This E-mail Is Important

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/U2Qlam1m2cA?si=GpiUYvpPfA-VS-n6

“This E-mail Is Important”

Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

 

Just recently I saw an e-mail that had the subject line “This e-mail is important”.  It kind of took me by surprise.  Of course, the sender of this e-mail wanted to make sure to grab the attention of whomever received it.  As I looked at the e-mail sitting in the inbox, I got to thinking about all of the e-mails that we receive on a daily basis.  Not just personal e-mails at home, but at work as well.  Our inboxes at home get flooded daily with different advertising from lists we’ve probably subscribed to.

 

I’ve often thought about getting off the lists, but then I think, “What if something they send one day is REALLY  important and a great deal?”  I also think about all the e-mails that not only I get at work each day, but so many others at work receive as well.  So many of us have to weed through hundreds of messages per day prioritizing what is really important.  Co-workers, vendors and other messages screaming for us to respond and devote time and answers to them.

 

Friends, it’s no surprise that we are constantly flooded with messages all day long that scream “This is important”.  What is really important?  How do we sift through all that’s not important and get to what’s really a priority?  That’s a hard question to answer through our day.  As we try to push our way through the constant messages every day, whether at home, at work, riding in the car listening to the ads on the radio, we must be diligent and intentional about what should be important. 

 

Through it all, we must remember what is most important.  We need to quiet ourselves before God and ask Him to show us what really matters.  We gotta clear the noise in our lives and let Him show us what is really important.  Not everything can and should be a priority. 

 

This passage is a great reminder that we are to love God first and foremost each and every day.  That is our greatest priority.  That is what’s most important.  When we come to Him and ask Him to lead us and give us wisdom, He can guide us to what’s really important in life.  Our family, friends, job, church.  These are all good things, but we must learn to better prioritize what’s really important as we live our daily lives. 

 

I often find myself overwhelmed by texts, e-mails, social media and other media telling me what’s important.  I want good deals for sure but I need to remember what’s really important in my life.  I want to focus on what God has given to me and appreciate His blessings.  Not everything can be a priority and not everything can be important all day long. 

The Proof Is In The Pudding

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/ol-3AZAxl7A?si=QkW3rtXdvi1cLWaO

“The Proof Is In The Pudding”

John 14:23 NIV

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

 

Think about some of the ways we prove our loyalty and dedication to people and situations.

 

If we want good grades, we prove that we want to pass by studying diligently.

If we want to get a job, we do our best to prepare for the interview.

If we want to date and marry someone, we will go to great lengths to show and prove our love and devotion to the person.

If we want to get on a sports team, we will practice and show our determination to get better.

If we want to be a good student in school overall, we will listen to the teacher and obey what is taught.

 

We could think of many other ways in which we prove our loyalty or devotion to a situation or to someone because we want to show our devotion.  We have to work hard at proving we are serious about something or someone by showing we are devoted.  I think of the saying, “the proof is in the pudding”.  If we are real, authentic and genuine about what we want to do and who we want to be devoted to, it’s going to show. 

 

Jesus is very clear about the devotion we need to have in our relationship with Him.  If we truly love Him and are devoted to living a life of service to Him, we will obey Him.  It’s as simple as that.  If we are not devoted to Him, we won’t obey Him.  It’s either one way or another.  The proof is definitely in the way we live our lives. 

 

Do we really love Him enough to completely obey His teaching, no matter what it takes.  If we want people to believe we are truly devoted to someone or something, we must prove it somehow.  Being loyal to someone and working hard at something shows our devotion.  If someone told you they loved you over and over again, but didn’t treat you that way at all, you’d probably finally say, “Okay, see ya!”

 

If we really, really are devoted to Jesus, we will obey His teaching, regardless of what that entails and what challenges it brings.  

We All Need Fresh Starts

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/nds1rdIXsJY?si=n4zj-zSLRrH1FDAG

“We All Need Fresh Starts”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

 

This past Sunday at church, we played and sang one of my new favorite worship songs from River Valley Worship called “Ask, Seek Pray”.  I want to share the first verse of this song as we embark on a brand new year.

 

Give us clean hands give us pure hearts
Show us that's where the miracle starts
Beyond what I want beyond what I see
The change for my world begin it in me

 

As I listened to these words yesterday as we played this on praise team, I was thinking about how we came to the end of a full year and looking to begin a brand new year.  Our pastor had an amazing sermon on sadness as he talked about how so many struggle with this time of year and things that have happened to leave voids in our lives.  Many enjoy this time of year while others struggle with losing loved ones or remember hard times from the past for this time of year.  There can be many reasons why people struggle during Christmas.

 

During response time, after the sermon, as we started playing “Ask, Seek, Pray” people were invited to come and ask for prayer through their hard times of sadness.  As I sat there playing on stage, I watched so many people come forward and it was so moving.  As we all start this new year, whatever we might be struggling through or trying to recover from, let’s ask God to help us begin a new year seeking Him and relying on His strength for each new day. 

 

Let’s pray that God would start to do amazing things through us so that we can love on others as He has called us to do. 

 

“Father give us clean hands and hearts as we begin this new year.  Forgive us for all the ways we have been so selfish and consumed with only what we want.  God, please give all those who are experiencing hurt and sadness Your strength and comfort.  Surround them with people who can relate and show comfort through these hard times.  Help us to ask, seek and pray for Your will to be done in our lives so that we can see past the things we want and focus on how we can help change people’s lives in a positive way with Your love.”

 

Happy New Year to you all!  May we all experience a fresh, new start to the year.