Category: Devotional

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A simple prayer for big things

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We must remember to pray. To boldly approach the throne of God and speak our hearts, to humbly cry out to him.

We see the flooding in Europe and the NWT  God, we see the fires across our country here in Canada, we see violence and drought and hunger and fear and we know God that the only solution is you. So help us please God to seek you, to know you, to ask you and to worship you. A great man once said that God’s love language is a broken heart, there are so many broken hearts God and we ask that they find healing and rest and repair in you.

In Jesus name. Amen 

Crows in your attic?
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Crows in your attic?

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Last summer I lived in our trailer during the covid lockdown to make it feel like I was camping. While there I found that I had new neighbors, a pair of crows. They had built a big nest nest to me in the rafters of our pole barn. No big deal right? Ha! They had three babies, loud babies, from dawn till 10 am crying babies. Oh ya. At first I hated them, so loud all the time. Then as a week went by and then another I learned to love them. I named them and would call to them when I walked by, and they learned my voice and responded to me. The cawing I hated became the sound of a friend. Did you know that crows learn to recognize your voice so they can avoid you if you are an enemy? These ones learned to trust me as a friend, and now that they have moved on because a racoon destroyed their nest this year, I miss them.
Isn’t that the way it is with people? You can learn to hate them, to hate things about them and to want them gone, but then after you get to know them you sometimes realize that they are actually great! That you eventually can’t imagine life without them and miss them when they are gone. Just like my ugly feathered friends, the more you get to know and understand these people – the more they welcome you into their circle, the more you learn to care about them. Maybe that’s why Jesus had his disciples eat with other people, spend time with other people oh, and get to know them beyond where they stood in the community. Because He knew that when you open yourself up to others you learn more about yourself and are more accepting those around you. 
I am grateful for my ugly feathered friends teaching me the lesson of learning to love those around you, even if they are noisy and messy and oh so very loud.

Gain through giving?
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Gain through giving?

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I once heard it said, that the reason we give so much up in our lives for other people is because they are what we leave behind when we are gone, through them our lives continue. It sounds a little strange until you think about it. When I mention a ‘but God’ moment, it’s my poppa speaking through me, when I struggle and find myself putting scripture in my shoes so all day I am standing on the word of God, that’s my nana. Those who are gone leave their legacy in us, and if they hadn’t taken the time and effort to teach me, serve me and be with me I might not have the strength that their words gave me. Nana is gone to Heaven but she still lives and guides and teaches through all the people she put effort into. We live in a ‘serve yourself first and then you will have the strength to serve others’ theory in this world, even evangelist speakers have said this once in awhile, and not that serving yourself is wrong, but if the only one you serve is yourself then that is wrong. Jesus didn’t say ‘love yourself, that is the greatest commandment,’ He said ‘love the Lord your God, and your neighbour as yourself.’ If all we ever do is serve us we miss out on the true Joy of serving others and through serving others serving God. Our joy comes from fellowship with Christ, you cannot serve yourself only and have fellowship with others. This sounds really discouraging I know, but I’m not saying drop everything and give up all your time for others, I mean we should actively aim and strive to be servants. If you want to spend a day sitting on the couch watching TV that’s fine, but if while sitting on that couch somebody calls you in need and you refuse to go because you’re busy taking care of yourself isn’t that wrong? As in all things there’s a balance, you can’t only serve others because you’ll hit burnout, but you can’t only serve yourself because that’s not how Christians Act. It always comes back to the old adage, what would Jesus do? Would he say no cuz he was too busy taking care of himself? Or would He go to help those in need? I guess that’s a dumb question, considering the answer is so obvious.

Heaven’s angels
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Heaven’s angels

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Today there is an angel with a dog bite on his hand, yesterday there was an angel with oil on his clothes, the day before there was an angel with too much heat as he stood guard today there is an angel watching over my heart. Every day there is an angel set upon us by God to watch over our actions as we do our part each day. Everyone has an angel the angels are gifts given to protect us by God, they never let us fall. There have been times when my angel has been dirty and worn because I know that that’s been my day and that he followed me through it. Those thorns in our skin as we worked in the yard and as weariness clowded our eyes God sends His angels to watch over us, and though they are not to be worshipped we should never forget the gift that they are. There have been days when there were angels who had been hit by another car as they pushed mine out of the way and kept me safe from the driver behind the deviating wheel. There’ve been times when my angel watches over those I love. There are days when I’m sure the angels have had enough but God is there watching over us each day, He sent his angels to guard us that’s what the Bible says.

Drowning in God
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Drowning in God

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There are times when my Faith makes me feel like I could walk out to Jesus on the waves without a doubt, and there are times when my fear makes me not want to even get into the boat. We are all afraid in part of going deeper into God. We like to have control of our lives just like we like to have control of the TV remote, when we go deeper into God we start giving up control. Stormie Omartan said ‘we let God into one room of our hearts and tell Him to stay there, but soon He starts knocking on the door to another part of our hearts, then another, then another until He fills our whole hearts. We hate losing control so we shove God in a corner and say we are Christians because we have Jesus, but that’s not what God wants, in fact that behavior is probably to blame for so many people claiming to be Christians but not acting like it. You can’t act like Jesus until He holds your whole heart. We have to trust God and be guided by our Faith so that we can fall so deep in God that we see nothing but Him. 

A manly need to protect
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A manly need to protect

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In one my favorite novels the MC ends up with a new baby brother; what I love is the part where it says that he suddenly felt a manly need to protect this small form. That is what a dad is. He was the cool kid with the motorcycle and thick wavy hair who married the shy pretty pastor’s daughter, suddenly there is a small form that comes into their lives and he changes from the cool kid to the big bear, the protector, teacher, friend. A manly need to protect comes over him. Don’t miss that word manly. There is nothing weak about being a good father, it’s the opposite, it takes a great strength to be a good dad. God is our Father. God-all powerful being, is our Father. Father is a word synonymous with strength. God gives us dads to provide for and protect us. When a baby is born the man changes from self sufficient island to nurturing care taker, his need to see his child safe, to see them grow, to cry when they hurt to hold them strongly when they’re scared, is all a show of his strength as a person, to become more than himself, to become what they need him to be, that’s a father.

#HappyFathersDay

Uncle Tom
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Uncle Tom

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As tears streamed down his face, he spoke with an unwavering voice, he shared his heart with us. It was proud, it was broken, it felt sorrow, yet it held faith. This side of Heaven, a strong man is briskly hiding his tears as he mourns someone he loved dear. He tributes his brother in Heaven with a grin as he recalls his face and his voice and his heart, but refuses to break because his brother would want him to smile.
When we get to Heaven what will people here be saying about us? Will our loved ones feel pride at having loved us? Will they have Faith in God knowing we are in Heaven? Will they say, ‘she loved Jesus fully?’ Will they say, ‘she was my best friend?’
Will we have a tribute that speaks the message of Jesus’ love?
Someone loves you and is watching you. That was the last thing I recall my Great Uncle saying to me, as he hugged me until my lungs popped. It’s a message we should all remember. God loves you and is watching you. Have you spent time with Him today? Will His name be spoken often when people remember you?

Go with the Spirit’s voice
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Go with the Spirit’s voice

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Don’t run and hide from the presence of the Lord. There are plenty of things we should run and hide from but He isn’t one of them. What things? Well, negative people perhaps, bad TV, the devil, the devil’s helpers, vanity, pride, extra carbs. Oh wait, forget that last one. The thing is, the Holy Spirit will always show you what you should avoid, and He will show you what to run towards, it all comes down to listening to Him.
If the Spirit is prompting more time with God, or different time with God, then do it. The Spirit is our lifeline to God, our wire that helps us communicate with him better, so if the Spirit is prompting you to follow Him,  go! 

Hate is easy, love… that’s the hard part
Blog · Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · searching · The Bible

Hate is easy, love… that’s the hard part

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Hate is easy, love is hard.

Charlie Brown was asked why it is that people didn’t mind you asking them why they didn’t like you but why they did mind if you asked them why they did like you? He replied that it was because the latter was a harder question to answer.
Disliking someone is easy, it takes no effort. I once heard a movie character say that she was now free to hate, unburdened by the ties That Force us to love she felt the freedom of being allowed to hate. It’s a terrible sentiment, and yet it almost makes sense. As Christians we are demanded to love, it’s not a suggestion, it’s not a request, it’s a rule. Jesus said ‘and the greatest of these is love,’ and spoke on love being the sign of your Faith over ten times in the Bible, He also speaks against hating others several times, it is not a request.
Why does God demand it? Because it’s a sign of Him, He is love. Why does He repeat this demand over and over? Because it’s hard to follow. There are so many people that would be so easy to hate, having to love them may even cause you to feel ill or in pain. There are really awful people out there. Think of Corrie Tenboom speaking to the crowd and having that German soldier from the prison camp she was in come up to her and ask for forgiveness, what nerve! He had no right to do that after all she had gone through, right? No. He had the same right to ask for forgiveness that we all do because of Jesus. Because God forgave us we must forgive eachother. Love forces us to forgive the unforgivable, to help those who have hurt us, that’s why love is so hard. If we do not love we are not Christian, love is a sacrifice for Christ, and sometimes loving one another is our way of bearing our cross up to the Place of the Skull. Love is pain. Hate doesn’t hurt in the moment,-though it may hurt in the long run- but love hurts often, that’s why it’s a sacrifice, that’s why so many give up on it, and it’s what separates us from the rest of the world. It’s easy to love your friends, but what kind of crazy person loves their enemies? The kind who is crazy about Jesus and knows they have to love to serve Him.