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Day 27: Confidence

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.” Hebrews 10:35

There are so many times in life where we are faced with important decisions and once that decision is made, we still have to wait for the fruition of that, correct? Who loves the waiting game? No hands?! Yeah, mine was not up either!

Really the only instant thing in life is salvation. Growing, learning and maturing take time. Starting training for a career, starting a family, looking for your first home, buying your first car, starting a business, planting a garden, learning a new skill, etc. All of these are decisions that we make but then have to wait for completion, correct?

So, during that waiting time, what do we need? Confidence, am I right? We need the confidence to see with eyes that believe and eyes that trust that the final product or event will take place.

In the beginning, there is usually a lot of excitement for what will be forthcoming. But, as time wains on, it is hard to keep up the excitement and the confidence that things will ever be fulfilled. I am going through one of those times right now in my health journey.

We need to be able, with confidence, continue forward even when there is no light at the end of the tunnel to guide us or to give us hope. Our hope must remain in Him who giveth life and giveth us all things.

I have recently made some very positive changes in my health regime. I know that what I am doing is very good for my body and my health, but yet there are many days and many moments where I find myself floundering in doubt. Maybe there is an area in your life where you are struggling as well. Do not give up hope, my friend! Keep your confidence! Keep your belief and trust strong!

¨ Psalm 42:11 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

¨ Romans 15:13 “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

¨ Psalm 119:114 “thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.”

¨ Romans 5:3-5 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope. And hope maketh not ashamed …”

¨ Lamentations 3:24 “The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.”

¨ Micah 7:7 “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”

¨ Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

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Day 26: Pride

“An high look, and a PROUD heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Proverbs 21:4

Pride is a very controversial word these days in our society. It has taken on many meanings and connotations. But, the pride that I want us to look at today is the one found here in this verse. It is the “high look.” The one which forces our nose and chin up into the air. Yep! You have seen this one before, have you not?

To be PROUD means “to be puffed up about your accomplishments; to think highly of yourself (that you are better or too good to do certain things); to trust in your own self and disregard the instruction of others (you think that you know better than others, especially those in authority over you).”

Pride is a powerful tool of the devil that can quickly and dramatically bring a child of God down in defeat. Pride can even be seen in a child of a very young age. Have you ever seen one who was so determined to climb a step or tie a shoe or ride a bicycle without help? There it is rearing its stubborn head right before your eyes … and in one so young.

What about we as adults? Do we let pride control our lives? Umm, I believe that we can claim a resounding, “YES!” on that one.

Pride can actually infiltrate many areas of our lives. We may be aware of one area, but have we checked all of the areas? When we went searching for pride in our lives, did we search every room? Did we search under every rug and behind every door? Well, let us see …

· In our finances – Do we trust God enough to give Him our 10%? Malachi 3:10a “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house …”

· In our friends – Are we are afraid that God won’t give us any friends, so we grab anyone who we can, whether they are a good influence on our lives or not? Proverbs 16:28 “A froward man soweth strife; and a whisperer separateth chief friends.”

· In our time – Do we demand “ME first?” I Corinthians 10:24 “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.”

· In our sin – Are we willing to admit that we are wrong and ask for forgiveness, when needed? I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

· In our relationships – Do we think that we know more than our peers, our spouse, our pastor, or those in authority over us? Proverbs 3:7 “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.”

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Day 25: Deadly D’s

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

I know I have done a lesson … well, a mini-series of 30 lessons actually … on the Deadly D’s, but I believe, that we need to focus on several that I see popping up in our lives as Christians.

The devil desires nothing more than to beat us down with these Deadly D’s. But, we are going to fight back, are we not? In order to do that though, we must equip ourselves (gain knowledge of these deadly darts that the devil hurls at us). We can gain victory in these areas!

¨ Doubt: means a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction — Romans 14:23 “And he that doubteth is dammed if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

¨ Discouragement: means depression of one’s spirit — Psalm 42:5 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”

¨ Distraction: means diverted; confused; lack of focus; not focused on the proper thing — Matthew 14:28, 30 “And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water … But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”

¨ Detour: means not the main, direct route; a roundabout way — Jonah 1:2-3 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa …”

¨ Discontent: means unhappiness of the condition of things — Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

¨ Dishonest: means untruthful — Romans 12:17b “… Provide things honest in the sight of all men.”

¨ Depression: means feelings of severe despondency — Proverbs 12:25 “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop …”

I do not know about you, but I have seen some of these in recent days in my life. Seeing them here defined and scripture that talks about them, makes me realize how deadly they can be if I leave them unchecked.

Let us find strength from God today to overcome these Deadly D’s! Let us send the devil on the run and let God give us the victory!

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Day 24: Soldier

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” II Timothy 2:3

Most of us are probably familiar with the hymn, “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” Well, it was written in the mid-1860’s by Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. He was born in 1834. When he was a child, his father was in a bad carriage accident that left him crippled for the rest of his life. Since his father was unable to work, he traveled and took Sabine with him.

Sabine did not receive much formal education due to the constant traveling as a child, but he was a very brilliant young lad. Even though he was self-taught, he had a very sharp and active mind which led him to write many books, articles, poems, hymns, and tracts.

This hymn was planted in the mind of Sabine one Sunday after seeing a baptismal group “march” in their flowing white robes to the baptismal area. It reminded him of soldiers marching off to war. So, later when he was needing to write a marching style hymn for Sunday School, the words flowed freely from his remembrance of this scene.

I know that we talked about the armor of a soldier in the devotional on day 4 and this devotional on the characteristics (character traits) of a soldier probably should have preceded or followed that one, but we will focus on it today instead.

So, what are the character traits that our life as a Christian soldier should portray? First, let us look at the definition of a soldier. A soldier is one who is a member of an army; one who stands up for a certain cause and fights, if needed. Wow! That should be you and I as Christians, should it not?

1) One who not only FIGHTS, but represents (stands up) for a certain cause

2) One who has great INTEGRITY (one who is honest/tells the truth, is not under-handed)

3) One who is DEPENDABLE (one you can trust to always do what they say they will do)

4) One who looks out for the best of OTHERS

5) One who makes WISE decisions

6) One who shows INITIATIVE (one who does not wait to be told what to do, but sees what needs to be done and does it)

7) One who has TENACITY (one who holds firm to what is right; one who does not back down by pressure from others)

8) One who is FAITHFUL (one who is always there; they are never missing)

9) One who FOLLOWS (God)

10) One who stays FOCUSED (they know what needs to get done and they do it before they allow themselves time off, time to do other things or time to relax)

So, how is your life looking right now? How many of these character traits could you put a check by, if asked?

It is not too late to start building character in your life as a soldier of Jesus Christ! May you make that commitment today!

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Day 23: WWJD

“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” I John 2:6

I know that the title today dates me, but there is something here that we all need to see and follow. God sent His Son to this earth and He left for us an example. An example is not given to be thrown in the corner or set on a shelf. No, my friend, we are to FOLLOW (utilize) that example.

In life, we find ourselves making decision after decision after decision. Our lives are FULL of decisions, are they not? So, what do we use as a “rule of thumb” when making decisions? Or do we just go with the flow? Or come up with a resolution off the cuff?

I trust that this is not the case for you because EVERY decision that we make is important. Every decision that we make has a consequence. May we choose wisely!

1. Think as Christ thinks — we do this by searching His Word for answers. Numerous answers are not going to be there in black and white, but do not despair … there is an answer there in principle, if nothing else.

2. Be teachable — no one knows it all, so do not try to act like you do because no one will believe you.

3. Use what you have in your hand right now — the parable of the talents so clearly teaches us this principle, does it not? That is only one of the many other biblical examples of this.

4. Search and see if there is some root source or sin that is affecting this situation or decision — ask God in prayer to help reveal if there is a root issue that is involved.

5. Have we properly handled the situation thus far? Sometimes God does not allow us to move forward because we have not learned the lesson that He wants us to learn in the situation.

6. Have we spent enough time in our prayer closet seeking God’s face in the situation?

7. Do we have a friend that we can confide in and know that they will not only pray for us, but will keep that confidence as surely as God does?

If you get nothing else in all of these devotionals, get this … God’s Word has all the resources that we need to live a healthy and profitable Christian life. Yet, what doth hinder us? Our unbelief!

Maybe #1 needs to be changed to this … putting our whole belief and trust in the One who has so generously and freely given us all things in His Word to guide us in this life here below!

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Day 22: Counsel

“Where no COUNSEL is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” Proverbs 11:14

How many of us sought counsel this week? What did you seek counsel for? Was it how to fix your washing machine? How to properly hang out clothes on the clothesline to make the most of the space you have? Or maybe it was how to make an irresistible casserole.

Counsel means to seek advice, on a topic that is unknown or that you do not much knowledge on, typically formally, but not always. Attorneys or lawyers are often referred to as counsellors. Counsellors of law do what? They give advice on legal matters, correct?

If I wanted to know more about how to bake a wedding cake, then I would seek counsel from someone who has a lot of experience making wedding cakes, correct? Or if I wanted to know more about how to bake sugar-free desserts, I would seek counsel (advice) from someone who has more experience doing this.

It only makes sense to seek counsel from someone who has the knowledge and expertise that we lack, so why do we too often find ourselves floundering along in our own counsel or seeking it from family, friends, the cashier at the grocery store, and any numerous other ill-chosen choices?

We have already established in our devotion on day 3 that the battles that we face in life are not personal battles (man vs. man, or flesh vs. flesh). No, my friend, they are spiritual battles! So, answer this. Who has the most experience and knowledge about fighting spiritual battles? The Lord, right? We saw that in II Chronicles 20:15.

If we are going to win these spiritual battles, then we must seek counsel from a spiritual standpoint … not some man’s opinion or experience.

1. Seek counsel from God Himself — by taking your burdens, your concerns, your questions, and your trials to God in prayer opens the door of communication to be able to then receive His counsel through the other three means.

2. Seek counsel from God’s Word — there is not a more sure word (II Peter 1:19). In the following numbers, these too must meet this first requirement. Always seek counsel from someone who will give you BIBLICAL answers … scriptural, chapter, and verse answers.

3. Seek counsel from your pastor — keep in mind that he is human, but all pastors should be students of God’s Word to where they have a very good “working-knowledge” of it to be able to deliver sound, biblical advice.

4. Seek counsel from other Christians who are students and stewards of God’s Word — no man will have all the answers but these Christians can definitely give you some guidance through God’s Word as well!

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Day 21: Faithful

“He that is FAITHFUL in that which is least is FAITHFUL also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” Luke 16:10

What is faithfulness? Is it something that grows on trees? Is it something that is painted on billboards that litter the highways across America? Is it something that can be purchased with Amazon Prime? No, my friend. Faithfulness is none of these things.

So, what is faithfulness? Well, it can be well described by seeing its synonyms … dedicated, unwavering, loyal, committed, steadfast, constant, true, and staunch. Wow! That is a mouth full! So, let us break these words down into definitions.

· Dedicated —devoted with single-minded loyalty and integrity

· Unwavering — fixed; resolved; not changing

· Loyal — showing firm and consistent support

· Committed — dedicated and bound with the whole heart or being

· Steadfast — dependable; reliable; trustworthy

· Constant — continuous

· True — encompassed in truth

· Staunch — firm; resolute

Why is faithfulness so important in our lives as Christians? Well, faithfulness is a character trait. It is something that has very deep-lying roots in our lives. It can affect every single area of our lives, our homes, our churches, and our country!

It is so easy to brush off the “little” things claiming that they are not important. But, they are important! They are VERY important! Please do not overlook faithfulness in the smallest things, my friend!

I know how hard it can be to be faithful when circumstances and people are against us, but we must remain faithful! We must keep disciplined and on course. We must remain faithful in our love and fellowship with our Savior. We must remain faithful in our marriage. We must remain faithful in our jobs. We must remain faithful in serving. We must remain faithful in giving. We must remain faithful in church. We must remain faithful in ALL things!

Mac Lynch wrote a beautiful hymn entitled, “May the Lord Find Us Faithful.” He said, “God has not given us the spirit of fear, But has given us the strength to obey, With power and sound mind, with love, the unfailing kind. O be not ashamed of His way … May His Word be our banner held high!” Such familiar, yet meaningful, words!

I Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found FAITHFUL.”

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Day 20: Doubt

“… O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou DOUBT?” Matthew 14:31

When it comes to doubting in the scripture, we probably all draw a black and white picture of “Doubting Thomas” in our minds. But, let us add some color to that picture, shall we?

What does doubt actually mean? It means a feeling of uncertainty or conviction. In other words, a doubting person has some serious questions in their mind about the believability of someone or something. That was truly the case with Thomas. He did not want to believe that Christ had risen from the tomb … at least not without seeing with his own eyes and putting his finger in the nail prints.

It seems as if this one incident has defined Thomas. It is as if any other good that he had done prior or after did not even exist; yet, we know that it did because we see his courage and his trust in John 11. Men have a way of making a mountain out of a molehill, do they not? Even in jest, we can create a monster in a hurry that grows to a disproportionate size!

Even you and I can get caught up in this practice … for how often do you and I judge another person and put a negative label on them? I can still hear my mother admonishes us to not call people (especially) children names (i.e. fat, stupid, dumb, baby, etc.). Why? Because that repeated name-calling can affect that person to the point that they start believing, acting, and becoming what they have been called. So, be very careful, my friend!

Well, that was a rabbit trail of all rabbit trails! That was definitely not the angle that I intended to go with this devotional. So, let us find our way back to the trail of doubting.

We have talked much about Satan and the warfare that we fight daily as a Christian. Doubt is definitely one of the tools that Satan loves to use in our lives to keep us in a weak, defeated state. I believe that confusion is its twin … by the way, did you know that Thomas means twin in Aramaic? Well, maybe they are triplets … with fear?!

Where does doubt, confusion, and fear come from? Well, not from God! I Corinthians 14:33 tells us that. So, if not from God, then from whom? The devil! Right? Does that mean that we can play the blame game and tell God that “the devil made me do it?” No, instead we are to follow the instruction in Ephesians 4:27 when we are told to “Neither give place to the devil.”

It is so easy to get caught up in doubt and fear, which causes confusion. We must strengthen ourselves in the Word of God. We must trust God to do as He has promised. He will not leave us powerless! He can give us a strong, sound mind.

I Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

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Day 19: Fear

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Psalm 56:3

Satan loves to strike fear in our hearts because he knows that fear paralyzes. Paralysis keeps us frozen in one place. We cannot move. We cannot accomplish anything … not even things that are right beside us. If we even attempt to do things that are close to us during this paralysis, we can really botch them up because we are not able to function normally.

The definition of fear is actually two-fold. First, fear can be a reverence or submission to God. Second, it can be an emotion that is affected by the belief that something is either dangerous or threatening. I would like us to look at both of these, because both of these play a part in our spiritual battle against Satan.

First, there is our fear of the Lord. There is not much of this seen in today’s world, is there? Men do not fear the Lord. They do not respect or submit to the Lord. Oh, they claim to be Christians, but in their actions, they show the opposite.

Many scriptures encourage and admonish us to fear the Lord. Verses like Proverbs 1:7 tells us that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Who wants to be thought of as a fool? Not me! How about you?

Second, there is our emotional fear. There are many types of emotional fears … fear of spiders, fear of heights, fear of the unknown, fear of water, fear of flying, fear of death, fear of man’s opinion, fear of change, and the list just goes on and on.   Emotional fears can be just as dangerous as our lack of fear for the Lord because they distract us, they paralyze us, and they keep us frozen in one place.

As I find myself increasing in years (not aging, you know, but just increasing in years), that I have acquired quite a fear of flying. It practically paralyzes me … and I have even been known to have anxiety attacks as well. In fact, please do not even mention anything even remotely close to severe weather, other plane crashes, etc., etc. You get my drift, do you not?

One scripture that has really helped me to keep my focus when fear wants to overtake my life is Joshua 1:5b “as I was with   Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Just reading down through Hebrews 11 is a great help and encouragement to keep moving forward and to not let fear paralyze me. It can be very hard to take that step of faith and launch out into the deep (the unknown), but sometimes that is exactly what God is waiting for. He is waiting for you to take that step of faith and then He will show how your faith has made you whole (complete in Him)!

No matter what our emotional fear is we can overcome! Can you imagine when the Israelites arrived at the Red Sea? I imagine they stood there in fear … but as they stepped forth in faith, what happened? God parted the sea and they not only went forward on dry ground but they left behind all the bondage and fear that had been holding there in Egypt!

Do you find yourself standing at the edge of the “Red Sea” waiting for God to part the waters? Take that step of faith, my friend, and God will bring you forth to the other side … free from the bondage that has kept you in Egypt! Freedom so rich and sweet … made whole and complete in Him!

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Day 18: Thankful

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed … giving THANKS to God and the Father by him … and be ye THANKful.” Colossians 3:17 and 15b

We live in a very ungrateful world today, do we not? We see and hear it all around us. It is on the news. It is splashed and forwarded all over the internet and social media. But, you and I are called by God to not be like the world around us. No, my friend, we are to be THANKFUL!

Verse 17 above tells us that “whatsoever [we] do in WORD or DEED.” Well, that just nails it right there, does it not? Here we thought that we could just speak words of gratefulness. Now, we are going to have to not only speak words, but our actions will have to follow. Ugh!

Our gratefulness should come from the heart. Matthew 15:18 “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” So, if we are grateful, it will come forth out of our mouths. If we are not grateful, our mouths will also tell on us.

Now that we are empty-nesters, I find myself reflecting back on things that I did as a parent and question why I even did some of the things that I did. One thing I questioned myself on is when my child did something wrong to another making them say, “I’m sorry.” Did that make everything better? Umm … I do not think so! It may have made me feel better … knowing that my child told someone they had hurt that they are sorry.

It did not make my child magically sorry inside (where it counts, by the way). I am sure that it did not make them feel any better … because, I mean why should it when all I did was make them say some words that they did not mean at all?

Have you have heard of the little boy whose mother wanted him to sit down in a chair? She kept telling him to sit down and he would not do it. Finally, she got really stern with him and told him (in no uncertain terms) that he was to sit down! Well, he finally acquiesced and sat down … and then mumbled under his breath, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I am standing up on the inside!”

Did that little boy have the right attitude … an attitude of obedience … from the heart? No, he did not, did he? What about you and I, my friend? How is our attitude? Are we grateful for the things that we have? Are we grateful for the storms that God puts us in … to strengthen and grow us? Are we grateful for the spouse, the children, and the family that we have?

I know it is hard to be grateful for all things … not just in word, but also in deed. To be honest, I have been making an effort to be more grateful in my words … and I have even had people act surprised that I have expressed thanks to them because it is something that they rarely hear. But, how just as important that I make sure that my heart is full of gratitude as well!

Lord, help me to be THANKFUL from the HEART … in WORD and DEED!