Christian Devotionals and Scripture Applied to Everyday Life

This is the time of year that should cause us to reset our thankful meter. Thankfulness is a mindset we should have all year round, but often in the business of life we forget to stop and think about all the blessings that we enjoy on a regular basis. Every day, not just Thanksgiving, we should enter God's presence with gratefulness praising Him for all He has done. So if your thankful meter has become sluggish consider what Psalm 100 has to say. How should we give thanks?  Often we tend to think of anything to do with God as very solemn and quiet - like a monastery where you are afraid to make noise or disturb the silence. Though quietness is often helpful in bringing grateful thoughts to our minds when we discover them, it is OK to shout with joy. God loves to hear our voices and wants us to share loudly what He has done with others.

How would you rate your relationship with God? In our house, we have a saying. Whenever we see someone doing something that looks outwardly religious, we say they are so “spiritual.” But the roll of the eyes and the tone of voice conveys the opposite. Though it has turned into a joke for us, it really is nothing to laugh about. There are many today who think that certain actions or words illustrate their virtue or closeness with God. Unfortunately, if one is relying on only these outward things, they are deceiving themselves. 2 Timothy 3:5 tells us that in the last days there will be many who hold to a form of godliness that is false. Their actions and “spiritual” sounding words will mean nothing if they have denied the power that God gives to those who truly belong to Him. True godliness will always result in attitudes and actions that emulate God Himself. It is a deep inner change that results in pure outward actions. Just because someone goes to church every week, carries the largest Bible available, and can speak with flowery religious words does not mean that her life belongs to God. If their belief is real, it will produce the kind of devotion towards God that expresses itself in loving others just as Christ does. It will not be a forced way of life, but will happen naturally as the Holy Spirit works in and through them.

Did you know you are a tool in God's hands? Each person who comes to know Jesus Christ as their Savior is God's workmanship created for good works which God has prepared for us to do. It does not matter whether you come when you are young or old, male or female, a decent citizen or a hardened sinner; when you accept God's gift of salvation, you become His tool to accomplish His work. Regularly at auctions we sell tools. They always draw a big crowd and typically sell well. Sometimes we have fancy equipment such as a scroll saw that can fashion creative wood pieces. Other times there is a unisaw, a joiner, or a planer. Each of these tools do specific jobs to make a project easier. Though these expensive pieces are very handy to have, the regular everyday box lots of hammers, screwdrivers, and pliers are also important and ones that a carpenter would not want to be without.

Everybody wants to be somebody. Within the American culture there is a constant push towards this goal. But a big problem with this trend is our definition of significance. We tend to define a person's importance by their position in society, their job preference, the amount of money they possess, their specific talents, and numerous other superficial reasons. Others who do not possess these opportunities are considered insignificant and unnecessary. This is not the biblical way. Each person who comes to know Jesus as Savior is part of what the Apostle Paul calls the body of Christ. Within this body each individual has a significant part to play and their importance is not based on only certain criteria.  Paul himself is an example of this. By today's standards he would be no one of consequence because he was imprisoned, poor, and rejected by most of society. Yet the part he played in the spread of God's message was critical to the growth of the church.

We all experience times of difficulty when we cannot share all of the details with our friends or family. There are just some things that no one can understand or that are just too painful to express in words. These crises produce a weight of loneliness that can't be measured. It is in times like these that I am glad for the Psalms. So many of these writings are gut-deep expressions of internal struggles stemming from real life trials that give comfort in our time of need. Yesterday, Abigail and I were reading Psalm 5. This Psalm of David was a very real appeal to God for help and protection against the wicked. As we read, Abigail and I both wondered what were the circumstances that caused David's deep groaning and cry to his God. Though this shepherd-king had many trials in in his life, we agreed that we were glad all the details were not spelled out in this Psalm. David's more general discussion of his circumstances made it easier to connect our own struggles with the feelings that he expressed. Once we connected with the heartbreak, we came up with some thoughts for how to deal with our own struggles.

I love books! There is something magical about entering into the mind of people you don't know or who may have already passed away, leaving behind only their thoughts and memories. The right words on the page can bring to life places that you've never been and experiences you have never had. These bound volumes contain messages that  can warn, teach, encourage, and entertain. There are millions of books in the world, but there are only a few that can stand the passing of time. Every once in a while I like to shop at the Goodwill Store. It's fun to peruse the shop, looking for treasures that may have been passed over by other more regular shoppers. While making my rounds the other day I came to the book section. It had been moved to the back wall of the store since my last visit, and the new location gave me a good view of the huge selection of discarded books. As I stood there looking, a sad thought struck me. Each book on the crowded shelves represented one of the many authors who had labored diligently over their writings. All of the hours spent expressing thoughts and stringing words together carefully had met a similar end. Time passes, new books hit the market, and the once talked about bestsellers end up dusty and discarded on a lonely shelf on the back wall of a used merchandise store.