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“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”John 15:2 I have heard it said that men get their sense of value  from what they do; women derive a sense of value from who they are. Maybe that’s why men struggle so much with Christianity. Religion is doing with the hope it will lead to spiritual being. Life in Christ is being that leads to doing.  When you think about it, a branch doesn’t “do” very much. It bears fruit completely as a function of its attachment to the vine. We so misrepresent Christianity when we focus on “do’s” and “don’t.” What we have to offer is a relationship to Christ from which good things spout; yet we insist on conveying the idea that we must do good things to deserve Christ.  We “know” we could never do enough; but that doesn’t stop us from preaching it. By focusing on works, we detract from the relationship that makes it possible. Consider being afraid of God instead of having a fear of God. If we are afraid of God we want […]

Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.  He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Colossians 1:12-13 As Christians we are citizens of a new kingdom, but we often act as if we were still under the power of the Prince of Darkness. God has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. We seem to have trouble becoming acclimated to our  environment. There is a new king in town. We aren’t subject to the old devil any more. But he still “appears” to exercise power over us. Like a roaring lion he makes noises designed to keep us frightened and enslaved. He convinces us that life was great in the old kingdom. We believe we will miss the old life of sin. He’s a deceiver and he’s really good at it.  It’s important that we renew our minds to the new kingdom and the new life we’ve been blessed with. Focus on the Word is crucial. It serves as a […]

While picking up groceries this morning I spotted a beautiful orchid. I thought of Rosemary. When I see beautiful flowers I think of her. It has been a habit of mine to bring her flowers on no special occasion. She also greatly misses working in her garden. She loves gardening, but is now very allergic to wasp stings so gardening in our wasp infected yard is too dangerous for her. So I try to bring a little garden beauty inside. She has been a beautiful thing in my life for forty-two years. I have been bringing her flowers for that long. I’m never sure of her response though, even after all these years. Today she looked at me sheepishly and said, “Did I forget something?” Maybe it’s been too long since I brought her flowers for no reason. Laughing I relieved her by assuring her that her memory was still relatively fine.  We are blessed with many beautiful things in our lives, family being just one of them. But with time can come familiarity and a forgetfulness to be thankful of God’s gifts. Gifts we have enjoyed for years are not less valuable for the time we’ve had them; […]

But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” —1 Peter 1:15–16 We are understandably proud in America for our right to pursue happiness. Our problem is that we have lost the path. One sure way to unhappiness is to spend your life pursuing it. Happiness is not a goal; it’s a by product. Now hold your breath, it’s a by product of the pursuit of holiness. I know that sounds radical. Conventional wisdom is that seeking holiness is an alternative to seeking happiness. But that’s not true. God wants us to be holy because He is holy and because we were designed to be holy. We will only be happy if we achieve that for which we were designed: holiness. Now I know it’s fashionable to think that happiness is not an appropriate Christian state. We distinguish “joy” from “happiness.” Joy is okay; but happiness is worldly. That’s just silly. Joy is just a deeper more abiding state of happiness. We tend to think of happiness in terms of material things and joy in terms of spiritual; but the bottom line is […]

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.  To him belongs eternal praise.” Psalm 111:10 NIV Rose and I attended the second session of Fear of the Lord last night. This series is excellent with a very good workbook for follow up study. If you missed the first two sessions, I greatly recommend you join us for the remaining sessions. Todays’ devotional is not based on that series. It takes a slightly different perspective on fear of the Lord. I would like to think about boundaries. We set boundaries for our children. Don’t touch the hot stove. … Don’t run into the street.  Show respect to other people. These boundries often don’t make sense to the children they are designed to protect. But we set these boundaries because we love them and want those things we know are best for them. As parents, we are in a better position to know what’s in their best interest. God in his love has set boundaries for us, his children. It is popular to consider that these boundaries are arbitrary and old-fashion. Modern man believes he is wiser than God. Yet,the wisdom […]

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according go his purpose. Romans 8:28 How else may we get more of Jesus in our lives? We can do so if we embrace God’s purpose for our life single-mindedly and wholeheartedly. We drift from Jesus when we drift in our lives. Successful athletes are similar in their single minded focus. Everything they do has the improvement of their game in mind. The first step is to gain a clear sense of God’s purpose for our life. We share the same general purpose of serving Him and living for His glory; but each of us has an individual purpose which He will reveal to us if we patiently listen to His voice. We can never achieve satisfaction if we don’t know our purpose. Once we know our purpose, anything that doesn’t move us toward that purpose is useless. Stay focused on what God wants for your life, and do all you can to fulfill that purpose well. This move toward the purpose then guides every decision in our lives. Should I sleep or pray more? Should […]

As we continue to consider how to get more of Jesus in our lives, the area of prayer seems obvious. If communication is the grease of any relationship, then prayer should be a significant part of our relationship with Jesus. Our prayers change as our relationship develops. When I recall my first date with my wife of forty-one years, the ease of communication is the thing I remember most. I did not have a ton of experience with the opposite sex and had always had a high level of discomfort in talking to girls. It was never that way with Rosemary. We spoke spontaneously and continuously since our first date. Our communication with Jesus (Prayer) doesn’t always begin so easily. We may start with formula prayers. Many Christians never get past prayer as a request. Prayer is so much more than asking God for stuff.  When we talk about answered or unanswered prayer, we sometimes forget that “answers” presupposes questions. Too often we seek a result from God rather than placing a problem before Him and awaiting His resolution. There’s a couple of reasons for this. First, we think we already have the best answer to any problem, we […]

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,    “Never will I leave you;  never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5. I wasn’t lonely last night. In fact, we had so much activity I forgot to do the devotional for today. Jessie and KK were preparing for their trip to Florida and Nicky was over spending the night.  But there are times when we feel alone. It is said we are born alone and die alone. Is that really true?  As Christians we should never feel alone, because we never are. Jesus has promised to never leave us or forsake us. It’s interesting that this promise comes in the same verse as a warning for us to be free from the love of money and content with what we have.  When we buy things we don’t need or suffer discontent with our lives, isn’t it really just a symptom of our loneliness? We try to fill a hole in our soul that only Jesus can fill. If we can just develop a sense of His presence and a confidence that He is with us, loneliness flees as does […]