My Story: Intentional Faith

 YouTube Video Channel Devo

https://youtu.be/qt-rE30BUGE?si=qXBHXG7JcDdC3dFv

“My Story: Intentional Faith”

Psalms 107:1 NIV

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

 

This week I felt led to share with you all the story of the past year and all that has gone on in my life.  I would like to share a testimony with you.  I know I’ve shared some of this already, but I wanted to go into more detail and be transparent with you as I feel that some of you may be able to relate to this from the past or are going through something similar.  It’s always comforting to know you are not the only one struggling.

 

Sometime earlier last year, my job got really stressful and I had a huge load on my plate.  There were also a lot of different things happening in life in general that I was struggling to deal with.  I started seeing a Christian therapist in 2023 and that has continued to this day.  Throughout 2024, I was dealing with challenges in my marriage, challenges with continued negative thoughts and self-esteem and just feeling very down.  My mood was often all over the place and I did not like how I got snappy with my wife and my kids on a continual basis.  I was just not feeling myself and felt very down and not joyful. 

 

As the months went on, I just kept thinking about it and I finally went to my doctor to get checked out later in the year as I was concerned about my mental health.  I was keeping up my running through the winter months as we joined the YMCA so we could have a place to go and keep up being active.  That was HUGE for me during the winter, so I could go running and listen to music and sermons.  I stumbled upon a devotional through YouVersion from Louie Giglio called “Don’t Give The Enemy A Seat At Your Table”.  After going through that, I got the book and read it.  Then, I got Craig Groeschel’s book, “Winning The War In Your Mind”. 

 

One of the sermons I heard from Louie Giglio he talked about when he was in a deep depression, he decided he need to be intentional about being positive even when he didn’t feel like it.  He started listening to worship music.  When I heard that, it really hit me and I immediately decided to start doing that myself.  I got into listening to Air1 Christian Radio as my wife was listening to it a lot.  Once I started listening to it, I couldn’t stop and then I decided to put my earbuds in at work through the day for music in the background. 

 

After days, weeks and a couple of months my joy has come back and I’m enjoying life once again.  I just feel better and I’m not depressed as I was.  God has also worked in various ways with my job and some details in life and I just see His working so much to bring more joy to my life. 

 

Now as I’m playing on the worship team at my church, as I’ve been doing for several years, the music means so much more to me than before, even though I was already enjoying it.  I’m just enjoying it so much more because the words are going deep into my heart and soul and filling my mind with positivity. 

 

I don’t ever want to go back to how I was feeling before.  It was not fun and I didn’t know how I was going to get out of the depression hole.  I’m thankful it wasn’t worse than it was, but not fun at all.  I know for so long, I just kept thinking, “God, I hate how I feel and I want this to go away!  Please help me to feel better!”

 

I’m sharing this today with you all as I want to encourage you that if you are feeling like this, please be intentional and make a move to bring positivity into your life.  You might not feel like doing it, but you need to!  Sometimes, you just have to force yourself and be intentional.  It really helps when you are intentional and do something to help brighten your mood.

 

I encourage you to keep the faith and be intentional!  Crank up some worship music and let that fill your heart, mind and soul!  It did wonders for me and I have some new great worship favorites now!  Don’t let the enemy steal your joy!  Take it all back!

All Hope Was Lost, Until.....

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/ZZg6PyYg6ac?si=9UeQQnQEoiISowT8

“All Hope Was Lost, Until…….”

 

Last night in our small group, we were discussing The Resurrection.  Last week was The Crucifixion.  As we talked in our group, I got to thinking about the time between when Jesus died and when He rose again.  For 2 days, people were extremely lost and without hope.  The Disciples scattered.  So many lost hope in what had just happened.  “Where is the hope of a Savior now?” so many people must have thought and asked each other.  So much was building up through the years that people heard about Jesus and, then, after He came into Jerusalem, the hype was there!  So much happened in the last week and people were filled with emotions.  However, after He died, so many lost hope and thought death had won.

 

We now know and have the hope those people didn’t.  We look back and we have the whole story, but they didn’t know.  They were lost, confused, devastated, you name it!

 

There are so many people today who are wandering around with absolutely no hope at all.  It’s so sad.  It’s our job and mission as believers to share the hope we have so they will also have hope.

 

Also, as believers, there are many of us who also struggle with hope.

 

The doctor gives a life-threatening diagnosis.

One spouse has left a note saying he/she has given up and is gone.

A son or daughter rebelled and nothing seems to work.

A child is diagnosed with a rare disease.

We lose a job and don’t know how to make ends meet.

We can’t afford the house payments anymore.

 

There are so many people hurting and, often times, we lose hope.  Even as believers, we lose hope at times.  As much as we believe God is real and He is with us, life just gets hard.  Sometimes we are so confused. 

 

If you find yourself in this situation and losing hope each day, please, please, please hang on!  Just trust that God will make a way somehow.  Something will finally click and you will walk out of the valley.  Will all your problems go away?  Not necessarily, but God is the God of hope and He will make some way. 

 

For so many months last year and this year, I felt a loss of hope.  I wasn’t myself.  I was down and depressed a lot.  But then I started listening to Air1 Radio a lot and my spirits lifted.  In the past month, God has worked wonders and my joy is coming back. 

 

Wherever you are, DON’T LOSE HOPE!

Living In The Red

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/LvYKyEfbhzM?si=WN_27jRO9VWURnd9

“Living In the Red”

Matthew 10:16-20 NIV

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

 

I recently saw a commercial advertising medicine that would lower risks for people who struggle with certain health conditions.  As I watched this brief commercial, the thought suddenly came to mind about how medicine allows so many people to avoid the risk of “living in the red”.  That phrase just stuck in my mind for a little bit as I thought about how so many of us take medications and are encouraged to live in certain ways to avoid living in the red danger zone.  No one likes to live with dangerous health number levels.  When we get blood tests, we want to see numbers in the normal range.  We tend to cringe and realize needed lifestyle changes when we see high numbers. 

 

As I considered this while watching the commercial and after for a while, I thought about how we so often do the same thing in our spiritual lives.  While we definitely do not want to “live in the red” with our health, we honestly tend to also think this way with our spiritual lives.  We tend to want to do everything possible to stay in the “normal” range and not leave our comfort zones.  We know that Jesus calls us to live for Him and obey where He calls us to go, but we don’t want to get our hands dirty and live risky lives as He has called us to live. 

 

Jesus NEVER called us to live comfortable lives.  In a sense, He has definitely called us to “Living in the red”!  He wants us to take risks and trust that He will be with us and bless us as we step out in faith for Him.  He often calls us to leave our comfort zones and trust that He will guide us through difficult and trying situations. 

 

Think of so many situations with people in Scripture where God called them to do amazing things for Him.  I don’t think anyone did anything incredible without living in the red, getting out of their comfort zones.  The great and powerful stories we read about in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation are people who took risks because they trusted God to lead.  We all need to be more willing to do things God calls us to do that we are uncomfortable with.  We all know and are probably cringing right now thinking of what we’ve been putting off that God is calling us to.

 

God has called us to a life of “living in the red”.  He challenges us to grow in our faith and trust Him in all situations.  I want to encourage all of us to think of what areas in our lives God is challenging us to leave our comfort zones and step out in faith.  How does God want you and I to be bold in living in the red? 

 

God never promised us an easy life!  Even though we often want that, He never commanded that and never intended that by sending Jesus Christ to us.  The journey of life we are all on is intended to be “living in the red”.