followers, that the way to the cross is not paved in gold bricks and lavished meals.
It was on a dirt road, with a heavy cross and lots of onlookers who were not willing to help. He endured the pain of the cross for me. Praise God.
so it is no use trying to pretend. I was talking to a friend last night. She was struggling with praying for her enemies.
First of all, she was overwhelmed with guilt for having enemies. But when someone puts a target on your back, that gives them a special status. Jesus had enemies so as his disciples why would we not have them. What I love about Jesus is He had no problem confronting their behavior. In Matthew 3:7 and 12:34 He called them vipers.
When people attack us, we need to be honest with ourselves and with God. We need to pray honest prayers over the situation. I know some folks like to pray good things over their enemies, but baby, I bet they get upset when they see good things happening to them. I have learned to pray from exactly where my heart is. God knows where my heart is so there is no need for me to pretend and pray a bunch of stuff I don’t believe. (just because you say it in a prayer doesn’t make it true)
I will lift up my enemies family situation, their work, finances, relationships, everything God brings to mind. Lord, get them so busy dealing with their stuff they don’t have time to deal with me.
What you do is give God permission to deal with your honest stuff. You have to recognize your stuff before God can change it. Most recently some folks came after some friends and me hard. Sometimes I found the situations to be unreal because the prejudice was so over the top. But we prayed honest prayers and talked each other out of physical violence.
One day of the main oppressor went away. It was awesome. Then the Lord began to deal with the others. He took us from praying “Lord, get them!” to praying “Lord, save them.” We went from wanting to hit them in their throats to praying that God would deliver them from their struggles.
The Lord handled them and healed us. Most people miss the healing part, because they are too afraid to pray those first prayers. They let bitterness take root, and never let God dig it out. They stay in the pretend world of wanting good things to happen to everyone.
I want people who intentionally do evil to others to feel the wrath of God. Many want to emphasize God’s love, but down play His judgment. Jesus has promised that God will protect His sheep, and I am going to hold Him to it. When people come after me, I am going to let God handle it.
I pray over everyone who comes against me. Most situations the Lord has changed my heart on, while there are still a few I should not meet because I will hit them in their throat. I have learned He deals with everything in its own time. We are such a microwave generation that we want to feel better about something instantly, while God will take all the time He needs to work out His plan.
I keep praying until I see Him change a situation. He does. In the process I become a better me, not a bitter me. How about you?
Like many in the world, I have been consumed by the Olympics in Rio this past week. I have enjoyed watching the young and strong compete against each other and the sense of national pride it gives to us who do not have youth and strength. Like life, there have been good moments and not so good moments. All of these moments have made a difference in these athletes lives.
My favorite moment was when Simone Manuel realized she had won the gold medal in her swim meet. That innocent moment of looking up after the race to see where she had finished turned into something epic. Instead of being there to be a part of the race, she was now ready to win the race because she knew she could. (photo by Doug Mills NYT)
What makes the difference for you?
For me it is prayer. God taught me who, what, when, where and how. He gave me several amazing examples, but one that holds my heart is BSF leadership. I remember many a cold morning on my knees praying with these sisters. I don’t think there is anything on this side of heaven like it. Then He strengthen my prayer muscles by having me exercise them. He taught me that to communicate with Him is the best way to live this life.
I have never really thought about being a prayer warrior until someone said something. There are a list of people I pray over daily. Some are life timers, while others are just for a season. (the longer the list, the earlier I have to get up. enough said.) I revisit the list every quarter. Sometimes I move people off, but it is not God’s intention that they are off. For example there is one person I have been praying for, and I moved her off the list because it had been years since I have seen her. But every morning, the Lord brings her to mind. (His way of telling me she is still on the list.)
Another example is my oldest brother. For years I thought he was dead because we had not seen him in years, but prayed for him anyway. I remember praying “Lord, he is with you. Why is he still on my list?” Turns out he wasn’t dead, and obviously needed those prayers.
Tonight, I was having dinner with a fellow empty nester and she said, “You are a prayer warrior.” Kinda like Simone, I looked up at her to see what she meant. Then I got it.
Once you know you are in a race to win, you swim differently than when you are just glad to be in the race. I realized not everyone is called to pray like I pray, but I am going to treat it like an Olympic event. I am going to do it with all I got.
because He knows we won’t be obedient. God did not tell me His plans for today because He knew I would skip it.
I had been trying to get my small group together for a while, but there were lots of conflicts in our schedules. One of them suggested Harvest America, which was a free concert with several Christian artists and a message from a great preacher. Initially I was leery because it was being held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. I didn’t want to deal with big crowds.
Unfortunately, everyone in my small group wanted to go. Okay. I put the person who suggested in charge of planning. Thought maybe we could all have dinner together and go to the venue. I research the preacher. It looked like he only got crowds of 17,000 to 20,000, I figured we could have some choice seats at AT&T with that few people.
Two days before the one whose idea it was, could not go. WHAT! This was your idea! (not real Christian of me) So discussing the idea with my sister, I suggested the group meet for dinner at 4 then head on over afterwards for the concert and the word. My sister suggested we meet earlier. I relented.
We knew things were going to be crazy when we met to eat because the restaurant was overflowing with people. We thought we might get jumped for our table. One woman had so many people with her I thought she was just going to start sitting them at tables with strangers. Our journey began at Cane’s. (God has jokes)
We finished eating and headed for the stadium. It was incredibly crowded. I told myself it was what 20,000 people looked like. Once inside, the bottom two levels filled up fast. Soon it looked like this. (I knew I wasn’t in Kansas anymore)
When the top tiers filled up I knew this was more than 20,000 people. We watched on FB as people posted about bad traffic in Arlington around the stadium. Good thing we left early.
Now left to my own devices, I would have NEVER attended something with more than 100,000 people. They said people were coming and standing outside to witness what was happening on the inside. They said the fire marshal made people leave because there were too many.
Inside it was Amazing Grace.
It was such a privilege to hear the recording artists and the preacher. I was so blessed by the word. It was a blessing to just see the words roll across the screen and think about the gift of being saved from my sin. It was a blessing to see Lecrae in person. I am a fan.
Chris Tomlin did what He does well. It was freeing. I have been set free.
I don’t know much about Greg Laurie, except he is a man of incredible prayer. He prayed and God answered. You should listen to him for that alone. He preached God’s word simple and truthful.
He held and invitation to invite Jesus into their lives. He filled up the football field and had to use overflow room. God worked miracles and wonders this evening. I am glad I made it in.
I almost missed my blessing. I am glad God outsmarted me.
Sometimes I kid my work partner that he is off his game when things don’t go the way we plan. It doesn’t happen often, but pointing it out helps us understand something we don’t like is happening. Usually we joke about it. He tells me if he is off his game, then I must be off mine.
Currently I am off my Christmas game. Presents still need to be bought, cards need to be mailed, and lots more. I am so behind.
Christmas is my favorite season and it is about to be over before I even prepare for it. The thing that keeps me calm is music. One of my favorites this season is the Christmas Song by Dave Matthews.
I love the words to this song and the beat. As I was listening this week, I thought about Jesus. I mean He knew when he breathed life into Adam that eventually the focus would turn to Him. (And rightly so because He came to save us.) He knew that people would write songs about his life.
I wonder if terms like “less than golden,” “daddy-o” and “jokers” gave Him a giggle. They make me giggle because of the songwriter’s method of telling the story. He uses a vernacular that I am familiar with.
I am not saying the song is biblical, but I do like the theme. I love the idea of showering Him with love while He lay in the hay. I disagree that the blood spilled is of the children all around. I know the blood spilled is of the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Yet that doesn’t limit the song for me. Because as God tries to explain to us what He does for us, we don’t always get it right.
But Jesus loves us. So much that He was willing to come be with us. We will never know the full extent of His love.
Even though I may be off my game, I love being reminded of the trip Jesus made to earth to shower me with love.
Although she was just trying to make a living, her life was an adventure. She spied on cheating spouses and caught bail jumpers. She never imagined the bad guys would chase her.
One of the things I love about my life is Netflix. I get to watch episodes of entire series consecutively. I get a good sense of what the production was about and what they are saying. I am very fond of European television series because it gives me insight into how people in other parts of the world think, see themselves and view the world.
The sad thing is that some people don’t think that television reflect the society it caters to. I believe it does. The shows that are at the top of the ratings ladder speak to our values as a society. Some times I cringe at what the rest of the world thinks of us North Americans. But we are what we are.
I am currently into the British series, Inspector George Gently, which is set in the 1960s in Northern England dealing with crime. Yet it spends a fair amount of time dealing with 1960s society and its norms. But I think what the story does well is deal with the culture. It shows the old guard and the new guard. Of course it has the gift of history. As I watch it, I think this was the culture I was born into, this tug of war between good and better. Not so much the English part, but this changing of the guard.
An Ah ha moment came to me as I watched a scene where the two war veterans (WWII) looked at the young hippie protesters and then at each other. One asked “Was the sacrifice worth it?”
They were asking if the sacrifice of fighting a war so they could continue to live free was worth the cost of having to listen to the young people disrespect everything they fought for. After all, they could only protest freely because the Allies won the war. (right) The young people shouting out disrespectful words didn’t understand they were standing on the shoulders of people who died to give them the right. I was born during a time when people hated each other. They segregated themselves from each other to continue to facilitate that hate.
50 years later, here we are again. We tell our younger generation that they do not appreciate what was sacrificed to give them the rights they have today. They stand on the shoulders of dead civil rights workers and disrespect the process. They do not understand.
It gives me a giggle to think that we are repeating a cycle that happened when I was born.
The problem is that we did not teach the next generation from when they were babies, that it is a right that someone died for so that you can go to school and receive an education for free, you can own property and not BE property. We have depended on someone else to teach the next generation our family and ethnic heritage and those folks have not done a good job.
As Joel Barker said, when a paradigm shifts, we all go back to 0. Some people just don’t realize they are at 0. As I was watching this TV series, it reminded me we are back at 0. Racism is getting worse. Violence is getting worse. Hatred is like a coke commercial. You see it everywhere.
Our history is going to be the thing that saves us. We will have to remember the love that overcomes this type of hate. We will have to remember what it looks like, what it acts like. It wasn’t Malcolm’s militancy, it was Martin’s love. Love overcomes all kinds of hate.
In the Bible God told Israel to teach their children all of the things He had done for them. He wanted them to know the stories. He wanted the children to know the type of obstacles their people had overcome through His mighty power. The stories showed His faithfulness and His love.
If you retrace our history, you will see the lives of men and women who sacrificed for the good of others. I thank all the men and women who have gone to war to preserve our freedom. It is one of the greatest gifts on this planet. I want to live a life worthy of their sacrifice. Not just the white ones, or the black ones or the brown ones. All of them. They gave up something they cannot get back.
This year my wall calendar has been Nelson Mandela. All year I have been reminded that 27 years in prison shaped his life. When he got out, he could have done anything he wanted. He served his people.
God calls us use whatever gift we have received to serve others. (1 Peter 4:10) He says it won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. Every time you turn on the TV to watch, let it remind you of our culture. Once you are reminded of it, go and do your part to change it. We need to wake up before it gets too late.
Last week, my pastor, Dr. Tony Evans preached on the movie, War Room. The story of the movie has been very exciting to us Christians as it unfolds before our eyes. God is doing amazing things with lives poured out to Him.
It is no secret to Christians that God has called us to pray. This movie challenges us to pray like we have never prayed before.
My pastor made a very good point. He said when you go to battle you have to have a strategy. When countries go to war, they have a plan of attack. When teams play each other in sports, they have a game plan. As we deal with the challenges of our lives, we have to have a plan.
How is it we are trying to tackle well planned battles against us with no strategy? God has a plan for our lives which He reveals in two ways, my pastor said. His revealed will comes through His word in the bible. His secret will comes to you as you spend time with Him. Deuteronomy 29:29.
This week as I prayed in my war room, the Lord enabled me to see His work in my life in several areas. I spent time aligning my prayers with His word, and He spent time resolving my issues. I have spent more time concentrating on what God’s word says about an issue than what my circumstance says about an issue.
Every morning when I pray over my lists, I remind myself that He who began a good work in me shall see it through to completion. I remind myself of who I am praying to and what He is capable of. With this, He gives me power to accomplish the things my faith prompts me to do. 2 Thessalonians 1:11.
What is God calling you to pray over? Are you ready for the secrets He will reveal to you?
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