“O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Psalm 34:3 Got kids? Grand-kids? Dogs? Cats? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Best friend? Loved one? Someone you just adore? Someone you love to speak passionately about? Because you just can’t help yourself? The person is just that fantastic, that wonderful, that awesome, at least in your heart and eyes anyway? So you find yourself constantly gushing at the mouth about your kids, grand-kids, dogs, cats, boyfriend, whomever? Remember the movie from long ago called, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids?” With my middle-aged memory, I can’t even remember if I saw it! But the name of the movie just happened to pop into my mind one morning. Not because I was thinking of the movie, mind you. Or movies…

“I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.” Psalm 22:22 Who doesn’t in this crazy, ever-worsening world filled with ever-crazier, ever-worsening news love to hear a true story of a marvelous miracle courtesy of the Lord and His amazing magnificence, splendor, love, grace, and mercy, right? I wonder how often, however, we get so lost in the wonder of the miracle and God’s awesome supernatural power and how He bestows it upon His creation that we perhaps lose sight of something just as important as the miracle and giving God glory for it – how those on the receiving end of His miraculous and sovereign grace respond to it. Do we who receive miracles respond with praise, thanksgiving, honor, adoration,…

“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” Romans 14:12-13 “Why don’t they do…?” I asked the Lord, frustrated for the umpteenth time. I don’t remember my exact words to Him, but I most assuredly remembered the message behind it. I was thinking about all the years I had had my ministry and how exceedingly few people had ever helped me. How few had offered to help, how few had said yes when I asked for help, and how few who had committed to help actually followed through, for more than a few times anyway. And I…

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee…So Abram departed.” Gen. 12:1-4 KJV    “…Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” Acts 9:6 KJV (Jesus speaking to Paul)      Abraham and the apostle Paul may have lived a long time apart, but they had a bunch of things exceedingly important in common when it came to their awesome work for the Lord: They both loved, honored, and obeyed God even if they both didn’t start that way. (Paul started off persecuting Christians). When God said GO to them, they both went. They didn’t need to know the details of…

  “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Romans 12:18   “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Proverbs 28:13 ESV “I am truly sorry for interrupting you & speaking to you in the manner I did. I was wrong & prideful & should have listened and then responded if and as the Lord would have led me. Thank you in advance for forgiving me, sweet friend!!!” I wrote a beloved friend one fine morning. The morning was fine, such a fine, fine morning, because the Lord had so filled me with His glorious Spirit, had for so long been refining me and transforming me by His Spirit through deep, dedicated, and…

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh…” 2 Cor. 10:4 The world teaches us to fight our battles with our fists in the air, throwing punches at our enemy, fighting in all the strength we can muster, looking to past victories or others’ victories as our model to win the battles we face today. But the Bible makes clear this is NOT the way to fight our battles. In fact, the Bible reveals 6 ways NOT to fight our battles. Don’t go into a battle God hasn’t called us into; go only into the ones He has called us into. Don’t fight in our own “strength”; fight in His strength, or might. Don’t enter battle without the “full armor of God”; wear it and use it.…

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” Galatians 6:1 Within just minutes of getting on the phone with a friend who had reached out in response to hearing that I was struggling with something and could use prayer, she interrupted me not to just say she would pray for me. She had the nerve, the gall, the audacity, to do something totally inappropriate, unkind, insensitive, and un-compassionate, don’t you think? She pointed out something I was doing wrong that was undoubtedly displeasing to God and an impediment in my relationship with Him and would do nothing but hamper my continual learning how to walk, or to live, by…

“…that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.” Acts 26:20 ESV If you believe salvation, or being saved from God’s wrath, death, hell, and the lake of fire, and being promised God’s love, grace, forgiveness, mercy, a relationship with Him now and forever in heaven, is as simple, quick, and easy as saying a prayer, confessing your sins, asking Jesus into your heart, being baptized one pretty Sunday morning, going to church, reading your Bible, and calling yourself a Christian, or something like it, you are being deceived. You may even be deceiving others by telling them the same. You may well be on the highway to hell and the lake of fire, to live in perpetual torment eternally apart from God. How…

 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34 ESV     “I don’t want to give that to so-and-so,” I told the Lord in no uncertain terms as I continued day by day to go through my possessions and give away or throw away almost everything but bare essentials as I prepared to embark on the road with America as my missions field. This particular possession was something fairly expensive, in my estimate anyway, that I wanted to continue to use for the dogs. Or give to someone really nice to me. Like the person I had originally thought He wanted me to give it to. “That person’s nice to me,” I…

“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go…And he arose and went…Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him…And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.” Acts 8:26-39 (bold added)     If you know the story of the apostle Philip, the angel of the Lord, and the eunuch in need of Christ, maybe you’ve heard the message I missed for years in reading the story. A message for us all – in eight words. Arise. Go. Arose. Went. Go near. Ran thither. When God calls us on a…

   “But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came…

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” Psalm 42:1 ESV I have seen two great tragedies when it comes to being too busy for God. Both are like consumption, also known as tuberculosis. Per Wikipedia online, consumption is spread in the air, ordinarily affects the lungs, and is marked with breathing problems and other symptoms, and was called consumption because of the wasting away of a person. Potentially fatal, it can be treatable in this modern day normally over a long period of time. What does this have to do with being too busy for God? Many are wasting away because we are consumed with one of two things and are thus too busy for God. In the first, many of us…

    “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” Psalm 62:5     The last thing I ever expected considering how often people have let me down through the years is I would feel compelled to write a devotional about the BLESSING of people letting you down. But God in His amazing love and mercy has countless times over the years used some of the hardest places I have walked as some of the greatest opportunities to grow me in my relationship with Him and to help others through my speaking and writing to grow also. Such is the case with people letting me down. We all have our stories, don’t we? My story has been super hard for me, but absolutely NOTHING whatsoever in hardness…

   “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.” Luke 15:1 / / / “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” John 10:27     Why did the publicans and sinners DRAW NEAR to Jesus Christ? To HEAR HIM. Is the Spirit of God convicting you? Please read on. As an evangelist, I meet people continually. You might be surprised how many people who profess to be Christians DRAW NEAR to God to pray to Him, praise Him, worship Him, to hear sermons about Him, to read devotionals about Him, to read Christian books about Him, and to read commentaries and study notes about Him. There’s nothing wrong with any of this, is there? But I wonder if there’s…

   “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” Luke 15:1-2 KJV    “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8 ESV If there are any words ever spoken that God deserves to say to this world, it is these four words. Stay away from me. A perfectly holy, righteous, sovereign God who cannot be in the presence of sin. A perfectly unholy, unrighteous, not sovereign, broken, ungodly, wicked humanity who has no right to be in God’s presence either on this earth or forever in heaven, who deserves nothing more nor less than to die and suffer forever apart from God in hell…

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:3-5  I have a loved one who has rarely had time for me. When the person has had it, it has been when the person found an opening in the person’s calendar. I was squeezed in between appointments, or had to wait until all else was accomplished…

“…Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;…” Mt. 5:44 KJV What if the very person God wants you to love and help and share the Gospel with and give to and bless and serve and reach out to and speak to with kindness and listen to in humility and hug with heartfelt sincerity or anything at all for Christ’s name’s sake is the very person you want to have absolutely nothing to do with ever again or at the very least for the time being right now? I can imagine the Spirit of God is already moving on your heart, isn’t He? Bringing someone to mind. Or some people. How often…

    “Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and…

   “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Mt. 7:21-23 “[That person] is not following me,” I sensed the Holy Spirit say to me one day in regard to someone I knew. But that was impossible. Wasn’t it? The person went to church, praised and worshiped the Lord joyfully, gave glory to God all the time, gushed to others…

““My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.” Hebrews 12:5 ESV The pastor at a church I attended for a Bible study made me cry one day. Not in front of everyone, but when we sat in his office together with the door wide open for all to see and hear. I was happy about the door being open because I learned long ago it’s wise biblically for a woman and a male pastor to never be behind closed doors alone without at least a window, but if you might guess I wasn’t thrilled he made me cry you would be wrong. I couldn’t have been more thankful. His love for Christ, dedication to his calling as pastor, faithfulness to…

   “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”” Luke 10:36-37 ESV    “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:13 ESV     One day in church jam packed as usual with my homeless friends as this was a special weekly church service for homeless people, I took in a deep whiff of the pungent, decidedly unpleasant smell of a homeless person. Homeless people smell you know. Not all of them. Some. Of alcohol,  cigarettes, sweat, un-showered bodies, no deodorant. Of life on the streets and in the woods. The…

    “He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.” Mark 4:34    “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26     When a beloved friend asked if I had ever taught on Mark 4:34, I had two thoughts. First, I’m not a teacher. I’m an evangelist and author called to help people find and follow the Lord Jesus Christ forever through the written and spoken word who writes books, tracts, and devotionals that help people follow Him. I consider myself everything but a Bible expert, but am so in love with the Lord and…

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Mt. 10:39     This may surprise you, when I tell you 10 crazy things about me, but what may surprise you most of all is what’s in my heart concerning this. Maybe you’ll think at first I’m deprived and nuts. But once you hear my heart, you might think again. You might even take a look at your own life and begin to consider a few things. Like just where you stand. I haven’t owned a television in years I rarely listen to the radio I almost never go to the movies I only read the Bible, and Christian books from time to time, and sometimes virtually nothing but the Bible I…

“Flee from sexual immorality.” 1 Cor. 6:18 Ugh. There is nothing and nobody I love to talk more about than the Lord. And there is nothing I hate to talk more about than sex – thanks to the aftereffects of childhood sex abuse. But I love the Lord too much – and I love you too much – to say no when His Spirit led me to write this. So how’s your sex life? Before you answer, let me say this. I’m not seeking an answer. I don’t need to know. This isn’t about me. It’s about you – and God. And God has standards when it comes to humans and sex, and we’re living in a time in which this world’s standards couldn’t be any further from God’s. So…

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Rev. 3:15-16 KJV “I know that God loves me,” someone very dear to me said to me one day in one of our ongoing conversations about the Lord. “But I don’t know if I love God,” he said. I was blown away by his confession. Not because I was surprised by what he had to say. After all, his life for years had made it abundantly clear he didn’t truly love Jesus Christ though he professed to believe in him. No, I wasn’t surprised by his confession. What astonished me was that…

“The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey…Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’” Deut. 1:6-8 ESV Early one morning. Spending time with the Lord. Finally a good night of sleep. Getting ready for the day. With God. My usual combo of prayer, praise, study, listening, writing, in no particular order. No agenda. Love will do that. Love will break free from programs and traditions. Love for Him. Letting Him lead. So breathlessly hungry for Him. Oh, to learn of Him. To be with Him. To commune with Him. To…

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” 2 Cor. 7:10 I am a long-time writer and editor so it shouldn’t have surprised me when a beloved brother in the Lord wrote me a brief message about sin in response to a devotional I had written that I found a seemingly insignificant word the general public would probably look over that I felt convicted by the Spirit of God makes an extraordinary difference in the message it was used to convey. I know well the heart of my brother in the Lord and his exceeding love for and devotion to the Lord and His Word, and easily discerned the heart behind his message for I know his desire as my own…