Regrets

There are numerous regrets that I have. My issue is I must remember to embrace God's forgiveness, learn lessons and move on in growth and maturity. Phil. 3:13 "forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.
When I live focused ahead, I do a better job of living above regrets.
Keep looking forward!

God bless you!
PJ

Forgive Me!

Wow, this is one of life's biggest challenges. As a Christian believer, it is my responsibility to forgive everyone if I am going to live in God's forgiveness for my life.

I really appreciate the statement from the devo; "Forgiveness does not erase the offense, but pardons the offender. Forgiveness is a choice, commitment to reflect God's love for us to others." Wow, that is good.

Even as a pastor, i have to deal with letting go of offenses and forgiving others. It is a choice and I am choosing to forgive.

It seems hardest when I feel like I have been offended by someone I think should know better. Even so, I choose to forgive.

How about you!
PJ

Memories can cripple

Memories can cripple forward progress if we are not careful! I have memories that are very inspiring and I have some that are embarrassing and, well, something I would not want to remember... but I do. I am really grateful for God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

I really like Philippians 3:13 "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do; forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead."

Instead of letting my memories cripple me, I focus on what Christ wants me to be and strive for that.

God bless you,
PJ

past

As I reflect on today's devo, I am compelled to learn lessons from the past and try to move on to a brighter Christ filled, Holy Spirit led future. I cannot change the past, but I can learn from it. The main concern is; will I learn from the past to improve my future. Sometimes I think I am a little too slow about learning from my past. At times I dwell on my failures and get stuck there. I need to remember Christ forgives the past and He can make good come from my past.

I like this quote from the devo; "Apply the lessons you learn, move forward, and help others to keep from making the same mistakes you did."

I like the Phil. 3:13 passage quoted in the devo... go back and reread it.

God bless you,
PJ

reputation

Most of us think about our reputation at some point or another. For most it has to do with what we think other people see and know about us and we try to control that information. We perceive that as our reputation... what others see and know about us. While others may see and know a limited amount of controlled information, God knows everything. He knows who we really are... our true reputation.

I want to live a life that is Godly and leaves a Godly reputation... I want to be sincere from the external that people see and know to the internal that God sees and knows.

I need to think about my reputation and do everything possible to make sure that I am sincere to the core and not just a fake.

Another thing I think about... most of the worldly things we are concerned about in relation to our reputation are not so important. The bottom line; "do I have a reputation that will please God?"

What about you?

God bless you,
PJ

It begins in the heart!

Honesty begins in the heart! I must be honest with myself before I will really live out honesty with others. I personally have to be honest about my sinfulness. I am a sinner and my only hope is through Jesus Christ being my Savior. I need Jesus Christ or I will be lost in my own sinfulness and I am eternally grateful that He died on the cross and saved me from my sins. I need salvation. For me, that is the beginning of honesty, recognizing my own sinfulness and confessing it to Jesus Christ.

Then I can begin to be honest about everything and with everyone. Frankly, if I am not honest about the fundamental base part of who I am, I am not honest at all. I want to be honest with God, myself, my wife, family, friends and community.

I like the phrase from the devo; "honesty creates trust". I want to do that!

God bless you,
PJ

You lazy bum!

People have said that little phrase for years; "you lazy bum!" But I don't think we typically think of it as sin. The devo today is a good challenge for me. I am a workaholic in some areas of my life and because I work so many hours for my job, I can tend to be a bit lazy about getting some of the personal home things done. I also can find it easy to get lazy about personal spiritual disciplines like devotions. This has been good for me to examine all the areas of my life. It seems like we can be somewhat strong and effective in one area and weak and inneffective in another area. We say we are good because of the strong area and have a tendency to ignore the weak area.

I am challenged to be better balanced and a hard worker in every area of my life: family, personal devotions, spiritual development, home management, and my job.

God bless you,
PJ

I'm proud of you!

When I was young I can recall times when my father would say, "I'm proud of you!" There are appropriate places for "appropriate pride". "It is appropriate when you feel a grateful satisfaction for what God is doing through you." (devo) I think most people struggle with how to have good pride and avoid bad pride.

Wrongful pride will sink us and appropriate pride is a blessing. Wrongful pride is self focused and appropriate pride is thankfully God focused.

Pause for a moment today and express an appropriate pride for something God has done and is doing in and through you.

God bless you,
PJ

Pride

An amazing thing happens with pride, we think we are not prideful and we are. It sneaks up on us almost without warning. Like the devo indicated, we really are forgetting about God. We think we are good. We think we can do it all. We think we will not have to be accountable. It is dangerous! Humility is the antidote!

Pride is our way of lifting our self up. When we humble our self before God, He will lift us up.

God bless you,
PJ

Welcome His examination

Today and yesterday are both about motives of the heart. I like the quote; "Remember that God alone knows your heart. You may be able to fool others and yourself, but you can't fool God. Welcome His examination." What great words of Truth.

I have found that it is hard to be truly honest with ourself until we fully understand and believe that we cannot fool God. The Holy Spirit is the best friend I have, He speaks to me about my inner thoughts and motives and reveals them to me.

The big question is; "am I willing to listen to the Holy Spirit?"

Let the Holy Spirit reveal your motives... be honest in your response!

God bless you,
PJ

Think on these things...

Many years ago, I worked at Phillips Petroleum Co in the computing department. In those days I would hear people say; "garbage in, garbage out!" They would even say gigo... short for that phrase. It literally meant you would get out of the computer whatever you put into it. I learned that one could apply that truth to one's mind.

It is very very difficult to allow wrong ideas into our mind and then think about them and not expect it to lead to wrong actions.

My thoughts affect my actions and I must discipline the things that go into my mind so that I can control my thoughts and consequently control my actions.

So, I close my eyes, turn off the T.V., look the other way, read a different book, refuse to visit that web site, refuse to listen to that joke and the list goes on. But I have to take action if I am going to control my thought life.

The Holy Spirit is a great help, He guides me away from the sinful thoughts and actions.

God bless you,
PJ

Stop the run-a-way!

The ability to discipline our thought life is one of the most important pieces of having victory over sin. It is like stopping a run-a-way! I remember a place where I was employeed when I was working my way through college. Some of the men would have pornography and show is around the work place. It was somewhat unavoidable, if they knew you didn't want to look, they took fun in surprising you with it. Frankly the circumstances caused me to think about the pornographic images and the extra curriculur activities that come along with the images. I had to learn to discipline my thought life! I literally wrote out the Philippian 4:8 passage and carried it in my pocket (that was in the devo today)... to retrieve and read through it to help discipline my thought life. I still use the same tactic because it works! Read Romans 12:1-2... if we can transorm our minds with God's Truth, it will transform the way we live our life daily.

Still stopping the run-a-way mind!
God bless you,
PJ

Get on and ride again!

One of my very dear friends spent much of his life training horses. I watched him get thrown one time and he got up and got right back on to ride and break the horse.

Many times when we struggle with temptations we have an inclination to repeat and fail and when we fail we have a tendency to give up! We think we are bad and unable to be victorious.

I have failed and everyone of us have failed. We must not let our spiritual failures keep us from God. We must get up and get back on the spiritual horse and ride, even if sin throws us. God loves us and desires for us to return to him and be faithful.

Jesus is forgiving and we must continue to return to Him and ask for forgiveness. It must be sincere and from a humble heart.

If you get thrown by sin... get back up and get on to faithfully follow God.

God bless you!
PJ

A way out!

It is important for me to KNOW that there isn't any temptation that is too great, but God has provided a way out. I don't have to give into the temptation. I don't know how many of you can remember the TV show where the character would say; "The Devil made me do it!" I have come to realize that the Devil may tempt, but he can't make me do anything. One of the most important things to remember is; I have a choice! The Holy Spirit helps me stay focused and aware... I have the choice to do what is right or do what is wrong. I have a way out!

You have a choice... what choice are you making? A way of escape or a way of entrapment?

God, place within me the strength and commitment to choose the right for eternity instead of fleating pleasure for the moment. It is my choice!

God bless you,
PJ

Temptation part 2

James 1:14 Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. For me, cooked cabbage is not tempting! However, there are plenty of things that my natural man finds tempting. I have to have the help of the Holy Spirit to help me guard my mind and heart to stay out of sin. If the Holy Spirit doesn't help guard my mind and heart, I will get into trouble. The devo says to beg God for the power not to give temptation a second look. I really believe that help comes form the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

God bless you,
PJ

temptation

I can't remember who is the author of this saying, but it is powerful; "You can't keep a bird from flying over your head but you can keep it from landing on your head and building a nest in your hair." This was spoken in reference to temptation and sin.

The whole devo is about the issue regarding temptation and sin. Is temptation sin? The answer is no... we just need the strength and wisdom to recognize the birds flying over and keep them from landing.

So, maybe we need to become the best ornithologists we can become... so that we don't fall into sin.

God bless you,
PJ

Words Matter

How many times have I said, "I'm sorry, I didn't really mean it!" I don't know. But, my words do matter. We can say, "I am sorry" and we should ask for forgiveness when we say things and hurt others, or lie, or.....

But, we should really get a hold on our tongue so that we don't have to go around trying to undo wrongfully spoken words. I was once hurt by a very close friend and the words they spoke stabbed deeply. Now the friend returned and apologized for their anger but the words continue to echo in my mind. While we have a great relationship, I find myself wondering if they really did mean what they said, even though they retracted the statement. Words have an impact!

The book of James is a great guide for the use of the tongue. I have come to realize that if I don't say it, I won't have to retract it.

I is vital to think before we speak! Words do matter!

God bless you,
PJ

Confession

For some people confession stirs a picture of a Catholic confession booth. One enters it, closes the door or curtain and speaks through an opening to tell a Priest about the things one has done wrong. There is value in that act, it typically causes the person confessing to feel some relief from their guilt. However, Jesus Christ is the one who truly forgives us of our sins and when we have hurt or offended another person we need to ask forgivenss from Jesus and the one we hurt.

Owning up to our own failures and confessing them is a vital part of our Spiritual development. When we deny that we have done anything wrong, we are liars and we simply add to our failures. Confession helps break the hold of pride in our life. I have to admit, pride often causes me to be reluctant to confess.

The good news is that God wants to forgive and He created us to practice forgiveness so that we have restored relationships. So, it is essential that I confess my sins, failures, pride, etc... and find myself restored with God and friends.

God bless you,
PJ

Motivation

The devo today is about how we can be better at obeying God's Word and way of life. It isn't enough to know. We must act on what we know. The devo reveals that the Holy Spirit helps us and praying strengthens us to be more faithful in obedience.

Think about it like this; when a child is permitted to be alone they have a greater tendency to do whatever they want, even disobey. But when the parent is near them, guiding them, focusing them, they are much more inclined to do what is right. It is a type of empowerment. The Holy Spirit does that for us! Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to be near you every day, empowering you to obey.

God bless you,
PJ

Obedience

I think that all of us in our base humanity have some struggle with obedience in some way or another. The real reason we don't obey is because we truly think we know better or have a better way of doing something. In addition, we are not at all convinced that our disobedience will have any significant consequences. God calls all of us to obedience and when we understand the eternal perspective of God in His Absolute Power, Love and Truth then we will readily obey. The more I comprehend a real eternity of heaven and hell and God's justice, I will more likely obey.

In reality, there is a clear analogy with parenting and child rearing! All the children think they have a better idea. When they are told to do something, they have to decide if there will be any consequences both immediate and long term. If they discover there are no consequences then rarely does the child obey. However, if they learn there are consequences for disobeying, the child becomes much for likely to obey. Frankly, as adults, we are the same.

So, how do you view God. Do you have a healthy, Biblical respect for God. If not, you will not likely obey. If yes, then you will likely obey.

Where are you on this issue?

God bless you,
PJ

All the Time!

The devo today is about making prayer a part of our life routine. Frankly, I think many people become apprehensive when they think they have to have a set time of prayer everyday. Now, don't get me wrong, I think that is a great idea, but, more important we need to make prayer a part of our everyday life, all the time. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to "pray continually". The idea is that we be in a spirit of prayer all the time, throughout our life. That is the best routine we can establish. For example; many times when I am showering in the morning I will pray and ask God to wash my heart, soul and mind. I will give thanks for hot and cold water. When I drive to work I will often praise God for the infrastructure, roads, police protection, etc... When I hear a siren I will pray for whoever it might be needing the assistance. I use reminders throughout the day to help me remember to pray. Pray should be our daily lifestyle routine. Now, with that in mind, it is a good idea to establish some routine to a more formal prayer time with spouse and children. Try to consciously make prayer a part of your daily routine. It works and it is worth it.

God bless you,
PJ

Talk Story

We have friends who own a place in Hawaii and they have invited us to stay at their place for a rest and renewal time for the last several years. It is a great get a way for reading and relaxing. We have learned that in Hawaii people will say; "Let's talk story!" That is what you do when you share from your heart and the other person shares from their heart. I imagine that true prayer is "talk story"!

I have discovered that I need to listen to God in order to have good communication with God. That certainly requires that I do more than tell God what I need or want. I must say; "tell me what you want me to know". And then I must listen! Wow, that doesn't feel like prayer... but that is good communication and communication is what prayer is about.

Try to listen to God and use that to improve you communication with God.

God bless you,
PJ

Answers!

Too often we feel like God is not answering our prayer. The reality may be that God is just not answering our prayer the way we want it answered.

Think about this... God always answers prayer... He says: No! Slow! Grow! Go! (yes)

Sometimes we don't like the answer so we say; "God didn't answer my prayer!" That is a little like my grandkids thinking I don't love them and give them what they want when I say; "wait till after dinner to have ice cream."

Answers come in many forms... just not always the way we like.

Are you listening for the answer? Can you recognize God's answer?

What prayer have you prayed and, as you seriously reflect, you can see God's answer, even if it was different than you expected or desired?

Look for the answer: No, Slow, Grow, Go!

God bless you,
PJ

AWOL

Wow, I have been AWOL (absent with out leave). I fully understand the crazy demands of life that pull us away from good time alone with God. Too many days this week that have been very early morning to late at night. So sorry!

Devotions for the next few days deal with our prayer life. It seems like we think that God is not listening if He does not do things the way we desire for Him to do things.

God is listening and He loves us. We must keep on praying. God does listen and honor the humble heart that turns to Him. I firmly believe that God is Almighty, full of perfect knowledge and perfect in His decisions. If God is perfect, then I must believe with all my heart that God is listening and doing the best for me. I must also remember the best isn't always easy.

So, I take comfort to know that God is perfect and that He is listening and that He is working all things together for my good (Romans 8:28)

I like the sentence in the devo; "When you pray, be alert and watch for God's response, even if it isn't what you expected."

He is listening! What are you saying?

God bless you,
PJ