Home Archive by category "Devotional" (Page 14)

Category: Devotional

On the Side of the Road of Life

You can travel to far away places to find beauty and to marvel at God’s creation, or you keep an eye out the side window of your car… if you open your eyes, you may be surprised how often you can spot God’s handiwork in your daily routine, and how often you’ll discover glimpses of his creativity just off your usual path. As I did today, on my way home from jury duty. There was barely a place to stop my car and getting across the busy street on foot was a challenge, but it took only five minutes to capture some of this beauty that others were zooming right past. It makes we wonder how much of life we miss because we never stop to look. I know I’ve been one of the hyper-busy ones for years and the cost of not slowing down sooner was high. (All these images can be viewed much larger by simply clicking on them) Sometimes, (and preferably) we pull over in life intentionally to take in some rest and be refreshed by God’s creation – but at other times the car of life breaks down and we are forced to stop and take…

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When I say "I am a Christian"

Once in awhile an e-mail forward actually contains something encouraging instead of spams or scams or jokes or urban legends. If you forward this to everyone in your address book, Bill Gates will NOT send you a dollar for each one. And no, nothing bad will happen to you if you don’t e-mail this to ten friends! When I say… “I am a Christian” I’m not shouting “I’m clean livin’.” I’m whispering “I was lost, Now I’m found and forgiven.” When I say… “I am a Christian” I don’t speak of this with pride. I’m confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide. When I say… “I am a Christian” I’m not trying to be strong. I’m professing that I’m weak And need His strength to carry on. When I say… “I am a Christian” I’m not bragging of success. I’m admitting I have failed And need God to clean my mess. When I say… “I am a Christian” I’m not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible But, God believes I am worth it. When I say… “I am a Christian” I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of…

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From Foolishness to Final Forgiveness

I don’t often post e-mail forwards, but I enjoyed this so much, I just had to share it. I love alliteration, and this little story takes the cake! The Final Fixing of the Foolish Fugitive “Feeling footloose, fancy-free, and frisky, this feather-brained fellow finagled his fond father into forking over his fortune. Forthwith, he fled for foreign fields and frittered his farthings feasting fabulously with fair-weather friends. Finally, facing famine, and fleeced by his fellows in folly, he found himself a feed flinger in a filthy farmlot. He fain would have filled his frame with foraged food from the fodder fragments. “‘Fooey! My father’s flunkies fare far fancier,’ the frazzled fugitive fumed feverishly, frankly facing fact. “Frustrated from failure and filled with forebodings, he fled for his family. “Falling at his father’s feet, he floundered forlornly. ‘Father, I have flunked and fruitlessly forfeited further family favors. . .’ “But the faithful father, forestalling further flinching, frantically flagged his flunkies to fetch forth the finest fatling and fix a feast. “But the fugitive’s fault-finding frater, faithfully farming his father’s fields for free, frowned at this fickle forgiveness of former falderal. His fury flashed, but fussing was futile. “His foresighted father figured,…

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Dreary Day… until you look closely.

Today was one of the hardest days of my life. For the first time in over 18 years I didn’t kick off a new season of Kid’s Church. To make it worse… of course, it rained. The bleary view out my back patio door. Change is difficult. I suppose I should feel some relief from my former hyperbusy hyperacheiver hyperactive hyperministry hyperspeed pace of life… and in many ways I do. But I still miss painfully the things I loved most… and have deep regrets that are still healing. I prayed for one phone call today from one person who might realize what today was and meant to me… but instead, God must have wanted me to feel the emptiness and loneliness of loss. My head understands and is accepting, but my heart is still catching up and has quite a ways to go. One day at a time. One relationship at a time. One prayer at a time. I’ve not allowed myself much time to focus on what these changes in life have cost me – selfishness got me into the mess I got myself into – so I don’t feel entitled to focus on my own losses, but…

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A week away does a spirit good….

“Be still and know that I am God” is the advice of David in Psalm 46:10 – but how do you find the time to be still when you are in very full time Christian ministry… or more honestly, when you do not know how or when to STOP and listen to God? I am guilty of doing MUCH for God, but much less with God. God tried to get my attention many times over the past several years – through family, friends, and circumstances… but I was too busy doing ministry to hear that still small voice, or simply too exhausted to hear it even when it was yelling at me. So, this past week was a week to finally listen. My wife and I (and Luke) headed to Tennessee for a place with no Internet (yes!), no phone, and barely cell reception. (Yes, I’ll admit holding my phone up at strange angles to see if I could get one bar… I’m not healed yet!) The place was Fairhaven Ministries, and I highly recommend it (and the burgers at the White Way Grill at the base of the mountain) to anyone needing some time away in a place where…

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Morning Feedings

I have a baby son. Since the day he entered our home, one of the biggest changes was that I have never used an alarm clock since. That era can now be refered to as ‘BC’ – Before Cryingbaby. Before Crying baby, I would fight the alarm clock every morning. Snoozing it untold times… exhausted from the day before and often working too late into the night, I would finally get up with just enough time to start my day. But since ‘the boy’ (as we call him) entered my home, I have awakened to his gentle cries for his morning feeding. Since he is adopted and we feed with formula, I volunteered the first day to be the one to do the morning feedings so my wife could sleep a little longer before starting her day. While eager for this time with the baby, I would nevertheless rise lethargicly and pick up ‘the boy’ and move to the couch or rocker in the front room to feed him. This morning I did so yet again. I am always amazed that he rises without an alarm – just an internal reminder that it is time to eat – simple hunger…

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