Bless Others

What Forgiveness Is

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” – Isaiah 30:18 As we conclude our series on forgiveness and now that we’ve covered what forgiveness is not and how we can set boundaries in the process of letting go, I want to talk about what forgiveness really is. Forgiveness is entrusting justice to God. Forgiveness is acknowledging that a person hurt or wounded you, but then choosing to let it go. You’re not going to forget what happened or say it was okay, but you’re going to wish the best for the person who harmed you. As you release them you are going to pray for God to bless them and ask that He would turn their heart around and that they would find His

November 12, 2022 3 Comments

Don’t Forget to Bless the Lord

“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” – Psalm 34:1 Some of you may be confused by the title of this devotional. Did you know we can bless the Lord? I was in prayer with a good friend and I said, “Lord, we bless you.” He said, “You know, you don’t bless the Lord; the Lord blesses you.” And I said, “No, it’s a two-way street; the Lord blesses you, and you bless the Lord.” He continued to debate me on this, but I know from a biblical perspective that he was incorrect, so I finally looked at him, and in a loud, strong voice I said, “Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and all that is within me.” There are hundreds of scriptures that say, “Worship the Lord, praise the Lord, and thank the Lord,” but there are also many

September 18, 2022 No Comments

Called to Reach the World

“Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ ” – Galatians 3:8 In Jesus’ day, the idea of holiness had become very important to the Jewish people. Babylonian exile and captivity experienced by the Jews five hundred years earlier due to embracing pagan practices caused them to build a fence around the Torah. This meant that you obeyed the law perfectly and never violated it. For first-century Jews, many lived out holiness by following rules and legalism, but were bereft of blessing others. So much of the heart to reach people had been lost because they were afraid to fall out of God’s favor and into captivity once again. During this time, I think there was this huge separation between God’s people and those outside of their culture they were intended to reach.

July 21, 2022 No Comments

Filled to Overflowing

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” – Luke 6:38 Yesterday we talked about living life with open hands. Today, I want to build on that idea by sharing with you a somewhat spiritual law that enables you to maintain this posture of openness: give away what you desire most. I firmly believe that one of the best ways to invite God’s blessing into our lives is to give to others the thing that we feel we most lack. To some of you, this may sound like a radical proposition. In light of what the world teaches, it just may be. However, the idea behind it is that the more you give away, the more room you have to be filled

February 11, 2022 No Comments

Provide for Your Neighbor

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” – Luke 6:38 We’ve talked a lot about how to become a person of Kingdom generosity, especially when it comes to tithing, or giving the first 10% of our income to God’s cause. Today, I’d want to offer some specifics on how this manifests itself in our lives, particularly during this holiday season, which is so focused on giving. When you tithe, I believe you make your church your default. This means that if you’re not sure what to give to, you give the entire 10% to your home fellowship. It’s fine to give to something else if the Lord puts something else on your heart or places someone in your path who has

December 14, 2021 No Comments

Discomfort Can be Good

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” – 2 Corinthians 9:6 Do you know what a Chinese finger trap is? It’s the woven tube thing where you put two fingers, usually one from each hand, and they become trapped when you try to pull them out. It’s essentially a kinetic mystery, and it’s frequently one of the first things children encounter. The trap is interesting in that the harder you try to get your fingers out, the tighter it becomes; the only way out is to press in! The tube loosens and you are free when you push both fingers toward the middle. A seatbelt in a car works in the same way: the stronger you pull, the tighter it becomes. The lesson to be learned from these examples is that you must lean into certain types of suffering to

December 13, 2021 No Comments

There is Power in Generosity

“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” – 2 Corinthians 9:11 I recently had the pleasure of spending time with David Green, the founder of the Hobby Lobby company and a devoted believer as well as a very nice man. I was speaking with him, and he told me an incredible anecdote. He was working at a small craft store in Oklahoma City in the 1970s when he decided he wanted to start his own business. He took out a $600 loan and opened a small craft shop in his garage. His network now has over 800 locations, and his net worth is close to $8 billion; he is a Forbes 500 member. I never want to miss an opportunity to learn the secret to someone’s success when I sit

December 12, 2021 No Comments

Money is the Ruler

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” – 1 Timothy 6:10 Money reigns supreme in this world’s kingdom. We dwell in the Kingdom of God, but we also have a parallel existence on earth, which means we require financial resources to survive. Whether you’re affluent, poor, or somewhere in the center, you probably think about and discuss money daily! This is why the Bible devotes so much attention to the subject of money. Money is the substance of pleasure and power in the world because it pays our bills and feeds us. Money, whether you like it or not, is a tremendous force that can destroy families, partnerships, and dreams. For fear of not having enough, many of us stay in dead-end jobs, allowing the things that God

December 10, 2021 No Comments

Filled to Overflowing

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21 Yesterday we talked about living life with open hands. Today, I’d want to expand on that concept by sharing with you a spiritual law that allows you to keep this posture of openness: give away what you most desire. One of the most effective ways to invite God’s blessing into our lives, in my opinion, is to give to others what we most lack. This may feel radical to some of you, and it is in light of what the world teaches; but, the notion is that the more you give up, the more room you have to fill with wonderful things.

November 7, 2021 1 Comment

The Anointing of Nourishment

“But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” – 1 John 2:27 For the past few days, we’ve seen that as Christians, we have an anointing of power, light, and healing on our lives. Today, I want to talk about one final manner of authority we have in our heavenly covering, and that is nourishment. In Biblical times, the olive oil that was used to anoint physical bodies was also a critical source of nutrition. In dry and parched desert regions, the fat it provided was vital fuel that kept people going on long journeys across the wilderness. Even in small amounts, it had a satiating effect, and it was an important part of

July 25, 2021 No Comments

What Forgiveness Is

Don’t Forget to Bless the Lord

Called to Reach the World

Filled to Overflowing

Provide for Your Neighbor

Discomfort Can be Good

There is Power in Generosity

Money is the Ruler

Filled to Overflowing

The Anointing of Nourishment

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