Unsaved Friends

The devo today deals with the idea of unsaved friends. It affirms the value of connecting with unsaved friends. It highlights a key thought; "You can learn a lot from them without being influenced to follow lifestyle choices that are contrary to God's ways."

To me, that is key! When our sons were young, we often asked the question; "who is influencing who?" God wants us to "go into the world" and show his love and mercy. The issue revolves around the question; "who is influencing who?"

If you have unsaved friends, and you should, are you influencing them for Christ? As a pastor, most of my connections are with people who know Jesus Christ as their Savior. I have to work at finding and making unsaved friends.

You might want to read Matthew 9:9-13. Jesus came for those who need him and Jesus wants us to reach out to them with mercy.

Now, ask yourself; "How am I bringing my unsaved friends to Christ?" Am I? What more can I do? When is the last time I invited an unsaved friend to know more about Christ?

Go do it!

God bless you,
PJ

Friends of a different kind

"BE CAREFUL" That is an important word for everyone of us men when it comes to friendship with a female other than our wife or girl friend. We need to keep in mind that we can get emotionally and sensually attracted to a female that is not our wife and it is inappropriate. Satan would love to wreck any one of our lives and not one of us is exempt from the temptation. Be on the guard and put safety rules in place to protect you / us / me!

Reread the cautions in the devo... they are good guidelines... maybe, as we consider them, we might need more. Do you best to protect yourself from friendships that can evolve into immoral connections. And remember, it starts in the thought life first. Guard your thoughts. Remember the old saying of one of the spiritual greats; "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." This is about temptation.

We must conduct our life in such a way, with our female friendships, that we don't allow the bird to land and build a nest.

What are you doing to guard your heart, soul and mind against a friendship that could go wrong?

God bless you,
PJ

Friends again

We returned again to the subject of friendship. In fact, we have a total of five devo's on friendship.

The devo today is asking about men having close men friends. It is clear in noting the scriptural example of David and Jonathan (1 Sam. 18).

On Saturday I blogged about men have a tendency to develop friendships around activities. That is true... however, it is very valuable for men to engage in spiritual development with other men. Get into a Bible Study or Accountability Group with other men. Read the scripture together and talk about the things that trouble men. Yes, men can and should have that kind of relationship with other men.

This Fall, I will start another men's study. You are invited to be involved if you so desire.

Remember the Proverbs in the devo... it was good..."As iron sharpens iron, a friends sharpens a friend." Do you have anyone sharpening you?

God bless you,
PJ

Friends

For me, this is challenging! I love the idea of friendship with God. However, as a man, in fact a typical man... I find that friendship is built around the typical activities of men, like sports or work. True sharing, for men, is not so common. I think that affects our "friendship" with God. True sharing with God is not so common. I know God is there, ready, the problem is that I need to take time to develop the friendship with God. I am at fault... like always!

I want to be a friend of God. I guess it might start with the ideas of being honest, loyal and available with and to God. Just like friendship takes time with anyone, it takes time with God, too!

I hunt with friend, I golf with a friend, I shoot guns with a friend, I have coffee with a friend... all of that takes time. I can see that I must choose to take time to be friends with God.

I am choosing to take time to work on my friendship with God. In fact, this devo helps with that...How about you?

God bless you,
PJ

Plans

I have a tendency to like a good plan. I know God has one, I just want to know what it is... all the time. The devo mentioned Joseph doing what was right when he came before Pharaoh, but he did not know that was going to fulfill God's plan. When Pharaoh asked Joseph about what to do with the dreams, plenty and famine... Joseph had no idea his answer was going to fulfill God's plan. He just gave the most Godly answer he could think to offer. I think there is a great lesson in that. We don't know what we are going to do today to help fulfill God's plan, but we can be the most Godly we know how to be and believe that it will work into God's plan. In fact, I am confident that it will.

Daily, Godly faithfulness as a man, husband, father,employee, citizen and neighbor is all a part of God's plan. If I am faithful in the little things, I can fit into God's bigger plan.

Sometimes we worry too much about the "big" plan when we really ought to focus on being faithful in the everyday plan of life. God does have a plan and it starts with the little things... how are you working God's plan?

How about you?
PJ

Rebellion

When I read about rebellion, I thought; rebellion is for everyone. Some disguise it better than others! For me, I did not choose to overtly walk away from the things of God and take on the lifestyle of the ungodly! I did not choose wild living, no, that is too obvious. I choose to rebel through subtle, silent disobedience.

It is like the child who is told to go to the corner and sit in the chair for "time out". The child says, "I may be sitting down on the outside, but I am standing up on the inside." I think that many of us are rebellious in the more silent, subtle ways of our spiritual life. In fact, I think, that may be more dangerous because we can deceive our self and, by our outward appearance look OK, but our heart is in rebellion. OH, Wow, that is really bad! So ask; "God, what do you want me to do or be, say or not say, etc... that I am not doing?" God, I confess that is rebellion, I am sorry!

So, it is time for us (me)to say to God; "Search my heart and see if there is any rebellion in me. Give me the strength to obey and not rebel in every area of my life."

How are you doing?

God bless you!
PJ

Complaining

As I reflect on this devo, I am convinced that we are living in a culture of complaining. I find it tempting to join the culture and I am challenged by God and this devo to resist the temptation.

I complain way too often, I am convicted to reign in this sin! Oh, wow, yes, it is a sin and I must be honest about that and stop sinning!

How about you? How do you feel about your complaining? Do you justify it?

It is a bad habit and I I am convicted to stop!

So, stop your complaining!
God bless you,
PJ

Judgment

The concept of judgment is one that has always captured my attention. I was afraid of the judgment of my Dad and of the school teacher and of the Police officer. I am not sure if it was taught or just my nature, but the idea of someone watching and judging me has caught my attention. There are times where that is really valuable and times where it causes me to be crippled.

I know that it is very important to have a healthy fear of God and, with that, have a realization that God is the perfect Judge and he is going to judge me. Frankly, that helps keep me on the "straight and narrow." That is the same thing that keeps me from speeding! You can quickly see that such understanding can be healthy.

However, I sometimes feel like people are judging me and I feel like I need to please them more than God. It is important for me to remember that God is the final judge and His judgment is the only one that counts. And, He is the only one I must truly please.

I am old enough to remember the Rowan and Martin "Laugh In" show and the "Here Come Da Judge" scenes. (I wasn't supposed to watch that show!) While it was a spoof... I know that the real Judge is Jesus Christ and I must be ready to stand before Him and be judged.

How about you? Are you ready?
God bless you,

PJ

Giants come in all sizes

I have discovered that Giants come in all sizes. In reference to this blog and the daily devo, the word giant is a euphemistic term to identify a problem. From the devo we referenced the Bible story of the young boy David who faced the literal giant Goliath. The point is clear. Grasp reality not the distortion. God is our reality and power and help and the problem is a passing point. (Sometimes we want the problem to pass a bit faster). However, God is our absolute point of power to progress through and past the problem (giant). God will be with us in the middle of the battle with the giant and will enable us to battle the giant and help us through to the end of the battle with the giant.

For us men, these giant battles come in about every shape, size, style, weight, speed, on pages, through the internet, on the job, with a neighbor, or some other imaginable concept.

The real point for us men, will I turn to the real source of hope and help to strengthen me through the battle with my giant. For me, I must remember that God asked me to lead the way in helping build his church, even raise the money for the Family Life Center. That seems like a giant, but I have to remember, God is the power to slay the giant, I simply have to do what He asks me to do.

What is your giant? Are you turning to God?

God bless you,
PJ

Ouch, that hurts!

Bad news! We have to suffer... sometimes because life is difficult and bad and sometimes because we were.... well, it was my own fault.

Funny, even stupid, but it seems like in hardship (suffering) I have a greater tendency to turn to God and rely on Him.

I don't have answers that sound humanly palatable in regard to the suffering of the world. And frankly, our humanity will probably not be able to understand all the issues of suffering. But, I am very grateful that there is a heaven coming for me because I believe, know and follow Jesus Christ as my Savior and He does work things together for our good (Romans 8:28) and I do have a perfect option to this suffering and it is heaven.

I am hanging on, because the answer in Jesus Christ is better than any answer the world gives. I am willing to suffer for Christ, if it is my fault or not, just because I believe so strongly in the hope of heaven and eternal life with Jesus Christ.

I am hanging on!

God bless you,
PJ

Help, I blew it!

I am grateful that God does help me when I blow it! However, the sad reality strikes us in the face; we have to face the consequences of our failures. I agree with the author that our God uses our failures to teach us life lessons. My problem is me, sometimes I don't learn my lesson very well.

I am eternally grateful that God rescues me from my sinfulness and points me toward heaven. I am seriously pained by my own failures... I simply need to learn my lessons better so that I don't repeat my failures.

In a variety of 12 Step Healing programs they define insanity as: doing the same failure over and over and hoping for different results.

I am very grateful that God knows my heart and considers my human frailty and gives me the promise of heaven as long as my heart is repentant and broken.

Take a moment and ask God to rescue you from ______________________. Now listen to what He is telling you to do. Do it!

God bless you,
PJ

Fight On!

The Devo today identifies God as a Warrior God! I am really captured by the author's purpose of evil; "to defy God and to wear down believes until they are led into sin." Frankly, with that in mind, I do need a Warrior God to win victory over sin and Satan and help me do the same.

I recognize that a battle rages in the spirit world to try to destroy me, my family, God's church and even take the whole world. I must be keenly aware and wiling to fight in the battle.

I must watch carefully where I go, what I do, who I spend time with, my attitude, my thoughts, my actions, my plans,etc... just about everything ... because it is like satan has secret spies trying to bring me down.

Will you (we) listen to the Holy Spirit like a front line soldier is to listen to his Captain? We must! So, what is the Captain saying you should do and not do? What are you doing about it?

I need the Warrior God to help me! How about you?
God bless you,
PJ

The Powerful

God is powerful! He is amazingly awesome and full of power. Sometimes I think that we think we ought to be powerful and we try to show our power with others. It may be a physical showing, an authoritative display, or something. However, I must realize that God is all powerful and I need Him in His power to be my help and provision.

I believe God is in full control and all authority. While we may not, in our human position of viewing life, always agree with how God works, God has full power to do whatever He knows best.

He can make every wrong right and punish every evil, He is all powerful. One day, God will do that, but I don't have to try to do it.

Now... it is important for me to not try to play God with power moves on other people. I must humble myself before the all powerful God. He is the one with the power, not me! I must not try to play God, but, I must humble myself before the Almighty Powerful God and allow Him to be God in all of my life.

Think about allowing God to be the all powerful God and remember; it is not me!

God bless you,
PJ

Father

This coming Sunday is Father's Day. I am personally captured by the idea of being a good father. I am grateful that God, our heavenly Father, is the best father image I could have.

My father is 91 years old, he is hard of hearing, slow in response and his advanced age is leaving him very frail. He has tried hard and his best efforts are greatly loved and appreciated. Thanks Dad!

I have a Christian heritage because of the faithfulness of my father, but even so, God the father in heaven is the best example.

I chose to learn all the good I can from my earthly father, but the best example is my heavenly father. Give thanks for your earthly father and give praise to God for Him being your heavenly father.

Take time this week to show appreciation to your Dad!

God bless you,
PJ

Responsibility

I love this subject. My dear wife uses this idea to explain it; This subject simply requires us to respond in the most God honoring manner! As much as possible, as often as possible, I must make sure that I respond to life in a manner that pleases God. That is responsibility!

God is watching and listening. He knows if we are being responsible, even if no one else knows.

Be responsible!

Today is the 35th Anniversary for Dawn Marie and me. She is the joy of my life. I am grateful for her love and companionship. Over the next three weeks my blogging may be more sporadic than usual. Spending some extra time with my wife... that is a responsibility I have... and I will fulfill it with joy!

God bless you,
PJ

comparisons

Do you ever make comparisons? Like, my dad is stronger than your dad! Well, I have done that, but not recently about my dad. For me it could be something about how my church does this better than that church. God convicts me of those kind of comparisons and just about any comparison.

God has helped me to see that the pastor of the small rural church in some remote county is as important as the pastor of the largest church in the nation. Comparison is unfair for us. Why? Because of faithfulness to the obedience of what God wants us to be is most important thing, not how I compare to another person.

I should never compare myself to any human or human process. I should compare myself to what God desires of me! Who do you compare to?

God bless you,
PJ

I win! For Thursday, June 10

I don't know about you, but for me, there was a time when I hated to lose. It would make me mad. God really had to work on my attitude about winning and losing. Moving from the here and now to the eternal perspective helped me to get over the driving, ungodly competitiveness that would consume me from time to time.

Sometimes when we are too competetive we are inclined to miss opportunities to help others in the most important things of life. I like the following line from the devo; "Competition should bring out the best in you, not the worst."

Today, I am much less competetive. There are many things in life that aren't so important. I try to measure my competetive motivation agains what I call "eternal value". How eternally important is this issue? If it is eternally significant, I will become more competetive.

What drives you to be competetive, is it a healthy competetion, does it have eternal value?

God bless you,
PJ

Working!

I have to admit, I tend to be a workaholic, I tend to get my value from working. I know there can be good in it, but also it can be bad. In fact, this can be a habit that needs to be healed.

And as an employer, I can tend to expect more from others than I should. Keeping a proper Biblical viewpoint is so important for me.

I know that I must honor God by being a faithful worker for the glory of God. And do it in such a way that God is truly lifted up and I do my job with excellence.

Are you working in such a way that God is glorified?

God bless you,
PJ

The Boss

Most of us have probably had a lousy boss. While we cannot do much about a lousy boss, we can do something about what we do or how we act at a supervisory person. I recently listened to a person tell me how they had been treated very badly by their supervisory people. It did not produce loyalty or appreciation. In fact, it made the person feel like they did not want to work for that company at all.

I tend to want to be a "people pleaser" and sometimes that is hard as a supervisor. However, I always try to value those with whom I work. I am keenly aware that I could not do the work without them. I really think the verse at the close of the devo is so appropriate; "Do for others what you would like them to do for you."

I am trying to practice that verse with those whom I work! It is important for me to remember; God is watching!

God bless you,
PJ

My Work or Business

This devo really focuses day to day labor. Yes, God is very interested in our business or work. God wants to use our business or work as a launching pad for doing ministry for Him. I have a son who stuggled with the idea of being a minister but he really wanted to do something else. I told him to find something that He loves doing, where he can use his gifts and talents and do it for the glory of the Lord. He loves fitness training and he started his own fitness business. We talked about everything needs to be done in a way so that you can use it for the Glory of God.

God is interested in our work... and he desires it to be used or done in a way that can bring Him glory.

Great scripture today at the close of the devo!

God bless you,
PJ

Integrity

It seems like integrity is a moving target in a decaying society. Many of the old Biblical values seem to be disappearing. I am convicted to hold to Biblical integrity. Biblical integrity calls for me to hold to Biblical values in the way I live.

I just read an article about the Major League Baseball Umpire who missed the call at first base and cost the pitcher a "perfect game". The umpire realized his mitake and asked for forgiveness. The young pitcher responded with grace and was forgiving. Both acted with apparent "integrity" as they faced a serious problem in their profession.

How we respond when the heat is on. That tells about our integrity. I can put on a nice front, but how I respond in the face of pressure, problems, failures, hurts, fears, etc... really reveals my integrity.

I am going to consciously choose Biblical values and live them with integrity. Now, that means I must get into the Bible and know what the Bible says. I am committing to doing this no matter how hard it may be at times.

God bless you,
PJ

Fake

Hypocricy is a type of being a fake! It seems like those of us who grew up around church and the Christian faith can very easily fall into being a "fake". We learn the words, songs, actions and have a pretty good idea how this "faith thing" is supposed to work, but, we don't have it in our heart. It is head information and not heart transformation!

The devo says; "The only sure way to avoid hypocricy in your life is to faithfully serve God without contridiction." While I fundamentally agree, I believe I need to add that we must have a true heart transformation not just keep all the rules and regulations in our head and in our daily lifestyle. It really begins in the heart and then moves to daily action.

Is there any area of your life that has a touch of hypocricy? Be honest! It is important for us to do this examination and make faithful adjustments! What is the Holy Spirit speaking to you (me) about this one?

God bless you!
PJ

Example

I don't know how many times I might have heard; "Be a good example!" While, as a child and teen and young man, I might have grown weary of the admonition, it is right!

The way we live is an example. Our words, attitude, actions, reactions, etc... are all an example. We need to try to make them a good example.

More often than I like, I feel like I have some failures along the way. Not so long ago I had to deal with a person in a public manner and I kept thinking; "Do this in a way that will honor God!" When it was over, several people expressed thanks that I had set a good example of how to respond in a very awkward situation. However, one person thought the response was less than desirable and not as Godly as it should have been.

I acknowledged the cristicism and thanked the person. I expressed my desire to be a Godly example and stated that I would make an even stronger effort in the future.

What kind of an example am I? Well, I guess it depend on who is watching. That is when I remember God is always watching. I need to ask; "Am I the example God wants me to be?"

How about you?
God bless you,
PJ