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Day 5: E is for Examine

“But let a man examine himself …” I Corinthians 11:28

E is for examine. Examine is to inspect in detail; to investigate thoroughly; to test for purity and accuracy. Some may get examine confused with examination because they look and sound so similar … and they are actually related. Examine is an action verb. An examination is a noun meaning the actual act of examining something.

Our verse today talks about a man examining himself. Why would a man need to examine himself? Well, remember that the context of this verse is the Lord’s Supper. When we come before the Lord’s Supper, we are to examine ourselves … in short, to see if we have any unconfessed sins in our lives.

Why do we need to confess sin in our lives? Why can we not just leave it there? Well, think about your house. If you leave dirty dishes in your sink today and then add more tomorrow and more the next day, what happens? Pretty soon you are over-run by dirty dishes and you have nothing clean left in the cupboards. Am I correct? Not only that, but when you do finally decide to do dishes, it is going to be so much harder and take so much longer.

I do not know about you, but I have come to an age and stage in my life where I like a clean kitchen. Do not come in my kitchen and not wash the glass or dish that you used and definitely do not leave it for later without at least rinsing it out. I LOVE how I feel when my kitchen is clean! Because I love that feeling, I do all in my power to make sure that it stays that way.

It is interesting to watch pre-teens as they move into the teen years. Do you remember those pre-teen years? The years where you did not really care about your appearance nor how clean you were or how clean your clothes were. But,   seemingly, one day you woke up and all that changed, did it not? What happened? You matured to the point where you keenly felt that fabulous clean feeling … and you then did all in your power to make sure that you stayed that way!

In our Christian lives, we can leave the filth and dirt of sin untouched and pretty soon we are so coated that we have not only lost our effectiveness, but we have lost our sensitivity as well. But, one day, when we came before a righteous and holy God, something changed, did it not? You learned what it felt like to be clean. He is the one who can help you to be clean again! Let Him search your heart! Let Him try you! Let Him show you where you need to be clean!

Psalm 139:23-24 “Search ME, O God, and know MY heart: try ME, and know MY thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in ME, and lead ME in the way everlasting.”

Lesson Objective: To understand what it means to examine yourself. Have you met a righteous and holy God? Have you been cleansed by His precious blood, but now you find yourself not caring anymore about the sin in your life? Today is a perfect day to examine and search out those sins. You can be clean again!

Did you pass or did you fail?

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Day 4: D is for Duplicity

“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:8

D is for duplicity. Duplicity is a deceitfulness with it’s roots in dealing doubly. What does this actually mean in layman’s terms? Well, it is living a double standard. It is living one way in certain circumstances or around certain people and living another way in other circumstances and around other people. In short, it is deceit. I do not know about you, but we have not even gotten out of the first paragraph of this devotion and God has already smote my heart! Forgive me, Lord!

Do you remember in Matthew 26 when Jesus was taken to Caiaphas and “Peter followed him afar off?” (verse 58) Peter had just been spending time with Jesus, but then what happened? He lagged behind when things got hot, so instead of being in the forefront, he was left outside of the palace (verse 69) with the others. But, when questioned about his connection with Christ, he very boldly denied it.

Do we not do the same exact thing as Christians? Do we not put forth an appearance that we are right there with Jesus? I mean we have been saved and in church for decades. We speak His name here and there and even say a prayer now and then. But, when things heat up and circumstances change, we are like a chameleon and our colors very quickly change.

After Peter had been confronted the third time, he just lost it. He then began to curse and swear! Have you found yourself in this place before? A place where living a double life just about drove you crazy. The more that you tried, the more out of control it got and before you knew it, it all went up in flames. What a tragedy!

But, if we keep reading, what do we find? As soon as that cock crew, Peter’s heart was smote. That is when he went out from that place and he wept sorely … you know those deep, gut-wrenching sobs … the ones that you have not experienced in your life since you were a child … where you have been so broken by your sin, that it completely overwhelmed you. I know! I have been there!

How long has it been, my friend, since you found yourself in Peter’s shoes? It is time to change. It is time to find ourselves back in that place where our hearts are sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s convicting power. The closer that we are to Him, the greater the conviction will be. Stay close to Him! Stop living a life of duplicity. You are only deceiving yourself!

Lesson Objective: To understand what duplicity is. Do you find yourself lagging behind like Peter? You are there at church, but then you are not there. You read and study your Bible and then you do not read or study your Bible. You speak the language of a Christian and then you speak the language of the world. Have you found yourself on your face recently on your face completely broken by your sin of living a double life?

Did you pass or did you fail?

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Day 3: C is for Clean

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Psalm 119:9

C is for clean. Clean means free from dirt or stains; uncontaminated; pure. To be clean we must be cleansed (washed; purged; freed from sin]. How are we to do that? Are we supposed to run down to the store and pick up a bottle of Dawn dish soap and some cleaning rags? No.

Our verse clearly tells us how we can cleanse our ways? What does it say? Does it say that we are to read God’s Word? No. Does it say that we are to memorize God’s Word? No.

These are good and important things, but I can read God’s Word and my mind be totally disengaged or be off in another part of the world. So, what will actually produce the cleansing that we need? It is “taking heed” of God’s Word. In other words, we need to sit up, pay attention and take note.

I am an avid [conscientious; keen] note taker when it comes to listening to sermons at church. Most of the time, I am so focused on the sermon, I do not pay attention to those around me. But, when I have, it has really puzzled me to see people not paying attention, people who did not bring their Bible (when they do have a Bible), people who do not even open the Bible in the pew, ones who do not take notes to study and assimilate later, and even ones who very loudly close their Bibles or zip their Bible covers before the pastor is even done preaching! Yikes! Do Christians really do this? Sadly, yes, they do.

You have heard that “actions speak louder than words,” and if you do those things, you are just proclaiming to those around you that you do not care to learn, you do not care to grow, and you do not care to be cleansed from sins in your life. You are making a very bold statement of “I have no need of cleansing!” aka “I want to be a failure.”

When you were in school, did you just show up when you wanted and did what you wanted to do during the class? Not unless you wanted a big, fat “F” on your report card, right? No, you made sure that you were there on time (so that you did not miss any of the material that the teacher was going to cover that day), you made sure that you had your textbook out and open and following along with the teacher, and you made sure that you were taking good notes because you knew that you would be held accountable for that information later … and you did NOT want to fail your exam!

If we did this for school, why do we not do this as Christians? Why would we want to set ourselves up for failure? Because exam time is coming and we will be tested! Why would we want to continue in sin? Romans 6:1 asks that very question, “… Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” and we find the answer to that in verse 15 “… God forbid!”

Lesson Objective: To understand what is involved in cleansing. To do all in your power to be there when class is in session (be in God’s house). To be sitting up, paying attention, and taking notes when God’s Word is preached and taught … whether it be at church or in your own private devotion time at home.

Did you pass or did you fail?

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Day 2: B is for Bear

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

B is for bear. Bear means to help (assist), to support (lighten the load), to show kindness (be gracious) to, to show patience and forbearance, and to strengthen. I realize that this is a very common verse to quote, but when I spoke on this very topic last year at the ladies meeting in New York, God showed me some things that I never had seen before. I want to share those with you today … and I trust that there will be enough space to do so!

First, did you notice that the subject (personal pronoun) “You” was implied?  What does that mean? That means that this is a command verse! As a command, it would read as follows … “[You] bear … one another’s burdens.” Ouch! That definitely brings it up close and personal, does it not? Now let us really get to the nitty-gritty and see how we are to bear:

To help: We all at some time or another find ourselves under a heavy burden or trial. In those times, our desire most often is to just get through it. There may be other times that our greatest desire is for someone to HELP us get through it … we do not have the strength or the knowledge on our own. Notice that I did not say “TAKE” one another’s burdens … there is a BIG difference. [Illus: Christ TOOK all my sin onto His body; I no longer have my sin] I am not going to take my sister’s burden from her, but I will bear her burden with her!

To support: “Many hands make light work.” How true this saying is! When I have a big project to do in the ministry, I often will seek help from others. Why? Because a project/chore that is a drudgery will take me much longer to get motivated to do and inevitably, will take me much longer to do it. But, when there is someone there to help, it makes the job more enjoyable and the extra hands do help make it go quicker as well! We may even learn from them! Then, sometimes we just need the extra nudge.

To be kind or gracious to: How much more sore our trials can be when others do not understand the situation. They are uncaring, or judgmental (they have never had this problem, or “they would never do that”), or they are actually rude or abrasive. Does this help our situation? No. It actually causes more pain and sorrow. Right? Some times that person doesn’t even know they have a need; but, if we are spiritual, we can see that need and we should treat them appropriately.

To be patient or forbear: Our flesh can be our biggest enemy. It wants to jump ahead. It wants to straighten other people out … like right now! It wants to rush forth acting and speaking things that can bring permanent damage. Instead, we should be patiently waiting on the Spirit for direction.

To strengthen: It has been said that a chain is as strong as it’s weakest link. When we join ourselves to another in bearing their burdens (trials), they will only gain strength IF we are strong. We cannot offer anything to someone else that we ourselves do not have.

Lesson Objective: To understand what it means to bear another’s burdens. To acknowledge that this is a command to Christians and that you must obey.

Did you pass or did you fail?

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Day 1: A is for Anxiety

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you …” John 14:27

A is for anxiety. It means a nervous, uneasy feeling often accompanied by worry. I personally have experienced and struggled with anxiety for a number of years. I do not believe that I have completely “arrived” yet, but, over time, I have found certain things that help and certain things that exacerbate the condition. I would like to share some with you today.

First of all, I would like to say that anxiety is a real thing. It is not something that you can just sweep under the rug and it magically disappears. That is as far from the truth as you can get. Anxiety is alive and thriving in our society and churches today. It is interesting to note here that depression and fear are very close relatives to anxiety.

I believe that anxiety has two main types of root causes. One is spiritual and the other is physical (which encompasses mental and emotional as well). This is not how anxiety is addressed in our society today though. Typically, it is addressed and treated as a mental issue. What is the problem with this though? It is never resolved! Why? Because the majority of the time, it is more than a mental issue; therefore, it has a much stronger physical root affecting it.

Imagine with me for a moment my friend who has seizures. When her body starts to go into a seizure, is she able to think positive thoughts or even mentally tell her body not to have the seizure and it obeys? No. That is ludicrous, is it not? Why? Because the body has a stronger power than the mind. I am not saying that the mind is not important in some cases (when it is a mind issue). What I am saying is that there are more than one type of roots and you must address the proper kind to get the results that you are looking for.

When it comes to the physical, mental, or emotional roots of anxiety, I believe that they have roots in not only dietary issues, but diseases of the body, allergies to food, mold and innumerable things, sugar imbalances, hormonal imbalances, etc. I know for me, I have a great fear of flying, bad storms, traveling in bad weather, etc. Is it because I mentally cause it? No, I believe, it is the things that are inside of me that are forcing my body into those modes. I have never done the mental “talk-through,” but I have done the “clean up my diet and get my body into a healthier state” and watched my anxiety disappear.

I cannot close this day without saying that anxiety can have spiritual roots as well. When there is sin in our lives, it can affect us mentally, which in turn triggers anxiety. I believe that anyone with anxiety needs to explore the possibility of BOTH the physical roots and the spiritual roots. It is very common for anxiety to be addressed from either one or the other, but rarely both; consequently, leaving it there to continue to fester and wreck havoc in your life. 

Lesson Objective: To understand what anxiety is. If you have anxiety, to determine if it is coming from physical roots,  spiritual roots, or both? Then, lastly, start working on digging up those ugly roots for good.

Did you pass or did you fail?

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Day 31: Stress

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you …” John 14:27

I opened up my Bible word search app and typed in the word stress and what did I find? Hundreds of verse that had this word? No, not a single verse! So, since the Bible does not use this word, then it must not mean anything, right? Wrong!

Since the word stress is not found in the Bible, how do we know how to deal with stress in our lives … because stress is a very REAL thing? Well, there are some very REAL things (sins) that happen to us when we are under stress. So, let us start there.

PEACE: We have a loss of peace, when we are under stress. John 16:33

FEAR: As it affects us mentally and emotionally, we can experience fear and anxiety. Isaiah 41:10

ANGER: We can become irritable and angry very easily and quickly when we are under stress. Ephesians 4:26

WORRY: Since it comes with a lack of peace and increased fear, it will also cause us to worry more. Luke 12:22-23

I like to follow the holistic, natural, or functional medicine doctors. What are they saying today is the #1 key factor in our health … and no, it is not the gut, although it does play an important role? It is STRESS! Stress is defined as a constraining force or influence. It has many sub-definitions, one of which is a physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension which can play a major role in one’s health.

Stress, just like sin, if left unchecked, can cause almost insurmountable issues. If this is the case … and it is … then we need to find out what are the stressors in our lives and systematically remove them. My life, life in general and life in ministry, carries a heavy load of stress with it. We can be told to de-stress til we can repeat it in our sleep, but that is not going to take care of our stress. We are going to have to start searching for what the key stressors are in our lives.

So, this is what I did. I sat down and listed EVERYTHING that I could think of that was a stressor … external and internal (feelings, thoughts, health, etc). Here is some things that you may find in as your stressors also:

Physical illnesses, Lack of sleep, Overloaded schedule, Rushed from being unprepared, Rushed from being short on time, Not eating properly (enough small meals throughout day to keep blood sugars stable), Not getting any exercise, Listening to demands of others, Marital issues, Child issues, Debt/Financial, Job (boss/co-workers), etc.

Do you believe that Satan just loves to keep us in a stressed-filled and stressed-out state day in and day out? I do! Because it brings our health down … in God’s temple (abiding place), which leads to less effectiveness in ministering and serving our Savior.

Stress CAN be controlled! Now that we know what sins that stress brings into our lives and what the contributing factors are, we can definitely start working toward lowering stress in our lives. What a great weight can be lifted by eliminating stress in our lives!

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A-Z Lessons of Life

Good morning, y’all! I just wanted to drop in really quick and give you a brief insight into the devotions for August.

The topic that I have chosen for this month is “Learning Life’s Lessons.” Life is truly about one lesson after another, is it not?

How many lessons have we listened to but did not learn? How many lessons have we studied but still failed? How many lessons have we actually passed?

I believe, that we have easily fallen into the mindset that we are adults now and we are not in school. But, school is in session every single day, my friend, in your life and mine.

May our lives not be filled with failures, but may we LEARN LIFE’S LESSONS! 

There is LIFE in LEARNING! May we learn our lessons well!
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Day 30: Serving

“But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, doest thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.” Luke 10:40

The life of Christ here on earth was filled with serving, was it not? He did not come here to be served, but He came here to serve. Matthew 20:28 “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” He did this as an example for us to follow.

I grew up in ministry and have been in ministry my entire adult life so far and I have seen the pendulum swing (heavily) both ways when it comes to service. On one hand you have those who seemingly are content to fill the pew … when they decide to come to church … and on the other hand, you have those who seemingly spend 42/7 (no, that is not a typo!) “ministering” (serving). Which one is correct? Neither one!

It is just as much a sin to underserve as it is to overserve. Shock! But, it is true! The Bible just told us that in black and white in our verse for today.

There is a principle that we see in Matthew 6:33 that ties in here … “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Did you catch it? It hinges off of the fourth word in this verse. What it is? First, correct?

Do you know what the definition of the word first is? It is something that comes before all others. It is the primary or principle thing, is it not? It outranks all other things. But, do you know what? There are other things! Serving our Savior must be our first and primary priority, but God knows that there must be a balance found as well … because He knows that there are other things that require our time and energy as well.

In verse 39 of Luke 10, it says, “And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.” Now, let us go back and reread our verse for today … “But Martha was cumbered about much serving …” It really is, or should not be anyways, a surprise that Luke used the conjunction but here because clearly there is a vast difference between what Mary was doing and what Martha was doing. Correct?

Do you and I not find ourselves caught up in the Martha lifestyle being “cumbered,” or all tied up in knots, over-serving and forgetting that the first part (our first priority) must be our time spent at the Savior’s feet?

I am a slow learner, but I am learning. I am slowly moving forward in my proper service to Him and to others. May you also find yourself in this learning and growing process as well … and may we not forget that then “all these things shall be added unto you.”

We cannot do it alone, but we can do it with Him as our guide!

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Day 29: Suffering

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18

What is suffering? Who suffers? What kind of sufferings can we experience? How can we bear up through suffering? These are several things that I want us to take a look at today.

What is suffering? Suffering is defined as the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship. Pain comes in different forms … physical pain from an injury, mental pain, or emotional pain are a few types. Distress is anxiety, sorrow, grief, or heartbreak. Hardship is destitute or deprivation.

Who suffers? All who are in human flesh suffer, do they not? Even Christ, when He was on the earth, suffered (I Peter 4:1).  He was even “tempted” (tested) as we are … Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

What kind of sufferings can we experience? Well, that is a very loaded question and one which I do not have enough space to cover every single kind. But, I will share some and I am sure that many more will come to your mind that could be added.

Poor health; Loss of a child (in miscarriage, in an accident, or from an illness); Infidelity of a spouse; Rebellious teenager; spouse who does not take the spiritual leadership in your marriage or family; drama-filled families (usually over petty things); financial debt; never having enough income to pay bills; death of a spouse;  disillusionment in the church; judgement of others towards you; demanding boss; someone you love distancing themselves from you

How can we bear up through suffering? Well, here are four simple principles that can make a huge difference:

1) Trials come to purge (purify) us of sin — Psalm 66:10-11 “For thou, O God, hast proved us; thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.”

2) Learn to gain our strength from God Himself — II Corinthians 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in [your] weakness …”

3) Learning from our suffering — I Peter 5:10 “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle you.”

4) Using that experience to be able to help others who are traveling the same road — II Corinthians 1:4 “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

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Day 28: S-E-L-F

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

I hope that you did not jump straight to the text of this devotional and skipped the most important part … the scripture verse. Oops! Well, I will not tell anyone that you are taking a minute to go back and read it now. Oh! You did read it? Well, please take a minute to go back, reread it, and then meditate on it a moment.

What did God show you here? Did you see a pattern laid out in this verse? It is kind of a lengthy verse, I know! Yet, there is such a solid truth found right here in front of us!

“What is it?” you ask. Well, it encompasses this thought … life is ALL about God! Not me. Not self. But, simply God. Can you see it now?

I have been diligently planning and preparing for this year’s fall ladies retreat in Mexico. It is always the highlight of my year! I love to plan and share what God has given me to the ladies there. It is always such a blessing! This is your personal invitation to come join us one year. Typically, it is the last Friday and Saturday of September, but this year we have had to move it to September 13-14.

God always has a way of giving me the theme a year in advance. So, what do you think the theme is for next year (2020)? It will be based out of Galatians 2:20 and it will be “Giving it OWL to God!” I know, that owl does not translate to Spanish in this context, but the thought is what counts.

I enjoy scrolling through Facebook and Instagram from time to time. To be honest, I enjoy it less and less because there is so much out there about S-E-L-F. Self in this sense is so contradictory to the verse that we just read, is it not? Life is NOT about myself, my friend! Life is ALL about God! Do you agree?

· Savior — There is only one who could save me from sins … and it was NOT self! II Corinthians 5:21 “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

· Eternity — There is only one who can give me eternal life … and it is NOT self! John 17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ …”

· Love — There is only one who loved me enough to give their life for me … and it was NOT self! John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

· Faith — There is only one whose faith in counts … and it is NOT self! Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”