God At Home

Devotion: Psalm 51:10-13

Do you make God feel at home in your heart?  If you invited a guest to your house; would you walk around totally ignoring him or maybe glancing in his direction with an occasional nod?  You never offer food nor drink and you make Him stay in one location, never allowing him to enter any other rooms in your home.

I want people to feel relaxed and at ease; when they are visiting, but honestly there are rooms, closets and drawers I would rather they not go into, because they are too messy.  It’s embarrassing to reveal the hidden things.  The doors are closed and no one is to open them.

God will not come where He is not welcomed.  He will not come into an uninvited heart.  For the child of God; He will not invade the rooms in your heart where He is disallowed.  You may as well have posted a keep out sign .  There are things in those rooms, you do not want Him to see and you definitely do not want your junk to be revealed.  It’s too painful to admit, even to the Lord.

If you have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, He becomes your Savior and your Master.  He owns you and you should make Him welcomed to create in you a “clean heart.”  He longs to help you get rid of the junk and the mess that is clogging your heart relationship with Him.

Prayer In Motion:

Lord, search our hearts today and see if there be any wicked way in us.  May we take down the keep out sign and welcome you to help us alleviate the mess we have made.  May our home become Your home and may we give You access to every room.

 

 

Watered Down Gospel

Devotion: Romans 1:16

We do not serve a watered down God.  Our God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He is Supreme, over all creation and is in charge of every living thing.  You cannot tell Him one thing that will shock Him or cause Him to be alarmed.  He holds out His nail scarred hands; revealing that provision has been made to cover any sin one could commit.  Why would we teach or listen to a watered down gospel, when we do not serve a watered down God?  He is mighty to save and to keep those who have been redeemed.  He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the Great I Am!

His Word does not preach a watered down message because He is Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent.  Why would we treat Him as a watered down God, when He holds the world and all that is in it?  He is the Word and in His Word is life and hope and direction.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Speak the gospel truth to yourself.  Keep it in the forefront of your mind and spirit so that you will be ready to give it out when the opportunity arises.

The powerful gospel message, should be burning in our hearts and minds at all times.  May God Himself stir us up to speak it out of mouths.  It is no secret what God can do for the lost and the saved.  We need to stir one another up to speak boldly the best news anyone could ever hear!

Prayer In Motion:

Oh Lord, give us an undivided heart.  May we not be so consumed with ourselves that we forget to give out the gospel message to a lost and dying world.  Help us to stir one another up to be looking for those who need to hear Your gospel.

 

 

Soul Clutter

Devotion: 2 Corinthians 4:16

My closets and drawers need purging.  I do this ever so often but not often enough.  I truly want less stuff.  I want more order and less chaos.  I can’t find what I’m looking for because I fail more times than not; to put things back in the same place.  I am a free spirit. That can make for fun filled days but it is not a good thing; when you need something quickly and it takes you fifteen minutes to find the item.

An even worse case scenario, is a soul full of clutter. I’m almost afraid to say this, but I want my soul cleaned out.  I truly want God more and less of me.  Jesus went to the cross; so that our souls could be free of all the clutter we’ve allowed to come in. Our outward man is decaying on a daily basis but if you are believer; the inward man is being renewed by God’s Holy Spirit on a daily basis.

Just as it is possible to stay on top of closets and drawers; if we will ask God to search our hearts, to see if there be any wicked way in us, we can be free of the sin that clutters our soul. God’s eyes are always searching for those whose hearts long to be completely His.  I earnestly and desperately want God more than “stuff”, more than the approval of man, more than I want my own way.

Prayer In Motion:

“Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is alway before me.  Against You, You only have I sinned…” Psalm 51: 1-4a

 

 

People Pleaser

Devotion: John 12:42-43

I think women more than men have trouble wanting to please people.  I need to go to people pleasing therapy. Most days; my peace-keeper self, kicks into overdrive and as the adrenaline courses through my veins, I wonder why I cannot say; NO?  Is it my need for approval?  Do I need the validation of people more than validation from God?  My head knows it isn’t healthy, but most of the time, my heart overrides my head knowledge.  I love people but do I love them more than the One who created them?  Are you a people pleaser addict?

Is it insecurity or feeling insignificant?  Do we allow our people to take center stage in making us feel worthy?  My friend Lisa Whittle declares it gets in the way of wanting God.  She also makes the statement, “God didn’t create people to become other people’s gods.”  Do not misunderstand me.  We need people. We need God-given family and friends, but we must not place them before the Lord our God. We must not covet another human’s glory more than the glory of our Lord.  It creates distance between us and our ability to hear the voice of our Savior and oh how I long for us to be available to hear His voice.

Prayer In Motion:

Oh God may we die to ourselves and forsake the god of popularity. Help us not think of ourselves too much; so that we can be fervently and effectively used for Your Kingdom purposes.  May we never water down the truth so that people will like us.

Qualified or Called?

Devotion: 1 Corinthians 1:26

Do any of us find ourselves qualified to do the work God has ordained for us?  We have heard Him say, “Follow Me.”  We belong to Him but when He begins to call us to the work for which He created us; how many of us take up our cross and follow Him?  We reason; “But Lord, I am not qualified to do Your bidding.”  As people which are called by His Great Name; how can we refuse?  Why don’t we; just do it?

I shudder to think how many blessings I have missed because of silly excuses or even ignoring God’s calling.  When we say, Lord I can’t; ultimately, we are saying, Lord I won’t.  It’s the same disobedience as Jonah and the rich young ruler.  We earnestly desire to slough it off, dismiss it from our thoughts, just forget about it.  God will continue to knock at our door until our hearts become totally hardened at His calling.  Then He will leave us alone; and for believers, that is a very sad place to be.

The older I get, the more unqualified I feel to do God’s work; however, I want to readily hear God’s voice and obey Him quickly.  Being a servant of the Most High God is not an easy task.  It may cost you sleep, time, money and a lot of inconvenience.  Your flesh will fight you all the way.  Your family or friends may leave and forsake you, but God promises, He will take you up.  Next time He calls you, stop and talk to Him.  Make certain it is His voice.  Neglect your lack of qualifications and quickly obey what He is calling you to do.

Prayer In Motion:

Oh Lord, may we choose to obey you right away.  May we willingly listen and heed Your calling.  We long to do Your will over our own.  Help us to die to our own flesh and live for the One who calls us.

Return to Me

Devotion:  Zechariah 1:3

What does true revival look like?  I have been to many revival services over the course of my life but I don’t think I’ve ever really witnessed true revival in the church.  I’ve read about them and heard others speak of revivals past; but when I read about revivals sweeping a land, my heart longs to see this before I go to heaven.  Full fledged, full on repentance in the hearts of God’s people must occur in order for the American church to be revived.  Our hearts cry must become, “Dear Lord, let it begin in me.  It’s me, it’s me oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Search me oh God, and see if there be any wicked way in me.” It could be terribly painful, when “His people that are called by His name humble themselves and pray and seek His face.”

I think we would be amazed at what the Lord wants to do in us individually, as well as in His bride. He wants to renew a steadfast spirit within us, revive His sons and daughters and give us new passion for the Father’s business.  We must no longer be casual observers or pew warmers.  We must get out and make a difference in God’s kingdom.  Encourage those who are in the faith.  Share the truth with those who are dying to hear what you already know.

What an outstanding promise, “Return to Me and I will return to you.”  We serve such a merciful, forgiving and long suffering Savior.  He forgives us over and over and restores us to Himself. Praise His Holy Name.

Prayer In Motion:

Lord, I want to return to You, with all of my heart, soul and strength.  I want revival in my soul.  Search me Oh God and know my heart and see if there be any wicked way in me.  Restore me to the joy of my salvation.

Who Do You Worship?

Devotion:  Psalm 115:2-11

Who can recall the first American Idol, or the second or third? These are super talented young people, who have amazing voices and become super stars once America chooses it’s favorite.

I have been to East Asia and watched people bowing down to golden, wooden and bejeweled idols, giving them fruit, money and other precious treasures.  They were in fact worshipping these edifices.  Most Americans do not worship this type of idol; however, we worship beauty, fame and fortune; whether it be a musician, actor, actress, football player or Olympic champion. These are held in high esteem by their fans and are given great accolades, awards and places of honor everywhere they go.

This Psalm talks about giving God’s name glory for the sake of His steadfast love and faithfulness.  No other person; no matter how famous, can give us steadfast love and faithfulness.  That can only come from the Lord our God.  We should reserve our worship for Him and Him alone.  No matter how famous a person becomes, he or she is still human and will eventually disappoint or disillusion us.

We have seen famous people give God the credit for their success and that is wonderful.  Just remember to worship the One who gave the icon his or her gifts and abilities, versus being in awe of the person.

We are all fearfully and wonderfully made, each one created with and on purpose. We give the Lord the worship that is due His Holy Name, when we accomplish our kingdom purpose.  He is pleased with our spiritual act of worship when we fulfill the purpose for which He created us.

Prayer in Motion:

Lord, please convict us if we worship anything or anyone other than You Jesus.

 

The Blind Leading the Blind

Devotion: Matthew 15:14-20

As a youth; there were times I would want to go somewhere with my friends. Many times my mom, full of wisdom and discernment, considered the outing unsafe or questionable.  She would say Libby, It would be like the blind leading the blind.” When I was younger, I did not know that this “saying” came straight out of God’s Word.  She was right, I barely knew the person who invited me, to go to a particular party and they barely knew the person who was hosting the party.

If a person does not know all the facts or which way to go, one who follows him, will also fall into the same pit. That could be said of a teenager using alcohol, drugs or tobacco, because their friends are doing it.  It could be the gambling of precious hard money because your friend has convinced you of great possibility to double or triple your money.  It could be any “just this one time”, kind of thing, leading into a life-long destructive habit.

God wants us to have our spiritual eyes wide open at all times. He longs to lead the way and will never lead us down a wrong path.  1 Peter 3:12 promises His eyes are on us.  He is watching over His Word to perform it in our lives.  He will hedge us in; when we are about to fall headlong into a deep, dark pit.

I never enjoyed being blindfolded, groping to find the back side of a paper donkey.  I cannot imagine eternal hell, forever enveloped by total, pitch black darkness, not one ray of light to be seen.

Prayer in Motion:

Lord, I pray we will not be led; or lead anyone to fall into a pit. Open our eyes that we might lead and follow the Light of the World.

 

Lip Service

Devotion:  Matthew 15:8-9

How many times have we uttered words; because it was the right thing to say, or performed a task, because it was the right thing to do?  You mentally checked it off your “good deeds” list; but quite frankly your heart was not in the saying or the doing.  I shudder to think how many times I have been guilty of this.

My spiritual gifts have always been mercy and service.  It brings me great pleasure to serve the people in my life, but I recently took a spiritual gifts inventory and was surprised at how radically my gifts had changed.  My top three were faith, exhortation  and prophecy.  Who would have thought our spiritual gifts could ever change over the course of a life?  As I think about it, I have changed, so why would my spiritual gifts necessarily remain  the same?

I would encourage you to go on Lifeway’s Website and take their free spiritual gifts inventory test.  You can take it in about 20-30 minutes.  You may be surprised to find that your gifts have changed as well.  I do not want to finish my life giving only lip service to my Lord.  I want to always speak truth in love and serve the Lord with gladness.  We should all desire to be about our Father’s business.  Actions speak louder than words; so we have to be willing to walk in the truth we have spoken.

Prayer In Motion:

Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord my strength and my Redeemer.  May I say and do everything as unto my Lord, Jesus.

 

Choosing Kindness

Devotion:  Ephesians 4:32

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, resonates in my heart, after hearing unkind words. That’s after the unkind responses have raced through my head.  “But Lord, do I really have to respond in kindness toward someone who is being unkind toward me?”  Are Christians forbidden to give back the words heard through the ears but piercing the heart?

Sometimes kindness means saying nothing.  Our flesh wants vengeance but the Lord says, “Vengeance belongs to Him.” There will always be a battle because our flesh demands equal time.  If a rebuke is needful but our anger is getting in the way of a godly response; we may have to put down our flesh and choose to respond at a later time.  We are called to exhibit kindness and self control.  The only way God can teach us to employ a godly response, is to place those opportunities in front of us.  I don’t like it one little bit, but as James says, “This is training in righteousness.”

If we will choose to put down our fleshly responses; and take a minute to pray, the Holy Spirit who dwells within us will take charge of our anger and our responses.  Righteous anger is allowed but what does that really mean?  It is responding the way Jesus did  when the money changers were working inside the temple.  I am not telling you to throw furniture around but sometimes intense fellowship is required.  Just watch over your mind, your heart and your mouth before you engage the offender.

Prayer in Motion:

Lord Jesus;teach us to choose kind responses and actions toward our fellow man.