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“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:6 NIV

This verse is part of a teaching from Jesus on doing the right thing but for the wrong reason. In the time that Jesus lived, it was acceptable to do ‘good deeds’ in public, that way you could be seen as a person who did the ‘right’ thing when they were supposed to do it. This mindset of wanting to be seen by others so that you were seen as a good person because you did the right thing was completely turned upside down by Jesus when He gave this instruction.

The idea of doing ‘good deeds’ in private not in public was foreign to His disciples and the other people who followed Jesus around listening to His teachings. Anyone can maintain their behaviors for a short period of time especially when they are in public if they want others to view them in a positive light. When you do this, you have already gotten the reward you were looking for in that those around you are thinking of you in a certain way, which is what you wanted, to be thought of in a positive way. This is a ‘you-centered’ way of living life, always seeking the approval of those around you to give you worth.

Jesus wants us to look in our hearts and examine why we do what we do, why do we give money to charities, why do we hold doors for others, why do we speak kindly to others. It matters what is in our hearts. If we are led to give to others and the setting is a public setting then we should examine our hearts to make sure that when we are giving we are not ‘performing’ for those around us but giving because God has led us to give.

Jesus is saying that the more we can do the ‘good deeds’ without others knowing about it, the better. This way we are not doing things to please others or obtain others’ approval but because God has led us and we are trying to please God. I do not believe that Jesus is saying in this verse that no one should ever pray in public but I believe He is saying to check ourselves as to our motive when we do.

Heavenly Father, please help us to always listen to Your leading. Help us to not make our relationship with You into a public performance for others so we are seen in a good light, but to keep our relationship with You between us and You. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NIV

Jesus used metaphors and parables a lot during His ministry because He knew that people would understand the hard spiritual truths that He was telling them if it resembled something familiar to them. Here, Jesus is speaking to the disciples and reminding them that there is a connection between them, a relationship that is important to them as well as to Him. He tells them, as a different way of the thinking of this relationship, about the relationship between the vine or root of a plant and the branches of that plant. He is talking about how the branches are unable to become healthy and strong let alone produce any fruit if they are not connected to the vine.

He has told them directly that He is the vine, the root of the plant. The life giving source for the branches and that they are the branches, which are extensions of Him. They represent Him as His followers. He goes on to tell them that it is not only important for them to remain in Him, to be actively seeking Him, to follow His guidance, but it is as equally important for them to allow Him to remain in them.

As Jesus says at the end of the verse, if the branches believing that they can make it on their own once they have grown and become strong, disconnect from the vine, they will surely die. Their branches will not produce fruit any longer and they will become weak. The same is true with us, we can do nothing without Jesus. We will grow strong as long as we stay connected to Him and choose to actively follow Him. If we are connected to Him but then don’t take in any of the spiritual food we need to grow, then we do not mature as His followers.

So are you receiving the spiritual food needed to grow from the Vine or are you disconnected?

“Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. ” Ephesians 4:23 NLT

Paul is talking to the Ephesians about what it means to be a Christian. When we become a Christian, or follower of Christ, we are made a new creation. That new creation, the new thoughts and attitudes, do not happen over night and the old thoughts and attitudes don’t simply go away.

As we mature in our walk with God, our thoughts and attitudes change. While that is happening, we have a mix of old thoughts and new thoughts, old attitudes and new attitudes. We will never be completely rid of the old thoughts and attitudes because that would mean perfection and that will not happen until we are in heaven.

Instead we are to embrace these changes that God wants to make in us and one way to help us with these changes from old to new is to let the Spirit renew us, daily. For us to be separate from this world and how this world lives, thinks and acts, we need to be living, thinking and acting differently, which can be hard since we still have to live in this world.

So how do we become renewed? One way is to remain in constant communication with God, by prayer and reading His word. Another is to let the Spirit flow through you, filling you daily with God’s peace and love. Another way is to let the Spirit work in your life and not fight the changes that God wants to make in you, especially in how you think about how you are to interact with the world around you. Our thoughts direct our actions and how we interact with others. In other words, be willing to hear God’s plan for your life and then be willing to do what God wills you to do, follow His directives.

These are only 3 suggestions about how to be renewed daily, there are more but thinking about these, beginning to do these is a good place to start. When you let God renew how you think and the attitudes you hold, your actions become renewed as well. Being renewed is such a freeing and wonderful place to be that when I let life get in the way of being renewed daily, I miss it tremendously.

When was the last time you were renewed? I pray it will be today.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8 NIV

As with most scripture, when a verse begins with the word ‘for’, we are directed to look at the verse before it for context. The verse before this says “Let the wicked forsake their days and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” Isaiah 55:7 NIV

This verse talks about how man, who is born with a sinful nature, should be aware of their thoughts and actions. That they should return to the Lord because the Lord is righteous, not like man. The verse for today is giving the reason for man to turn from their wickedness and either turn or return to the Lord, because He is different than us, mightier than us.

I am so thankful that unlike man, the Lord is willing to forgive and pardon because His ways are not the same as our ways. We are unforgiving, we hold grudges, we count wrongs. God is forgiving, He forgets our sins once He has forgiven them and since He forgets them, He doesn’t count them again.

God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts because He is the Creator. He is the One Who put this world, universe and galaxy into being. Clearly our thoughts can not be like His, we are not God. In as much as our thoughts are not like His thoughts, our ‘ways’ are different. His ‘ways’ are not sinful like ours. He created the world to be perfect and we, as humans, messed that up.

‘My thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not My ways.’ We know the Lord’s thoughts are mightier than ours, again we did not have the idea to create an entire world, which means that His ways of doing things are mightier than ours as well. Our ways, how we think something should be done, pale in comparison to how God believes them to be done. The act of forgiving is a beautiful example. God forgives when we come with a genuine repenting heart, where we have been known to withhold forgiveness from another who has genuinely admitted their mistake and asked for forgiveness.

Today, I pray that each one of us would look at our thoughts and the way we do things, compare them to how God wants them thought about and done before we commit to them. If we are taking our thoughts and comparing them to what the Bible, God’s word, says they should be, then we can change our thoughts. If we take how we believe things should be done and compare them to what the Bible says is the way they should be done, then we can change our ways as well.

It all takes time, prayer and willingness to change. Are you willing to commit to the time it takes to change?

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 NIV

I have heard pastors recite this verse before they begin preaching at different times in my life. I find this comforting, not just the verse but also the idea that the shepherd of the congregation that I am sitting in is concerned about what he or she is going to say. Most of the pastors I have had in my life as the shepherd of the churches I attended and currently attend, were and are God-fearing, Spirit-filled servants. It is important to them that they show God’s love and spread His message to everyone so everyone is able to make the choice of whether to accept God’s merciful gift or not. I believe this should be important to any person who stands behind a pulpit and proclaims God’s word.

I have had the privilege of being a guest speaker at my church for over 7 years now and each time I am filled with nerves. Originally those nerves were about not saying something wrong because truthfully I didn’t want to look stupid. I have grown a lot over the years and now those nerves are about not saying something wrong because I don’t want to misrepresent God or lead anyone astray from where God wants them to be. I also don’t want to say anything that God doesn’t want to be said.

As important as it is for pastors, anyone really, speaking to a body of people to make sure they have their hearts and minds in the right place, focused on God, I believe it is equally important as we represent God in our daily lives that we also have our hearts and minds focused on Him. We don’t know what someone might need to hear as we interact with them but God does. If we are willing to open our minds and hearts up to be led to interact with others in the manner in which God knows they need, we will be amazed at how the love of God can flow through each one of us.

As we go about our day today, I pray that we each have the attitude in our minds and hearts of wanting what we think and say to be pleasing to God, not only to help others but to also keep us in line with God’s will.

I hope you have a wonderful day today.

“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” John 16:32 NIV

In this verse, Jesus is telling His disciples that His time is now. His time to die for the sins of the world. That He was soon to be arrested and the disciples would flee. He would be put to death on the cross. This was something that Jesus had to do alone, in that no one could take His place, but having His disciples would have been a comfort. Only Peter and another disciple followed Him at a distance, the rest fled.

However, Jesus was not alone, His Father was with Him as He always was during the time that Jesus walked this earth. Jesus was always in communication with God the Father. We should also be in constant communication with God, but we are not Jesus and it is hard for us to maintain that prayer like connection all the time. Our life style is one of being busy and completing many tasks at one time. We do not leave a lot of time for rest in our culture.

God can help with developing that ability to remain as constant as possible in communication with Him. We simply need to ask for help, admitting that this is an area that we are not strong in and Jesus will help us.

Heavenly Father, thank You for always being with us. Help us to remain in constant communication with You. You are our lifeline and we should remain connected to You. In Jesus’s precious name, Amen.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 NIV

Moses writes ‘teach us to number our days”. Why would we want to know how many days we have in this life? I have had family members who have lived long lives before moving from this life to the next and I have had family members who have lived what we would consider short lives. The common factor is that none of them knew exactly how many days they would spend here on earth.

I don’t believe most people want to know the number of days they have left because of the anxiety it could cause during the ‘countdown’, but the idea of realizing that we do not have an infinite number of days in this life is important. No matter the length of our lives, it can feel like we have ‘forever’ to do what we want and to get done what we feel should be done.

However, our lives are actually quite short when compared to eternity. By taking the idea of a fixed number of days, we are able to get to work doing what needs to be done. A foolish person wastes away days not focused on eternity, whereas a wise person spends time each day in communication with our Creator, listening for His direction, guidance to do His will. How often have we said ‘I will get to that tomorrow’ when we are thinking about or discussing spiritual matters. Setting aside time to spend with God should not be put off until tomorrow because no one is guaranteed tomorrow.

Moses ends the verse with saying that we can gain a heart of wisdom if we realize that we should not waste away our time. Moses wanted those he was leading to understand that they had only a short period of time to get right with God. That God would and will judge us all when we leave this life and enter eternity.

A heart of wisdom can be found in those who live this life seeking God and preparing for eternity. Eternity will come, for every one of us, so are we preparing now for where we will spend it?

“Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.” Ephesians 6:6 NIV

How do you behave when no one is looking? I believe that how you behave when you are alone and no one can see you or will know what you are doing, is the ‘real’ you, the way you really feel about life and your circumstances in your heart. It is funny to say ‘when you are alone’ because we are never truly alone, we always have God with us.

Paul is addressing servants in this verse, but I believe that Paul is also talking about where our hearts belong. Obviously as a servant, the person is expected to do what they are to do no matter if the master is there or not. However, if we look deeper in this verse, Paul is saying that they are to be doing the will of God which is to obey and do what they are to do not out of fear of the master but out of respect for God.

If our hearts are full of fear of our boss or others being disappointed in us, then pleasing them is where we will place our time and effort. When we are afraid to offend another person by not doing what they ask us to do or we only do something so that the other person is happy, then we are a people-pleaser and that is where our heart belongs – pleasing people.

When our focus becomes listening to God and following through with what He is directing us to do, when we want to do what we do to honor and glorify God with it, then we are a Christ-pleaser. Our heart belongs to God. We are to follow authority and do what we are instructed to do, I am not saying to buck authority. I am also not saying that we should not do things to help others, to make sure their needs are met or not do things because it will please them. What I am saying is that our motives are very important.

When our motive is to make sure that everyone around us likes us because we do what they want even if we know it is wrong, then our motive is to win the favor of people not God. When our motive is to make sure that we are doing what we believe we are being directed by God to do, which sometimes can offend someone because we are not behaving the way they want us to behave, our motive is to win the favor of God.

So my question for everyone today is…….what is your motive – to win the favor of people or of God?

“The way of the Lord is a refuge for the blameless, but it is the ruin of those who do evil.” Proverbs 10:29 NIV

Proverbs is a book of the Bible that is filled with wisdom. This verse found in the 10th chapter is no different. It tells us when we focus on the Lord, listen to His direction in how we should live our lives, we are able to find refuge in Him.

The opposite is true as well, when we decide we are not going to listen to God’s direction for our lives, we can not expect to be able to go to Him for protection. Our sinful nature sometimes makes it hard for us to listen for God’s voice and then follow His lead. However, following our own way, making choices that are not in line with God’s will for our lives, only leads to ruin.

Which way do you want to choose….refuge or ruin?

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Philippians 2:3-4 NIV

Paul is talking with the church in Philippi about how to live as a Christian, being like minded and having the heart of a servant. My mother was the epitome of this verse. She was always doing for others, buying things for others before she would get something for herself. She didn’t like to go through a food line until everyone else went through. The normal for her was to try and help those around her who looked like they needed help. The thing was that most of the time, by anyone else’s standards, she was the one who needed help more than those around her that she decided needed help.

Towards the end of her life, she did not walk very well. She would ride those electric carts through the store, but when we got outside she would insist on walking by pushing the cart to the car. As we walked out of the store with her groceries, she would be looking around to see if anyone needed help. As soon as she saw someone who looked like they needed help, she wanted to help them. Again towards the end of her life, she was not able to help them since she did not walk very well herself. Since she could not get to them, she would nudge me to go help them. This meant leaving her with the cart that she was barely pushing on her own and going to help the other person. The times that I tried to resist this and stay with her were usually not pleasant for me because she would scold me and I would end up going and helping the other person. Her love of others and desire to see them not have to struggle was more important to her than her desire to not struggle herself.

Throughout my life, this was how she operated. We did not have a lot of money but each holiday she would notice a family that had less than we did and she would invite them to share in our meal. Her value of others above herself showed me how to value their needs before mine.

When we value others above ourselves, we are not saying that others are better than us, we are saying that we love others enough to want to see their needs being met before our needs are met. After all, we do not deserve to be saved, but Christ valued us more than Himself when He died on the cross for us. When we put others first, we follow His instruction of loving others more than ourselves.