He Cares About The Details

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

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“He Cares About The Details”

Matthew 1:17 NIV

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

 

The other day, I was just reading through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.  To be quite honest, I’m not all that crazy about reading through the genealogies in Scripture.  I have a hard time following any of them and the details don’t get retained in my mind.  They just don’t hit deep spiritually with me and I tend to read through them quickly so that I can get to other important things in the Bible. 

 

Details are important in life.  We need details when we do a project at home, at work, for school or somewhere else.  Details are vital in doing anything.  Even though I’m not crazy about those genealogies, God is and I need to remember that God is all about the details of life. 

 

As I consider all the details of our lives, it reminds me that God always interested and cares very deeply about the details of our lives.  When we go to God in prayer, sometimes we just pray generally.  We may think, “God isn’t all interested in the nitty gritty details of my life.  I don’t want to waste His time going into such deep details.”  If we feel like this at all, we are very wrong.  God deeply cares about every single detail in our lives. 

 

Whether we think details in our lives are important or not or if we pray specifically for little details that concern us, we should know that God is always interested in hearing the details, no matter how much.  He created us and knows the number of hairs on our heads.  Why in the world would we ever think He is not concerned about the smallest details of our lives?  He wants to hear us pray about little things that we might possibly think aren’t important.  He cares about all of it.  If it’s on our mind, He wants to hear from us on it. 

 

Again, after reading the genealogy the other day, I honestly thought, “Oh boy, here we go again with all of these details I will not remember.”  Then God immediately reminded me how important all the details of life are to Him.  I felt guilty about rushing through those details to get to the rest of my reading. 

 

The next time we read through any details that seem to bore us, make us yawn or just seem unimportant at the time, let us never forget that all details in life are important to God.  He cares deeply about EVERYTHING we deal with in life, no matter how insignificant we may think they are.   

Letting Go & Letting God

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/ge0e2jFjQic

“Letting Go & Letting God”

1 Peter 5:7

NIV- Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

NLT- Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

 

No matter how hard I try to submit and surrender myself to God each day, I find myself taking over shortly after and starting to worry about life all day long.  Why do I find it so hard to let go and let God be in total control?  So many days, I find myself worried and having concerns about so many things.  I watch my wife and girls work through various things in their lives and I try to think about how I can be a better husband and father. 

 

Aside from thinking about them, I often think of all the things I need to take care of and accomplish.  While I’m only given one day at a time, I find myself worrying about things days ahead and even weeks or months. 

 

When I get to the point where I can fully focus on God and all His provisions and remember that I need to just let go, I finally feel at peace.  I come to a place where I realize I cannot control things and I cannot figure everything out.  Why am I always trying to be in control of so much and figure things out?

 

Friends, do you find yourselves struggling with these things I struggle with daily?  Are you finding yourselves filled with anxiety and stress and worry almost all day, every day?  So many of us in various ways. 

 

We must make it a point to go to God and submit and surrender to Him and allow Him lead us and take these burdens from us.  It’s hard to let go and let God be in control because so often we feel we need to be in control.  Cast all your anxiety on Him.  Give all your worries to Him.  I like both translations here and they are great at giving a different perspective on this passage. 

 

Letting go and letting God is hard to do!  It is not an easy task because we so often want to take care of things in our own way.  We get overwhelmed and stressed and wonder why things aren’t better.  God wants us to give these worries and concerns to Him as He promises to lead us and give us peace.  He cares for us and wants the best for our lives.

 

We need to practice so much more of letting go and letting God!

More Alert Than Ever

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https://youtu.be/GeXTIsgxcG4

“More Alert Than Ever”

1 Peter 5:8 NIV

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

 

I have 1 older daughter who has been driving for over 1 year now.  I have a younger daughter who is taking driver’s education and will start driving the end of September.  As I think about this, I am not only concerned about how they will both do on the roads, I am so much more concerned about how others will be around them while on the road. 

 

We tell our daughters often enough about how alert you must be on the road, especially these days with all the distractions that are happening and how careless so many are while behind the wheel.  None of us are perfect and we’ve all made dumb mistakes while driving.  However, I think about people who are deliberately just not paying attention and with my youngest daughter about to get out on the road, it just scares me.  I want them to be alert more than ever.

 

This is just one example of how we need to be on the alert.  I also think of many other ways we need to be on the alert and very aware of unexpected happenings.  We have people who are doing everything they can to scam others.  You have some sales people who will try whatever they can to get a deal and rip you off.  There are a lot of good sales people out there, but there are some very sly ones as well. 

 

I could go on and on about the different ways we must be alert to protect ourselves from those who try to take advantage of us.  As much as we need to protect ourselves against these people, we also need to realize we have an enemy that prowls around just waiting to distract us and trick us every turn we make. 

 

We absolutely must be on our guard each and every day.  We don’t need to be paranoid and freaking out by any means, but we do need to be on the alert and aware so that we can be ready when these attacks happen.  We need to stay strong in the faith and be ready when the enemy tries to trick us.  He is so very good at it indeed!  However, we have an amazing and powerful God Who cannot be defeated and will help us at every turn. 

 

Let us be on the alert every day, in His Word and ready for whatever may come our way. 

Fully Focused

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

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“Fully Focused”

Acts 20:24 NLT

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

 

Isn’t it crazy and amazing how unfocused we can become at times in our lives?  Many of us probably have consistent days of having tons of things on our minds.  We try to cram as many things as we possibly can into one day.  We need to get productive and do as much as possible.  Sometimes I talk with others who say, “Too much to do and not enough hours in the day to do them”.  While this is funny at first, it’s really actually sad.  We get way too much on our plates and then we end up not fully focusing on really anything. 

 

As I think about this passage in Acts, it’s amazing how focused Paul was on the task he had at hand.  He accomplished many things in life, but nothing became more important to him than being fully focused on Christ and finishing the work for the Kingdom.  That is ALL he was focused on.  He came to realize that no accomplishment is better or greater than serving the Kingdom and doing the work of God.  He considered everything else in life nothing unless it was serving Christ.

 

I often wonder how many things I put importance on in my daily life that really doesn’t mean much.  Maybe we all need to take a step back and consider what all we do each day and what meaning it really has.  What means the most to us?  Work?  Family? Hobbies?  What means the absolute most to you?  Hopefully it is a relationship and life served in Christ.  Paul was fully focused and we need to be as well.

 

Instead of us trying to focus on a million things each day, perhaps we should realize there is only 1 focus we need each day.  Our focus should be solely on Christ alone.  I want to be fully focused, but I just have so many things on my mind each day.  Now, don’t get me wrong, we need to take care of responsibilities each day for sure.  However, we tend to get focused on way too many things and end up running ourselves down.  We need to be fully focused as Paul was and strive to serve Christ each day.  In doing this, our priorities will align and we will take care of things that are truly important.

 

Let’s be fully focused as Paul was and strive to finish the work God has called us to do.  

Lighten Up And Live

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/zr-tl2xEVY4

“Lighten Up And Live”

Proverbs 17:22 NLT

A glad heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

 

I chose the title of this devotional from a phrase that Christian comedian and motivational speaker, Ken Davis uses in his radio ministry.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we need to be reminded that life is too short to take too seriously.  I’ve often heard the phrase, “Don’t take yourself so seriously”.  I admit I am WAY bad about this!  I tend to find myself taking things way too seriously and not laughing more as I should. 

 

I get so down on myself when I do dumb things instead of just laughing and moving on.  My wife and my girls are great reminders to me that I need to lighten up and live and enjoy more of life!  My wife especially reminds me of this and she is soooooooooo patient with me! 

 

This devotional is nothing terribly deep, but a great reminder that we need to remember to laugh more often.  I find when I laugh more, I feel so much better and I enjoy life more.  I find that I’m less agitated and people want to be around me more.  It makes sense, doesn’t it?

 

I really appreciate how Ken Davis reminds us to lighten up and live.  We have to find more joy in everyday life in just being more lighthearted.  I am totally preaching this to myself as well as to you.  I have been so bad about this for so many years of my life.  I tend to be a serious person naturally.  Sometimes that can be good, but often times it takes me away from enjoying the wonderful every day things that God does around me.

 

God DOES have a sense of humor and He loves when we just laugh and enjoy life.  He especially loves this when unexpected things happen to us and we make the most of it and find some way to laugh and move on.  It’s so easy too often to get angry and focus on the negative.  I have always appreciated people who are so laid back and find a way to smile through everything almost.  I want to be like that! 

 

Friends, some of us are naturally more light-hearted than others.  The rest of us tend to take life a little too seriously more than we should.  We need to learn to laugh more and lighten up and live!

 

Ken Davis, if you ever somehow come across this devotional, THANK YOU for your constant reminders of how we should lighten up and live!

Nothing Is Ever Useless

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

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“Nothing Is Ever Useless”

1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable.  Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

 

I’ve had so many instances through my years of life where I have tried to work hard at something, but then many times gotten very discouraged and threw my hands up and said, “This is useless!”

 

We have all had these situations in life in various ways.  We try hard to get through to someone and we find ourselves wanting to give up because we feel we’re not getting anywhere.  We start a project at home and spend possibly years on it only to find ourselves wanting to toss in the towel and give up.  Maybe we want to take up a hobby or play an instrument.  We try and try and try and try….and then try again.  All the while we sometimes just want to give up and say, “This is useless!” 

 

We often feel like this when we think we are getting nowhere with someone or something.  It’s often easy to feel like nothing is going to come of what we are doing and we’re just beating a dead horse.  However, I have heard many stories of people who have spent years or decades working toward something and, finally, after so long something happens from their efforts. 

 

We never know when or how, but we must always remember that God will ALWAYS use our efforts in some way.  We don’t know how, but He will.  The next time we take on a new hobby, project, or trying to talk to someone about our faith, we need to give it time and allow God to use us.  At times, we need to step away, take a deep breath, come back and try again in another way.

 

It is so easy for us to throw up our hands and yell, “I’ve had it!  This is useless and going nowhere!”  When we feel like doing that, we need to take a deep breath, count to 10 (My mother used this tactic on me many times!), and regroup. 

 

No matter what we are doing, we must always do it for the Lord and remember that nothing we do will go unnoticed.  It might be days, months, years or decades, but God is working and we must trust that He will reward and reveal at the proper times.  Nothing is ever useless when it comes to the work of the Kingdom.  We may think it’s useless, but it never will be if we are striving to serve Him and make a difference in people’s lives. 

 

Nothing is ever useless, so don’t give up.

What Do We Seek?

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/n39eW5SFJiQ

“What Do We Seek?"

Matthew 6:33

NIV- But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

NLT- Seek the Kingdom above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

 

I’ve often found that when I seek something in my life and focus on it for any certain amount of time, I catch myself tending to focus a little too much on whatever it is and expecting fulfillment.  There’s nothing at all wrong with searching for certain things and looking forward to having experiences and possessions, but far too often, these things become and end in themselves.  Instead of us enjoying what God has given to us, we often make these things idols.

 

I have to constantly remind myself why I chase after the things I do.  I often find myself trying to chase after things because I think they will fulfill my needs.  If I just have this, I’ll be happy.  If I just achieve this, I’ll be content.  If I just get that job that pays a little better, then I’ll have what I need.  The list can go on and on.  I’m never satisfied.  It’s never enough if I constantly keep chasing after things. 

 

A week ago Sunday, our pastor preached on contentment and I was reminded again of Paul’s experience of how he learned how to be content, no matter what.  He finally learned to seek after God and be content, no matter what. 

 

What do we seek in our lives?  What are we chasing after?  What’s next?  What more do we need?  When will enough be enough?  We often seem to be like dogs chasing their tails around and around and around chasing after the next great thing the world offers. 

 

Friends, it’s okay to long for certain things and want to have them.  What we have to be careful of is letting those things be the end fulfillment instead of enjoying what God has given to us.  He tells us to seek His Kingdom above all else.  Do we really do that?  Are we really seeking Him?  He has promised to give us everything we need, but we still find ourselves chasing after what the world offers, somehow becoming convinced these offers are the answer to our problems.

 

We must never forget that seeking after God ONLY is the answer to our problems.  He will supply every need.  He will provide.  The world only leaves us with a constant hunger and thirst that will drive us into despair.  The hunger and thirst we have when we seek God just drives us to wanting more and more of Him and that will keep us totally alive! 

 

What do we seek?  Him or the world?