Trying To Impress Or Being Genuine?

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/PZ4gbjq3YBg?si=_3oBNa6BwLjkWUaK

“Trying To Impress Or Being Genuine?”

Hebrews 11:6 NIV

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

 

A few weeks ago, I had my 6 month dental cleaning checkup.  As I prepared and flossed and brushed my teeth before going in, it brought back some funny memories of when I was a kid and how I prepared for my check ups.  I wasn’t always great at taking care of my teeth as I liked to eat a lot of candy.  I’m sure I didn’t brush twice a day and didn’t brush the best when I did brush.  I also didn’t floss on a regular basis.  The day of my dentist appts, I would usually brush my teeth really good and hoped that the dentist would be impressed.

 

As you can imagine, as they cleaned and examined my teeth, I would usually hear all the reports of what I wasn’t doing and how I needed to do it better.  I thought by just brushing really hard before my dental appt, that would be good enough.  Nope!  Years later now with numerous cavities and crowns, I’ve learned that I really need to take better care of my teeth.  My dental visits now are not as bad as they used to be, yet I often fear they will find something that is bad and needs fixed.

 

I think we treat our spiritual lives a lot like this.  We don’t always take the greatest care of our walk with God.  I think sometimes we feel like if we show up to church and put in some time, we look good to God and to others.  Just like my quick brushing attempts before going to the dentist when I was younger, we often think we can impress God and pretend with Him, but we can’t. 

 

We can sometimes fool other people for a period of time, but we never can fool God.  I think He often shakes His head in sadness and heartbreak seeing what we do to try to make ourselves look good, but what He truly wants is us being honest and doing our best to be genuine. 

 

Is our desire just to try to impress God and others when we show up Sunday for church and maybe for a small group bible study through the week to look good, or are we striving to take the time each day to grow closer to Him in a very intentional and genuine manner?

 

I know that I often fail in my attempts to be genuine with God and in being intentional in my walk with Him.  He desires for all of us to be intentional and to truly desire time with Him.  He wants our all and not just various times where we try to impress Him. 

 

I hope and pray that our desire each day is to truly be genuine and intentional to grow in our faith.  

What Richness Are We Chasing?

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/Qy1P71pEaCE?si=9_Rf-ICMvxh4OXIX

“What Richness Are We Chasing?”

Colossians 3:16 NLT

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.  Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives.

 

I read this passage recently from the Air1 Radio verse of the day and it really spoke to me.  The phrase “Fill your lives” really stood out.  I got to thinking about all the different things each day that I allow to fill my life.  From the time I get up in the morning till I go to bed, I have choices to decide what fills my day.  Whether I’m at home, at work, at church, shopping with my family or if I’m at different gatherings, I can decide what I allow to fill my mind and my heart. 

 

I admit that I often allow worldly things to fill my mind and heart throughout the day.  When I begin my day, I pray that God will guide me and lead me how He wants me to go, but then it doesn’t take long before selfish desires set in.  I see ads and hear different persuasive things throughout the day that tend to woo my heart and mind to chase after more worldly things. 

 

After 49 years of life, I know full well that chasing after the things of this world will never satisfy or lead me to a fulfilled life.  However, I still choose to chase these temporary pleasures, whatever they may be.  Paul is very clear in this passage to encourage us in that we need to let the richness of Christ fill our lives. 

 

What happens when we let the richness of Christ fill our lives instead of worldly influences?  Lots of great things, of course!  We become filled with eternal satisfaction that the world cannot provide.  We shine the light of Christ to show the lost His love.  We become a light others cannot ignore.  We think of others more before ourselves. 

 

When we let the richness of the world fill our lives, we become influenced in all the wrong ways and we tread down very bad paths.  Everything is temporary and we often wonder why we remain thirsty and longing for more.  When we long for more and more of the world, there is no way we can effectively teach and counsel other people in a Godly manner.  In this times, God’s not filling our lives and the world is! 

 

When we are filled with the richness of Christ, there is no comparing!  The world can never match what we receive through the richness of Christ.  Our hearts are filled and there is so much satisfaction!

 

I challenge all of us to watch closely each day what we are filling our lives with.  What are we allowing into our hearts and minds?  What are we following and chasing after?  Either we chase the richness of Christ or we chase the richness of this world. 

 

Which will it be?

Search My Heart...BEFORE

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/2pYj3fuXB2k?si=PtRQwpN4kfWn1omE

“Search My Heart…..BEFORE”

Psalm 139:23-24 NIV

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

From the time we wake up each day to the moment we go to bed, we are all preparing in some way throughout the day.  Many of us wake up early and head in to work.  Kids have to wake up and get ready for the school day.  When we are applying for a job, we have to fill out an application and go through an interview, possibly multiple.  When we graduate high school, we have to prepare for our college experience or what the next step is if we choose not to go to college.

 

We spend a lot of time preparing for things in our lives.  Why is that?  Why do we put so much effort into preparing for things each day?  Because we want to be sure we are prepared for the day to the best of our ability.  Most of my, if not all, do not like surprises that come up and throw our day off.  All of us have experienced this in one way or another.  We’ve all been caught off guard with unexpected schedule changes. 

 

I like to prepare for things in my life.  When I don’t feel prepared, it bothers me a lot.  I don’t always like sudden changes.  I do my best to deal with them and adjust, but I’m not always great at that. 

 

With us preparing every single day for so many different things, why do we not put more attention into how we prepare to respond to other people?  It’s easy when others are nice to us, but when they are not, it’s definitely challenging. 

 

This passage popped up in my morning reading time and it hit me again.  I need to ask God to search my heart fully and bring up anything that is not clean and anything offensive and ask Him to lead me.  In all my interactions with people each day, I need to pray “Search my heart….BEFORE”.  Before I react to something that may come off negative, I need God to search me.  I need to pause and think for a moment if this will encourage others or discourage them.

 

Sometimes, we feel like we need to get the “last word” in to a conversation.  We have all been there!  However, we need to ask God to search our heart BEFORE responding.  We always, always, always need to do a self-check and see what gremlins are hiding deep in our heart.  We always need to point inward and check our attitude before assuming others are wrong.  We need to approach everything in love to the best of our ability.

 

My encouragement to us all is to ask God to search our heart…BEFORE we react or respond to anything.  

They Think We Are Crazy

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/LauFlzYdeMs?si=Y-d3gmNPRAU-hj8w

“They Think We Are Crazy”

1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

 

As I’ve shared much in the past months, I started running April 2024 again.  I am now preparing for a half marathon in October.  It’s been a long process of continued training getting my pace down and preparing my body for the endurance.  There’s a lot of work going into this process and figuring out what I can handle.  But also, it’s been a very rewarding experience as I go on my long runs.  Just being out in nature has been really great.  There’s a nice long trail that runs 40 miles west of where I live, so it’s been my go-to for most of my long runs. 

 

I have to laugh and shake my head as I come home from each run.  My wife and daughter think I’m crazy every time I run.  They don’t understand why I like it so much.  A few weeks ago, my wife made a comment that totally cracked me up.  After she asked me about a long run, I said it was fun.  She then said, “I wouldn’t put fun and run in the same sentence!”  That was funny! 

 

The thing I’ve discovered in the past months and year is that many people just don’t get the fun of running and I get it.  Not everyone likes it, of course.  You either like it or you don’t.  I often joke around with other running buddies and tell them my family thinks I’m crazy for liking it and wanting to run more. 

 

I guess I’ll just be crazy!  I can’t expect my family or others who don’t get into it to understand.  It’s just something that runners get and it’s a rush to get better and better and chat about it.

 

As I think about these experiences of people not getting it and thinking I’m crazy, I can’t help but to think that’s exactly how some unbelievers look at us with our faith.  We talk about our experiences with God and how He has worked in our lives and many people just don’t get it.  They consider us wacko or crazy.  It makes no sense to them why we live the way we live.  They don’t see the fun of why we live for Christ.  They don’t understand why we give up certain ways of the world to be faithful to God.  It makes no sense to them.

 

Even though they don’t understand, it’s still up to us to continue living this way and showing the light to the lost.  Some will never get it or want to live that way.  Hopefully, they will respect us, but some just won’t.

 

God calls us to continue to live faithfully and that’s what we are called to do to the best of our ability.  The world is still going to call us crazy and we most likely will hear that from people for the rest of our lives.  All we can do is be proud of the “crazy life” we live for Christ and be a light to them. 

 

They think we are crazy and it’s our job to continue to show them why we live a crazy life. 

I Have All That I Need

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/LYLYCvXeb-M?si=Fr8kElb7yH2Z2sbh

“I Have All That I Need”

Psalm 23:1 NLT

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

 

Philippians 4:11-12 NIV

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 

 

For the past month, these two passages have been on my mind constantly.  Mostly because I have really struggled with being content in life.  I have to admit that I so often find myself comparing our lives to other people and my life to others and wanting more.  There are a couple of immediate problems this presents for me.  First, always wanting more. Second, not being grateful for what God has already given to me. 

 

What really stands out to me in the Philippians passage is the word “Learned”.  The state of being content for Paul didn’t come naturally.  It was something he had to learn.  We all have things in life that we’ve had to learn and did not come easily or overnight for us.  The experience of life is so much learning and none of us are exempt to this.  As we continue to fail at different things, we learn how to move forward. We learn what to avoid and what to strive for that will help make us stronger. 

 

I really believe what we need to realize more and more and is what Psalm 23 states.  The Lord is our Shepherd, we have ALL that we need.  That sums it all up!  We could be so content if we just stopped comparing with others who have more and realize that Christ is all we need.  He provides and always will.  I’m often wondering why I get so discontent and I realize that I’m focused on the wrong things.  Instead of focusing on what I don’t have(there will always be these things), I need to focus on what I already have(God has definitely blessed me). 

 

I want to wake up each day and be grateful for what I do already have.  I want to focus and remember that if I have Christ, then I have everything.  He is ALL I need. 

 

It’s not easy to be content in this world.  It’s so easy to compare our lives and be discontent and always long for more.  While seeking out new opportunities in life is often an encouraged endeavor, we must check our motives for doing so and keep an attitude of contentment. 

We're All In This Together

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/HPfV5RrDkfU?si=UFytiKBJSIP1li3z

“We’re All In This Together”

1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT

 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

 

Recently, when I was on one of my long runs, I ran past an oncoming young guy who looked up at me and started pumping his fist into the air and clapped and said, “Yeah”.  When he did that, I mimicked what he did, smiled and laughed.  It was one of those “Runners” moments that only runners can really share together.  In only a few moments, I felt the encouragement this guy gave to me and it was a feeling of hearing, “Good job, man!  Keep it going!”  While he said nothing, I just felt a “runners” connection for a brief moment.  It made me feel good inside as I thought about that on my continued run.

 

As I’ve been running again for a little over a year, it’s just been great to keep up the learning experience and connecting with other people who also either have a passion for it or they are just getting going with running.  I am connected with multiple people who encourage me and I encourage them.  Honestly, I could NOT keep this up without them and the encouragement they give me.  There’s just something about connecting with other runners who share the same passion and you encourage one another. 

 

A few months ago, I was running one of my usual courses and another runner met up with me briefly, came up beside me, looked at me and pumped his arm into the air and was like, “Yeah!”.  It was excitement for him and me just having that moment of running together and finding a fellow runner. 

 

As I think about a few months ago and yesterday, I started thinking about how we are all the body of Christ.  Just like us runners share a common passion for what we are doing, we also in the body of Christ are called to come alongside of each other and encourage each other.  Why?  Because we are all in this together.  We all have different life situations, but we are running this race of the Christian life together.  We come alongside of each other and encourage one another.  We celebrate in the good times and comfort each other in the hard times.

 

I am grateful for the reminder these fellow runners gave me of not only a community feeling shared with running, but also the reminder of how vital it is that we stay strong for each other in the body of Christ.  God wants us all to work hard together.  One of the things the past 4 years that we are grateful for is our church community.  We’ve been part of the same church for over 4 years now and it’s amazing the friendships we have built.  We love seeing these people every week and just being the body of Christ. We laugh together, worship together and cry together.  This is doing community with each other. 

 

Let this be a reminder and encouragement that we are all part of the same body and are called to build one another up. 

Trust The Process

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/3Cvo2l63OtI?si=jyexbMc-UHQPDoRU

“Trust The Process”

Proverbs 3:5 NIV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

 

This past Saturday, I ran a 5K with a friend of mine from church.  We were both really excited to run in the same race again.  Before the race started, we were talking about setting pace and I mentioned how I wanted to get below a certain time.  My friend offered to pace me and get my time lower.  However, he told me to just listen to him, keep up and don’t look at my race watch.  I agreed with the pace he told me and I ran along with him. 

 

Throughout the race, we chatted a lot together and he commented on my breathing as well as asking me how I was feeling.  He also encouraged me to keep up when he went faster and explained when he was going to go faster.  The last mile, I was hurting and I had to mentally push myself to finish.  I was exhausted, but at the end, I sprinted as well as I could.  We crossed the line together and I took a few minutes to catch my breath. 

 

When I looked at my final time, I almost fell down!  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!  He took me faster than I thought he would.  He was sneaky and pushed me harder than the pace time he had originally said.  Why??  Because he knew I was capable and could do it.  Hearing that blew me away!  I had an idea in mind and he took me beyond that!  I trusted him to take me through the race and coach me to get a better time.  And….he did! 

 

I spent the rest of the day and weekend just blown away at what I had just done.  But, I could NOT have done it if I ran on my own.  He had a strategy in mind and knew what he was doing.  I did not.  I just trusted the process and gave it my all. 

 

Friends, so often in our lives, we have our own ways and try to do so many things on our own.  We want to improve, but we don’t know exactly how aside from what we think might work.  My friend had actually recommended me to set a pace and keep that the entire race, so that was the first 5K race I had done that.  It worked and it was amazing!

 

If we trust God in life and let go of what we think are good ideas and trust His process and timing, amazing things happen!  All weekend, I just kept thanking God for this opportunity and for what my friend had pushed me and encouraged me to do.  I just couldn’t believe I had done that well and didn’t think I was capable of it quite yet. 

 

We have to trust His process.  We have to trust and let Him guide, even when it hurts and we don’t think we can finish.  If I had run the race on my own, this would not have happened.  I am grateful for my friend’s encouragement and I am grateful that God gave me the endurance to finish this well. 

 

When life gets tough, trust in Him and His process.