Devotional
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May 27, 2009
Set:
Tuesday is always trash day. And on some Tuesdays, there seems to be very little good about the morning. Daily tasks often can become mundane, but not this one. Every Tuesday morning I am the member of the family who deposits the trash into the proper container. This morning, as I sat back at the table lamenting the fact that I had to take the trash out to the curb, I heard a song resonating from an upstairs bedroom. “I am C. I am C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.” It was coming from my 7-year-old, who was joyfully ringing in the day.
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May 25, 2009
Set:
Integrity isn’t just something you display when you’re out in public or on the job. It also carries over to your family, to your kids, to your neighbors, to everybody who comes into contact with you. Am I saying things to my family like, “This is what I want you to do,” but I don’t necessarily do them? Am I saying, “This is what we’re going to be all about as a family,” but maybe next week it won’t be? I think that’s very confusing and it’s important to let my family know here are our standards, the Lord’s standards. This is what we’re going to try to live up to. Sure we’re going to fail at times and we’re going to fall short, but this is what we need to be about.
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May 21, 2009
Set:
OK, I admit it. I worry too much. I worry about work, worry about my family, worry, worry, worry. And it always seems like for every worry I have, I gain 10 pounds. Talk about being weighed down! We all struggle with it from time to time.
How do we get rid of the baggage that worry brings? Well, that is easy—leave it at the cross. Which, as we all know, is easier said than done. However, the second part of today’s verse is quite helpful. When I tend to worry too much, I find myself encouraging others more. I love to encourage others and brighten their days. Encouragement is fuel to our lives. It keeps our tanks full and overflowing.
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May 18, 2009
Set:
In a pro basketball game in South Africa, I drove the baseline and dunked on the guy guarding me. I then stole the inbounds pass and dunked it again. After that, I received a pass from a teammate who stole the ball on the next ossession and yet dunked again. I had three dunks in a span of about 60 seconds. However, in that same game I also was dunked on and fouled the guy on the play. As it was my fifth and disqualifying foul, I went to the bench to watch my team lose the game.
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May 18, 2009
Set:
Walking with God can sometimes become a puzzling and frustrating journey…if you let it. There are times when you want to ask God, “Why me?” when you are faced with adversity. But the real question should be: “Lord, what is my purpose in this trial?” If you start to wonder why God has allowed your obstacle, then you need to look back to His Word and find the answer.
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May 14, 2009
Set:
Every week athletes and coaches around the country come to chapels and Huddles looking for something from the Lord in relation to their walk with Christ and their sport. Many come looking for a word from the Lord to encourage or inspire them before their contest. Some come for fellowship, some for worship, some for truth to purify their walk with the holy and righteous One (2 Tim 1:9).
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May 13, 2009
Set:
We've all seen it. The superstar athlete comes out of the tunnel after a game, or he is spotted in somewhere public and a crowd begins to swarm him. People begin pushing and shoving, all jarring each other for a chance to get an autograph or picture with the one who made the unbelievable play, won the championship or was inducted into the hall of fame.
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May 13, 2009
Set:
Following a sports legend is tough. Who could ever fill the shoes of Walter Payton, Magic Johnson, Nolan Ryan or Mia Hamm? Someone always has to. Who were the men and women who stepped in after the great ones were gone? I’m sure some of you sports buffs our there could tell us, but the point is that someone did take their place. Not without a little fear, though, I would imagine.
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May 08, 2009
Set:
All my friends and I are turning 16 this year and, let me tell you, that’s a big one. I always know who’s just had a birthday, not because their school locker is decorated or because of that faint scent of butter cream frosting on their breath, but because of something far more significant: that shiny new driver’s license burning a hole in their wallet! Hey, that is a milestone in a kid’s life. And that little piece of plastic pretty much tells it all. I mean, it tells your height, your weight, your eye color—everything you’d need to know about a person. But, if you ask me, even with all that information, a lot of kids in my generation are having a serious identity crisis!
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May 08, 2009
Set:
In 1 Samuel 17, we are told of Israel’s encounter with Goliath, the great warrior of the Philistines. He challenged the Israelites to a single combat to decide the battle. The Israelites ran in fear from this warrior who stood over 9 feet tall and was strong as an ox. Shaquille O’Neal, who stands over 7 feet tall, would have been about 18 inches shorter than Goliath. But that gives us an illustration of the massive size of this man. Little David, though, is undeterred and proclaims that his God will deliver the Philistine giant into his hands.
Where did David get such confidence?
