January 16- Responding After Victories

We spend much of our life trusting God to answer our prayers.  We plead, we pray, we petition our requests before God because we know that He hears and answers His children.  But is seems as though when God does answer a prayer we give very little afterthought.  We tend to spend countless hours in agony and travail with God, and then once He answers our prayer we barely give an expression of thanks.

The way we respond to prayer is just as important as the way we request our prayer.  How do you handle your victories?  How do you react when God comes through for you and meets your need?  Here are a few suggestions on how to respond after your victories:

1. Rejoice in Your Victories.  When God answers a prayer return thanks unto Him multiple times.  We spend months asking God for something and only minutes thanking Him for something.

2. Retell Your Victories.  Let others know how God has worked in your life.  The Lord may have allowed your trial to come just so you can share it with other people.

3. Remember Your Victories.  Don’t move past them too quickly. Keep good record of your victories.  You may need to be reminded later on how God has worked in your own life.  What God has done before, He can do again.

Ten lepers were healed from disease, but only one was healed from ingratitude.” -Kenneth Kuykendall

January 15- Living to Die, Dying to Live

There was a young man who was dying to graduate and get out of high school.  After high school he went to college and was dying to get out of college.  After college he was dying to get married.  After he got married he was dying to have children.  After he had children he was dying to get them through high school and out of the house.  After his children got out of the house he was dying to have grandkids.  Once he had grandkids he was dying to retire from his job.  Once he retired he was dying to travel.  After he traveled a few years he was just dying.  While on his death bed dying he looked back over his life and realized he had never lived.

Many people live in the past.  They can’t get beyond the failures or successes of yesteryear.  Who they are is defined by moments that have come and gone.  They consider the good ole days as their moments of glory.

Many people live in the future.  They anticipate some huge, fanciful event to come and change their life.  Like the fellow who was dying- he was always looking forward to something else.  Those who live in the future are always planning, preparing, and positioning themselves for something else.

Certainly we should remember our past; and indeed we should prepare for our future.  However, living in the past and the future robs us of enjoying where we are, and who we are in the present.  Don’t live to die- die to live!

I am resolved to never do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life” – Jonathan Edwards

January 14- Solomon’s Tennis Shoes

One of the most recognizable slogans in pop culture history was made famous in a Nike campaign that began in 1988.  The famous shoe-maker launched a series of commercials with a challenging yet simple plea, “Just Do it.”  Made popular by famous athletes such as Michael Jordan, John McEnroe, and Bo Jackson, the Nike Company rose above its competition and became the number one shoe-maker in the world.

The simple yet straightforward challenge of “Just Do It” was certainly a skillful advertising promotion but it became much more than that.  It was a call to get up and do something.  It became a movement against apathy and laziness; it was somewhat of a dare to my generation to be motivated and persistent, no matter what the challenge.

However, long before the famous slogan was coined by Nike Executives, King David gave the same advice to his son Solomon.  In 1 Chronicles 28:10 David told his son, “Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.”

What has God laid before you? What does the Lord want you to do today?  Whatever it may be you should know that God will provide the means, resources, and abilities to get it accomplished, you just have to be willing to do it.  Put on your Nike’s, rise to the challenge of the day and just go do it!

“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because the people who are evil, but because of the people who do nothing about it” – Albert Einstein

January 13- The Importance of Integrity

Much of what is happening in our world economically, politically, socially, and religiously is the absence of one basic and fundamental characteristic: integrity. The continual economic woes, the alarming political corruption, the socialism of our nation, and the unprecedented religious ambiguity are the result of a culture that dismisses the importance of doing right. In a nutshell that is the basic definition of integrity- doing right.

Webster defines integrity this way: An unimpaired condition: soundness; the quality or state of being complete, sound and unmovable in that condition.

Bob Jones Sr. said, “Do Right! Even if the stars are falling, do right! It is never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right.” I like what Will Rogers said about the subject, “Live in such a way that you would not be afraid to sale your parrot to the town gossip.”

Job, a perfect and upright man perhaps said it the best, “God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me” (Job 27:5). Job was willing to take his last breathe as a man who lived by certain standards and principles. I am afraid that our generation has bought into the notion that truth is relative and we do not have to give an account for our unrighteousness. Someone has rightly said, “Men are looking for better methods, but God is looking for better men.”

Integrity is what we do, what we say, and what we say we do” -Don Galer

January 12- Four Ways to Better Days

For some believers the only time they encounter the Lord is through an organized, corporate worship experience.  Their spiritual development is confined to a few services a week (if that), and they give no thought or commitment to their faith in Christ unless something goes terribly wrong.  But God has called us to walk with Him every single day.  So the question is asked: How can we succeed daily in our walk with God?

1. Start and End the day with God in Prayer.  This must be a priority as we face each day.  Have a time and a place, and then make an appointment with God each day.

2. Make Note of What is Important and What is Not.  There are some things we shouldn’t worry over; there are some things we shouldn’t waste our time on; there are some things we need to rid from our lives.

3. Place Spiritual Boundaries in Your Life and Remain Therein. Set parameters on what you allow into your mind and heart.  Set boundaries on where you allow yourself to go.   If there is something that hinders your walk with God place a restriction upon that thing.

4. Read and Meditate upon Scripture.  Saturate your heart and soul with the Word of God, and you will discover that it is easier to walk with Him in so doing.

“Live every day as though it is the only day that will be examined at the Judgment Seat of Christ” -Kenneth Kuykendall

January 11- Obstacles and Opportunities

Two shoe salesmen were both sent by the same company to a tropic island to sell shoes.  When the first salesmen arrived he was amazed that everyone on the island walked around bare-footed.  He immediately contacted his manager and said, “Send a boat back immediately, no one on this island wears shoes.”

The other salesmen made a phone call to his manager at the same time and said, “Send a boat back immediately with 10,000 pair, no one on this island wears shoes.”

The difference between our obstacles and our opportunities is oftentimes our attitude.  Someone has aptly said, “Life can be likened to a grindstone.  Whether it grinds you down or polishes you depends on what you are made of.”

This is more than the “power of positive thinking” philosophy.  Attitude affects our demeanor, our behavior, our character, and even our testimony.  Make the most of the worst situation and see the opportunities that abound in the midst of your obstacles.  Say with the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  Now go sell some shoes.

When you cannot change the direction of the sail, change the position of your sail” -Anonymous

January 10- The Reward of Honesty

Frederick II was the King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786.  He was known for his ability to influence and motivate others.  This quality earned him the title of Frederick the Great.  He was adored and applauded by his countrymen as he improved Prussia’s bureaucracy and promoted religious freedom.  Legend has it that one day he toured a particular prison in Berlin.  As he made his way through the cell he was greeted by multitudes of prisoners who were shouting for their freedom.  Many of them protested and exclaimed they were wrongly sentenced, all of them knowing he had the power to liberate them.

As Frederick the Great noticed one man sitting to himself quietly, the king asked the fellow, “You there.  Why are you here?”  The prisoner replied, “Armed robbery Your Majesty.”  The King then asked, “Well, are you guilty?”  To which the man replied, “Yes indeed, Your Majesty.  I entirely deserved my punishment.”  It was at that moment the king called the prison guard and said, “Release this guilty wretch at once; I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it.”

There is an indisputable value of being honest.

Place a high value on honesty, promote integrity, and live with character; such a life will give you favor with the King of Kings.

If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you can not tell it about other people” -Virginia Woolf

January 9- Auctioneering Discipleship

The hit show Storage Wars has revived the business of auctioneering.  Two years ago most people was unaware of this industry, but due to the show’s wild success more people are actually going out and putting bids on unpaid units.  The concept of the show is as basic as you would image- the crowd gets a glimpse of unpaid rooms and the bidding begins.

Typically when the auction starts you have multiple bidders.  Everyone is excited, people are pointing their fingers, shouting, and nodding their heads.  Every time the price goes up however there are fewer and fewer bidders.  At the end of the auction only one person is left bidding- the person who is willing to pay the highest price.

The same is true for a disciple of Jesus Christ.  When the Lord began His public ministry large crowds followed Him.  Thousands upon thousands of people would gather to see what this Miracle-Worker from Nazareth had to offer.  But if you study His ministry you will notice the closer He got to Calvary, the smaller the crowd become.  The reason for this is the same reason there are fewer bidders at the end of the auction- the cost became greater.  As followers of Jesus Christ we are to die to self, take up our cross, and follow Him daily. You may be asking, “But what do we get in return?”  Well, Jesus said, “In my father’s house are many mansions.”  I assure you, that is a “room” that is worth the bid.

Until you have given up yourself to Him, you will not have a real self.” -C.S. Lewis

January 8- Help Land the Plane!

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, told a story of a pilot friend who flew his single-engine plane to a rural airport late in the evening.  By the time the pilot had gotten to the airport everyone was already gone for the evening and the sun had set behind one of the mountains nearby.  The darkness had settled over the land.  There were no lights on the field or on the plane.  The pilot realized he would be out of gas within two hours; so frantically he flew in circles not knowing what his fate would be.

As panic began to grip his heart, something amazing happened.  Someone near the airport heard the constant drone of the small-engine plane overhead their home.  They immediately got in their car and raced to the airport.  With their lights shining brightly they drove up and down the strip, over and over again.  This indicated to the pilot the position of the runway.  Slowly and cautiously the pilot was able to land the plane safely because someone shined the light.

The world around us has become very dark, and those who are trying to live in the darkness are headed for certain death.  As believers we must shine our light in these dark days.  There are people all around us that need to hear the message of salvation.  We must arise from our relaxed state, and go into the darkness, shining our lights brighter than ever before.

Send the light, the Blessed Gospel Light; and let it shine from shore to shore…” -Charles Gabriel

January 7- Drive Slowly Through Oxford

If you head southbound on Highway 81 out of Walnut Grove, Georgia you will run through a small historic town called Oxford.  The little town has a population of only a couple of thousand people, and if you blink twice while going through the city you will probably miss it.  One thing for certain however is that you DO NOT want to blink twice.  Anyone who drives through Oxford knows to drive slowly and cautiously.  The speed limit drops quickly upon arrival into the town and the presence of police officers are everywhere.  They are constantly stopping motorists for speeding, burned-out headlights, loud mufflers, weaving, and the like.

A few days ago while traveling down Highway 81 I entered into Oxford and immediately stomped on the breaks and proceeded with caution- not because I was speeding but simply because I knew it wouldn’t be long until I was in the presence of a patrol car; and sure enough within just a few seconds I saw an officer checking for speeding motorists.

If the presence of a police-officer will cause us to proceed cautiously through a small town in Georgia, how much more should we abide by God’s Law, knowing that He is always present?  I want to keep the law of God in my life not because I love rules and regulations, but rather because I love the Lord and want to be pleasing unto Him.

Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” -Psalm 119:11