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basics, Christian living, foundation, fundamental, honor, victory, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry

Basic: Understanding God’s Clear and Fundamental Instructions

DevotionalsJuly 16, 2019July 9, 2019

Just like in anything learned, Christian living has basic fundamentals. We must understand the basics in order to live according to God’s instructions.

The one who follows instruction is on the path of life, but the one who rejects correction goes astray.
Proverbs 10:17, CSB

Challenge Accepted

Baseball season is in full swing now! I waited as long as I possibly could, but I finally signed my boys up this year. I am not the type of person that finds enjoyment in signing my children up for everything under the sun. It’s exhausting to me, to be quite honest. I finally did it though.

I wasn’t thinking it would matter because they are both still pretty young; 9 and 7. Surely the other kids on their teams aren’t going to be THAT good, right? Uh, yea, NO. I was SO wrong! These kids are WAY better than I thought they’d ever be. Of course, they have been playing since they were 3!! So, obviously, my kids had some catching up to do.

Basic Fundamentals

It’s been a struggle in areas, but for the most part, they have excelled very well. My husband and I tried to teach the basic skills. The goal is to catch the ball without it hitting the ground, so you can get the player on the other team, out. This may sound like a simple task, but honestly, it’s not.

There is a method and technique required to do this accurately. It takes precision and skill. It takes focus and coordination. Each player has to understand the basic fundamentals before they can apply them correctly. If my boys want to succeed in baseball, they will have to learn to get the basics down first.

Choosing To Keep Pressing On

This is pretty common with anything we try in life; the need to know the basics first. If we want to excel in learning an instrument, or even learning how to read, we need to start from the beginning and work our way through. We can’t dive in with confidence, thinking we can do these things without any knowledge of how.

My kids were SO excited about baseball and thought they already knew what to do. They found out very quickly that they had much to learn. Though this was intimidating, they decided on their own it was still something they desired.

Knowing this would take hard work and discipline didn’t steer them away from learning. Instead, they were compelled and motivated to practice more. This becomes a choice that, we, as believers, are able to make on our own. Making this choice is what determines how much knowledge we are capable of gathering throughout life.

Apply yourself to discipline and listen to words of knowledge.
Proverbs 23:12, CSB

Here Are The Basics

Just like the basic skill of throwing a ball in the air and catching it, there are also basic fundamentals needed in order to excel in our daily Christian walk.

Pray – We need to pray like we are breathing. It is the main line of communication that we have with the Lord. When we aren’t praying, we are preventing ourselves from being in communication with our Heavenly Father. Praying is necessary in order for us to grow in our relationship with God.

Read the Bible – We absolutely need to read our Bible daily in order to gain wisdom from above. It is also the only way we can learn who God is. When we take time to read God’s story to us, then we learn the attributes of God that are vital to know in order for us to carry on living a life with purpose.

Church – Though going to church doesn’t make us a Christian, it does provide fellowship unlike any other. Worshiping with surrounding believers and gathering together as a whole to pray, is powerful and effective. When we avoid going to church, we are robbing ourselves from this gift.

Small Group – Being part of a small group of believers is immensely beneficial in our faith. We need encouragement, Bible study discussions, and accountability partners. These things are always achieved when we make it a priority to be part of a small group.

Fellowship – Just like in baseball, you have to work together as a team in order to win the game, the same applies to Christianity. When we work together as a team; there is always VICTORY accomplished!

Jesus Wins The Game

Jesus came into the world to live the perfect life we could not live. He endured the death we were all destined to die and He rose on the third day to conquer death for good. Jesus is the main character throughout the entire Bible and needs to be the main character throughout our lives.

Following His life’s example shows us the reason we need to have HOPE. The Old Testament points toward Jesus’ 1st coming. The New Testament points to Jesus’ life and resurrection and ends in Revelation revealing that He will come again! It is our divine privilege to serve Jesus Christ, our Lord. To honor Him by understanding the basic principals we need to take with us through this journey in the flesh. There is Victory found in Jesus!

He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
Revelation 22:20, CSB

Jesus will one day come down to us again! Jesus has won the game already and offers victory to us, daily! Today, friends, let’s celebrate this beautiful knowledge that God has given us to possess! Praise God in Heaven! Hallelujah! He has instructed us clearly. Let’s not waste another minute without applying this truth! Amen!

It is our divine privilege to serve Jesus Christ, our Lord. To honor Him by understanding the basic principals we need to take with us through this journey in the flesh. There is Victory found in Jesus! Click To Tweet

Jarrod Reed

honor, inspiration, memory, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry

Remembrance: Erecting Memorials in Our Hearts to God

DevotionalsMay 19, 2019May 19, 2019

Jacob and Joshua erected stone memorials for remembrance of the Lord’s work. Do we actively create memorials in our hearts for Him?

My father passed away in November. It seems surreal to think that I am living a part of my life without him in my background. In a quiet moment, I might remember that he is no longer with us. Memories flood me. Remembrance of him, for those of us closest to him, is easy. Still, my mother, sister, and I made plans with other family members to erect a tangible reminder of his life.

Stones

There will be no headstone, as he was cremated rather than buried. Instead, we will purchase a bench or a sitting stone with a memorial plaque to place near one of his favorite places in the mountains in Colorado. This is a common practice for memorializing someone in our culture. There is usually a stone, brick, or plaque somewhere to remind those who come after us that our loved ones were here and made an impact.

The people of the Old Testament were no different. They used stones quite frequently to serve as reminders to those who came after them of significant events. Unlike the headstones of today, though, these stones of remembrance were to point towards God’s presence and actions, rather than memorializing men.

Inspiration

Jacob had encounters with God that commanded and inspired him to move forward in the Lord’s work. In response, he built a pillar to God…

And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
Genesis 35:11-19, ESV

Generational Remembrance

Joshua had men take twelve stones from the Jordan once they had crossed it. They then erected a memorial to remind their children and their children’s children that God had cut off the waters of the usually overflowing Jordan so that they might cross over it easily. Joshua commanded that one man of each tribe carry a stone.

This action was not merely symbolic or a literary contrivance that looks nice on paper. “Look, there are 12 tribes of Israel, 12 stones, and 12 disciples!” No, Joshua commanded each tribe’s participation, ensuring everyone’s investment. Not one person would forget to hand down the tale because they merely stood on the sidelines watching it happen. No, their hands carried and laid the stones. It was a moment of significance for each tribe individually and collectively.

The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
Joshua 4:19-24, ESV

Eradication of Sin

Joshua also renewed the covenant the Lord had made with Moses after God had given Ai into their hands. God had dealt swiftly with the sin that was rampant in Ai, just like he did in Jericho.

At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, ‘an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.’ And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.
Joshua 8:30-32, ESV

Bear Witness Against Men

More stones were erected when Joshua told the Israelites to choose who they would serve. These stones memorialized that choice accordingly, bearing witness to their feeble promise to God.

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. Joshua said to all the people, ‘Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.’
Joshua 24:25-27, ESV

Christian Life Today

In today’s world, we don’t need stones to remind us of God’s mighty works. We have the evidence of His goodness, His greatness, His wrath, and His correction in our Bibles. In other words, the Bible is a nice, portable collection of stones for us to sift through and reminisce about.

I don’t need to go sit on the bench or stone we will purchase to remember my father. I have placed pillars in my heart that will remain forever. But, do I do that for the Lord? Have I learned enough about Him? Do I love Him with the love of someone who knows her Father intimately enough that stones are unnecessary? Do I recognize the great and miraculous works He performs in my life, and subsequently love Him more for them?

We don't need stones today to remind us of God's mighty works. We have the evidence of His goodness, His greatness, His wrath, and His correction in our Bibles. Click To Tweet

Building My Own Pillars of Remembrance

I vow to read and actively study my Bible more. I promise that I will learn more about God so that I might love him more fiercely every day. And I commit myself to recognize His work in my everyday moments. Therefore, let the stones of remembrance I place in my heart act as memorials and as witnesses to my personal promises to God.

Jon Phillips

honor, hope, light, voice, social media, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry

Voice: Speak Hope in the Midst of Turmoil and Division

DevotionalsFebruary 17, 2019February 18, 2019

Every entertainer loves a captive audience. Yet, we do not have to become captive to the media’s show. We can rise above and be a voice of hope.

In our house, we have several little sayings that remind each of us who we are, and what we are called to. For example, I often hear a tiny four-year-old voice proclaim, “Harndens don’t give up,” when I am complaining that something is too hard. Our family motto declares “We are Harnden Heroes. We live by the fruit of the Spirit for the eternal purposes of God.”

These little sayings are fun and cute, but they constantly remind my kids (and my husband and I) that we are Harndens, and Harndens live according to God’s ways.

This same principle applies to the people of God. We are His chosen people, and because we belong to the King, we live according to the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven.

His Kingdom and Our Culture

My heart breaks over the constant political turmoil in our country. You don’t have to look too far or associate with a particular political party to recognize the incredible evil American humans are capable of. These are dark days to be sure. And the media doesn’t help one bit.

I have struggled with how to respond. Should I blast all my social media contacts with articles and memes that support my view in the name of standing up for truth and justice? Should I engage in online arguments that add fuel to the political fire? Or, should I be silent, say nothing at all and grow numb to evil so as not to offend anyone?

I’m ashamed to say that while my emotions may be raging and my heart pounding as I read the news, I usually fall into the last category. Be silent. Don’t stir up trouble. Social media doesn’t help anything anyway. Stay away from the political scene and just pray.

This is usually my default as I succumb to the lie that I don’t really have a voice.

Voice of The King

But I believe God has called me, and us, to something higher. We are not to be silent. Rather, we are the mouthpiece of the Living God. We do have a voice and that voice is called to speak the language of HOPE.

We hold in our hands and our hearts the answer to the world’s problems and it doesn’t sit with a politician.

Hope is in a Man, a King, who gave up His throne in Heaven to serve and love humanity. A God who chose to die, to give His own life, so we could know Him more fully! A God who lived and loved as a man on earth, who always spoke the truth, and demonstrated grace.

He healed the sick, turned water into wine, turned over tables, and hung on a cross with sinners. Jesus was fully God and fully man. He lived every day of His life by the power of the Holy Spirit, without sin. He loved unashamedly and He never once compromised. He changed the face of church and religion.

This Man, Jesus, dug deep into the pit of hell to set us free from the evil in this world. The evil in our own hearts. He rescued all people of every tribe and nation, and made a way for us to know Him and live forever with Him. He gave us the tools to live wholeheartedly for Him and empowers us daily to do so.

I want to be His mouthpiece!

Be a Voice of Light

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Matthew 5:14, NIV

Jesus, Himself, called us forward to be light. He chose and set us apart. He placed us in our culture on purpose, so that we could bring light to the world around us. Are we meant to be light in a well-lit room? Of course not. Light shines best in the darkness. Does light fear the darkness? No, it overpowers it.

Our country is a dark place, but we are His lights! We get the incredible opportunity to walk in light and show others how to navigate the darkness.

And Sisters, if you know Jesus, He lives in you and gives you all the light you need.

Be A Voice of Honor

One way we can shine brighter than the mess around us is through honor. Our culture has forgotten how to show dignity one another. But, we live for a different Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven is a culture of honor.

Honor every person in every situation, stage of life, culture, political party, and position. You can greatly disagree and still choose to honor. We show honor to others because of who God is and who we are in Him.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9, AMPC

God created every person in His image, and He is worthy of our honor. To be the voice of Jesus, we MUST be the voice of honor. We must choose to see people as God sees them. And we honor others because of who we are in Christ. A woman who is CHOSEN, ROYAL and SET APART is a person who respects those in front of her.

We are called to display the virtues of HIM. He called us out of darkness and into marvelous light. We, too, have the privilege to stand as a light and call others out into His light. Wow! What a calling!

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Romans 12:9-10, NLT

For the Christian, choosing to honor is not an option. Because we belong to Christ, we are the voice of hope. Hope speaks with honor.

For the Christian, choosing to honor is not an option. Because we belong to Christ, we are the voice of hope. Hope speaks with honor. Click To Tweet

How To Be His Voice

We do not have to become captive to the media’s circus. We can rise above and speak life.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].

Proverbs 18:21, AMPC

The words we say in person or online are so important. We literally have the power to spark fear in people or bring comfort with just our voice. Here are a few things to consider when responding to the crises around us…

Speak hope, not fear. When you share and comment, let your comments be laced with love and the promises of Christ. Our world needs to remember that Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33). We need to know that He is always with us and that God is just.

Spread good news…whenever you see or read it. Take every opportunity to use your words and influence to encourage others.

Listen before you speak. This one messes with me. I am NOT a very good listener because I have a lot of passion and a lot of things to say. But Jesus says through James that His people are to be slow to speak and quick to listen (James 1:19). In order to help the world, we have to hear their cries.

In all things pray. Before you click that “share” button simply pray. Ask Him to check your own heart to root out gossip and anger. And pray that Jesus will use your words for His purposes.

Our world is changing, but our God remains the same. We can be His voice of Hope to a very broken world.

Kelly Sikkema