Month: May 2024

“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6 NIV

Our bodies crave what they want and our minds crave control. Control over our bodies, our feelings, our actions and circumstances. So it begins with the mind. What the mind wants and where the mind goes is the starting part.

When we let our flesh control what we think about, decide what we want, then we end up relying on ourselves and our own strength to try and get whatever it is. Most of the time, if we let that happen, what we end up with is a mess to clean up. Not very often is the outcome as wonderful or exciting or grand as we had envisioned it to be.

When we focus on something that our flesh desires, we tend to have tunnel vision, we only see a very small part and miss the rest of a very big picture. Many of us have realized that we are only seeing a small part of the picture but we crave control so much that we are willing to settle for that small part because we believe that we can control it. By doing that, we miss so much that we could be experiencing.

When we focus on what the Spirit desires, we are able to experience so much more of the big picture, but this comes with a catch…..we have to give up control. We have to be willing to trust that God, the One who made the world, universe and us, knows more about the big picture than we do. We have to trust that we are able to rely on Him and that He will get us through whatever we are doing. We have to trust that God wants to do more for us than we could ever ask for or even imagine to ask for.

So my question as we go about our day is this…..what is controlling your mind? We can determine this by realizing if we are chasing the desires of the flesh or the desires of the Spirit. Once we realize what is controlling our minds, we can begin to make sure that we feed our minds scripture (God’s word) instead of worldly views. Have a great day.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

As we move through life, there are times when we feel alone, we have a fight with a family member, a friend breaks a promise to us or we don’t get a job we think we should have gotten. We feel like no one understands us at that time or understands what we are going through. In Jeremiah, we are told that before we were formed in our mother’s womb, we were known. When I read that I had to sit with that thought for a moment and let it sink in. I was known, really known. I can’t hide who I am from God because He knows me.

God truly knows each one of us, He knows our likes, dislikes, He knows how many hairs we have on our head. God knows our DNA, why we have the eye color that we have. He knows our emotions and our thoughts. We are no stranger to God. He not only knows us, He approves of us. He made us and we are His children.

That is a comforting thought when we feel down or alone, that there is someone who knows us, approves of us, will never leave us and loves us despite all that we do. If God was not going to love us, approve of us, value us or continue to be involved with us, He would not have made us. He wouldn’t have formed us in our mother’s womb, He would have just stopped. Yet He didn’t, He formed each and every one of us and He gave us each a purpose.

As His children, we should be in a relationship with Him, talking to Him daily, sometimes several times a day. When we feel like no one understands us, we need to think of this verse and remember that God knows us intimately. He has known us since before we were even born, and with all of our flaws, He still wants to be involved with us. God doesn’t turn His love on and off depending on what we do or say. He is love and we were formed in His image so that we could be to others what He is to us, someone who is there for them and who loves them.

As you walk through your day, if you feel alone, misunderstood, or unsure of who really knows you, please recite Jeremiah 1:5. Place the message in your heart, embrace that you are not alone, you are understood and you are known!

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV

This verse was the motto for my mom and I. We both viewed this verse as how you should live life as a believer – always focusing on God and what He was doing in our lives. My mother was a woman of great faith. She lived through some very rough times but she knew that God was going to get her through. He brought her through abuse as a child, the loss of her mother at a tender age, an abusive marriage and a life of barely making ends meet to pay bills and provide for my brother and myself.

By the world’s standards and what she saw of others who had lived through the same type of experiences, she was destined to be homeless, broke and angry at the world. But that was not her, she chose to walk by faith, not by what the world showed her should be her destiny. My mother struggled with a lot of things but her faith was not one of those things. She knew where she was going and at the end of her life, she longed to go there, to be with Jesus. She longed for heaven, she knew it was real. Not because of anything that she saw in this temporal world but because her faith in Jesus and God told her that it is real.

Our life circumstances are not always what they seem. We may not have had a lot of money, but my mother would say all the time that we were some of the riches people she knew. We were rich in love and faith in God. I know without a doubt that my mother is in heaven with Jesus, singing His praises and filled with joy that she was right to believe in Jesus, to have faith.

As you go through your day, think about what your faith is in. Is it in money, relationships, things or is it in God? I can tell you that mine is in God because among all the other amazing things that God has done for me, He placed a wonderful role model in my life to help guide me. So I urge everyone to “walk by faith, not by sight”

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NIV

Have you ever been weary, just so tired that you need to sit down and not continue doing whatever it is you doing? Have you ever been burdened, that feeling of having the weight of the world on your shoulders and not sure what to do about it? I believe we all have from time to time experienced those feelings.

Those feelings can be true for us in a physical way but they can also be true for us in a spiritual way. Obviously, when we are discussing those feelings in regards to a physical way, we know we need rest for our bodies. Some times the challenge is finding the time to rest or allowing ourselves to rest. However, our bodies are good at making us finally rest, whether it is from crashing and not allowing us to go on without sleep or by sickness entering our bodies and stopping us in our tracks.

When we look at the feelings of weary and burdened in a spiritual way, the same is true for us. We will come to a point where we will need to do something about it, our mind and heart will struggle to find peace for us, forcing us to look at how we are living spiritually. We don’t like living being exhausted physically or spiritually, it goes against how we were made to live. Thankfully, as a believer, we are able to bring our weary bodies and souls to Jesus for rest.

Jesus is not complicated, He is straight forward. He wants us to follow Him, not all the regulations or rituals of formal religion, just follow Jesus. Get to know Him in a personal way, He will give each one of us rest if we let Him.

If you are tired, I strongly encourage you to turn to Jesus and let Him give you rest. Let Him be the way you are renewed both physically and spiritually. He is waiting for each one of us.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

It is great to make plans and life is full of them. We make all kinds of plans, plans for the weekend, plans for college, plans our career, plans on how to find a spouse, plans for how many children we are going to have. So many plans. Some of our plans we share with others and some we don’t. We decide what ones we are going to share with others usually based on how crazy we believe them to be.

We even make our plans when we don’t have all of the information. Have you ever looked through a key hole to see what is on the other side of the door? We know that when we look through a key hole, we can’t see all that is on the other side, only a very limited amount of what is actually there. Unfortunately, that is how we make plans at times. We have a limited amount of information and we decide what we are going to do next, even when those decisions are life changing decisions.

One of the things that is wonderful about being a child of God, is that we don’t have to rely only on ourselves to get all the information we need to make decisions, we have the One Who knows all, sees all, is in charge of all, willing to help us. We don’t have to know what the next several steps are in the path we are taking if we are willing to trust the One who made the path. Not only can we trust Him, we can also seek Him and His counsel daily to learn if where we are placing our foot to take that next step is in the right direction.

God has plans for us, good plans if we listen to Him. However, listening is only the first step in this process. After we listen to Him, we need to take action, take the steps that He is guiding us to take, maybe that is studying for the test you have in school, answering the phone because the next business opportunity is calling, or maybe it is taking that next step that you are considering a huge leap of faith.

No matter what the action is, there is one thing for sure, you will never know if it was the way to go, if it would have worked out or not, if you don’t move forward. I pray that as you go about your day that you seek God and His counsel on what your path is. Have a blessed day.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18

After Paul has given each spiritual concept a weapon to help us understand that concept, he instructs us to keep praying. Communication is important in all relationships and our relationship with God is no different. If we are not talking with each other, misunderstandings happen, opportunities of closeness are lost and true intimacy of knowing each other can not be developed.

Prayer is simply a conversation with God. There should be respect for who God is but there also needs to be genuine interaction on our part. God doesn’t need flowery speech such as “thou, thy and thine ” in our prayers, He just wants us, our genuine self, talking with Him. He doesn’t require a certain amount of time either, just being there and willing to talk with Him is what He wants. He wants to be involved in our lives, He created us for that very reason, to interact with Him.

Some have said that you need to follow acronyms to know how to pray. If this is something you want to do, then that is ok, it is also ok if you don’t. There are plenty of them to choose from, but if you are looking for something to follow after, there is no better way to pray than the way that Jesus Himself taught His disciples. In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus was talking with His disciples about how to be sincere in their prayers, making sure that the prayer is a true communication with the Father and not a show for those around them.

He talked with them about being alone when they pray and focusing only on God and then He taught them this prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13. Jesus said “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,  your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'” NIV

In the end, it doesn’t matter if you follow an acronym or not. What matters is that you are talking with God, being sincere and genuine and then listening for what He may have to say back to you. When we pray, we tend to usually ask for something, something we feel we need or want.

My encouragement for each one of us, is that when we pray that we also make sure we are asking God to help those around us with what they are going through as well as ourselves. In our verse for the day, Paul said to pray for all of the Lord’s people. No conversation is always about getting something from someone else, there are also parts of the conversation that are about getting to know each other, gratitude for things that have been done for us and listening to the other one.

I encourage you today, as well as myself, to not pray a memorized prayer each time we pray. Instead to pray from the heart, seek to get to know God, to thank Him for what He has done in our lives and ask Him for guidance in life as we go through each day. To seek what we can do to help further His kingdom here on earth.

I believe there in no better conversation that we can have than the one we can have with our Heavenly Father especially when we are genuine, sincere and real with Him. After all, He already knows what is in our hearts, He simply wants to hear from us. I hope you have a great day and enjoy spending time in communication with our Heavenly Father.

“and take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17b

The sword is the one piece of armor that can be used to attack as well as defend. The sword that a soldier carried was large and heavy and the soldier needed to practice with it so he could get used to it’s weight. If he didn’t practice with his sword, a valuable piece of armor would be useless in battle and may even be an advantage for the enemy.

As the sword is paired by Paul with the word of God, we are able to learn from the soldier that we also need to know how to handle this piece of our armor. Knowing God’s word and using it are different. Many people can memorize scripture, but if they do not use it to promote or defend God’s kingdom, then having that knowledge is not very helpful.

By knowing scripture, it becomes easier for us to draw on it when we are feeling unloved and need to remember that God loves us, when we are scared and need to remember that God is in control. We don’t have to only use it in times of need, we can also recite scripture and talk about scripture with others to spread God’s word. Knowledge is power and action based on knowledge is even more powerful.

I pray that if you are not already grounded in God’s word, that you take action and dive into scripture. God is waiting for you.

“Take the helmet of salvation ” Ephesians 6:17a

The helmet that the Roman soldiers would have worn in Paul’s time would have been made of metal and covered their necks along with their heads. The helmet would have come across their cheeks leaving the nose and mouth exposed. As the design was to provide as much protection to the soldier as possible, it would have been made custom to fit each man.

When thinking about how a helmet can protect the brain, mind and head of a soldier, it seems appropriate to link the helmet to salvation. Protecting our brain and ultimately our minds from what the world tries to inundate us with is a large task. In Romans 12:2 it is written “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The devil knows our weaknesses and for most of us, those weaknesses have to do with our thoughts. If our minds are distracted, injured, or we lose focus, then our minds are on us, not God. That is the state that the devil wants us to be in because when we focus on ourselves we tend to follow our own logic which can lead to us behaving in ways we wouldn’t if our minds were focused on God.

Our salvation is directly connected to God, that is who gave it to us, so not keeping our thoughts in line with what He wants is dangerous for us as Christians. The helmet of salvation reminds us that we are saved by Jesus and that our thoughts are to be on Him and His will, not on what we think we should do. God has a plan for us that is far above and beyond anything we could ever imagine.

How do we keep focused on God and keep our thoughts from take us away from God? By capturing our thoughts as they happen and evaluating them. Do they line up with what God has said in His word? Are they leading us towards God or away from God? As we put on the helmet of salvation, we should ask God to help us with our thoughts so that we can free our minds from the thoughts that distract us from God and instead we can focus on God and His will.

Have a wonderful day.

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16 NIV

The shield was a great defensive weapon. It was usually a large rectangular piece of wood with several layers of animal skins attached to it. The shields were usually large enough that the soldier could crouch down behind it to protect their body. The animal skins were kept wet so that the fiery arrows from the enemy would be extinguished when they hit the shield. A dried up shield would be dangerous to the soldier because it could crack and provide a weakness that the enemy’s arrows could penetrate.

A new soldier had to trust or hope that the shield he was carrying was going to protect him. His faith in the shield grew as he used it and took care of it and experienced it protecting him over and over again in battle. The soldier only knew that the shield could protect him, when cared for, because he experienced it happen in battle, but the first time he used it, he was going on faith that he would be able to block the fiery arrows with it.

Our faith, like the shield, can protect us as well. We need to take care of our faith for it to grow and be effective in deflecting the arrows that the enemy sends our way. The devil’s main goal is to shoot enough fiery arrows of doubt and suspicion at us that we become discouraged and neglect caring for our faith. We care for our faith by being in God’s word and trusting God that His plan is far better than anything we could ever dream of or ask for. When we neglect our faith, it can become dried up like the neglected shield. Once our faith is not cared for, the enemy finds the weak spots and begins sending his arrows to those spots. His arrows can be thoughts of doubt that you can be loved by God, that you can be forgiven by God. These are the devil’s primary weapons to weaken our faith.

If you are facing situations where you are doubting that God loves you or that God will forgive you, please don’t let your faith dry up. Pick up the bible and read God’s promises, begin spending time with God in prayer and find scripture that speaks to you so you can proclaim it over and over again. My cousin was telling me about Psalms 56:3 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” and how that scripture, the promise of knowing that God is trustworthy, was how she had walked through some very hard times in her life. Her faith was renewed as she repeated that scripture and believed and had faith that God was walking beside her through those times.

Unlike a shield, faith isn’t a tangible object that we can see and touch but it is just as real and just as effective in protecting us as a shield is in protecting a soldier in battle. I pray that as you go about your day that you use your faith the same way a soldier would use his shield, to deflect the arrows and schemes of the enemy. Take care of your faith, don’t let there be any cracks where the devil can to begin to pick away at the faith you have. Have a great day.

“and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” Ephesians 6:14c

The Roman soldier’s shoes were not shoes like we know shoes, they were spiked on the bottom and laced up over the calf with leather underneath the lacing to protect their legs as much as their feet. The spikes were for defending themselves if they fell on the battlefield, as they could kick the enemy. The spikes also served as traction while they were upright on the battlefield.

So knowing that the shoes were a weapon that could cause harm, it was surprising to me at first that Paul used them as the piece of the armor that talks about peace. I believe that he did so because as much as the shoes were for battle, they could also be wore by those who are bringing good news and peace to those around them. In Isaiah 52:7, Isaiah was talking to the leaders of Jerusalem and Judah when he proclaimed “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace”.

The good news that both Paul and Isaiah were talking about is Jesus. Those who were bringing the news of salvation and the peace that only Jesus could give to the people of Israel was a large task.

It is a large task now as well, but thankfully the church now is much larger than the church in Paul’s time. Salvation is the only way to have peace, the gospel brings the news of salvation to everyone. We need to make sure that we are carrying the good news and peace to those around us, even the ones who we find hard to be peaceful with. Everyone deserves the chance to choose for themselves if they want to follow Jesus or not, but they can’t really make that decision without having the information.

Who can you tell about Jesus today? Can you walk in peace with others today demonstrating God’s love? You can if you lean on Jesus. He will be there for you, He always is. Have a great day.