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dc 04/08/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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-K
1. Am I trying to live out God's
will by making Him first in my life (time-wise, thought-wise,
action-wise) or do I set Him aside for me, me and me?
2. Am I dealing with my wife/girlfriend/fiancé, etc. with a
purpose and drive or do I shrink back and become absentee- my body
the corpse of the man who once gave a rip?
3. Am I accountable to men around me and willing to speak God or do
I hide behind sports, finances, news, weather and silence when
around them?
4. Do I revere relationships with others as valuable uses of my
time or has my routine become work, recover [self-medicating
relaxation method here], repeat?
5. Am I willing to take some baby steps to get up to a sprint
(again, or for the first time), or will I look at this as too
daunting and sit in Jerusalem at home and not move at all until I
find some false-adventure to mire myself even deeper in failure (or
are you already deep in the filth)?
Lord, may we be mighty warriors, quick to your cause and
victorious from the onset with our faith seen in glorious action
well beyond our power but easily within Your might hand! Amen
(which is to say- "So be it!')
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dc 04/07/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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Written by Nate Pruitt
And David got old and tired,
spiritually...
In the morning service I attended pastor commented on how some who
used to be runners are now joggers, some who used to be joggers are
now walkers and some who used to be walkers sit in front of the TV
and are now clickers. While I have nothing against the pronounced
muscularity of the opposable thumb, this got me thinking, and it
largely had me thinking about something that had recently struck me
while doing a study with the high school guys at church on various
points in the life of David. I'll keep this as short as I feel I
can afford to, though it will be longer than some have been
recently. I encourage you to come back to it if you don't have
time now.
Young David:
1 Samuel 17, he comes bringing food for his brothers on the front
lines of the battle, er, stand off. Goliath comes each day defying
God and boasting in his own name. Things happen (you are welcome to
read the chapter to refresh) and eventually David comes out armed
with a sling and five smooth river stones. Goliath starts talking
trash in his own name and power, David responds with what was an
effective prophecy in the power of GOD! "You come to me with a
sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the
Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel who you have defied.
This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will
strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead
bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air
and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may
know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may
know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the
battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hand!"
(Seriously, if your heart isn't pumping a little harder at the end
of this you may not have a pulse at all!) I don't think Goliath
was happy, but as he took his big lumbering first step at the
beginning of the next verse it was the starter's gun in David's
mind. He is facing a giant, but he is in an all out sprint! (Lesson
in that? You bet.) In fact the stone hits its mark and the giant
falls and David stops? NO! He continues to sprint! He won't stop
until all he has claimed in God's name has been accomplished! He
continues to run (verse 51) right up to the fallen giant to take
his gigantic sword and relieve his body of his head! I wouldn't be
surprised if he'd killed Goliath's shield bearer and already
started running (probably dragging Goliath's sword like a plow due
to its size and weight) at the Philistine army before half of the
army Israel even took a step!
But things get sad, see those who were once runners...
David gets older:
2 Samuel 11:1 "In the spring of the year, the time when kings
go out to battle, David sent Joab
with his officers and all Israel with him... but David remained at
Jerusalem." I hope you can feel the author's dismay here.
What should David have been doing? "The time when kings go out to
battle," certainly illuminates it well. He's sitting around on his
rump (you can practically hear the clicking of the remote, can't
you?) and this is such a tragedy that it is hinted at that he's
not even really a king at this point- he's just an old, washed up,
coward with a crown! Our biggest fear as men tends to be failure,
and here is David no longer boasting in the victories God will give
him, when he should be, he's hiding from a possible defeat and in
doing so proving to be a failure. It gets worse, this undisciplined
king then becomes a drifter in his very own home, wandering around
aimlessly and restlessly at night (undoubtedly craving the battle
he should be in) and happens upon a beautiful (and very married)
woman bathing herself. It gets worse... (Again, feel free to read
the chapter).
So, where are we in this? Are we captured in the vision God has for
our lives and running at the giants with words of victory
(terrifying words to the enemy) because we hold to what God has
promised us? Or are we so scared of failing we secretly duck our
responsibility and live as failures (and just try to ignore it...
turn that volume up louder!).
You made it this far, here's a brief questionnaire to finish:
1. Am I trying to live out God's will by making Him first in my
life (time-wise, thought-wise, action-wise) or do I set Him aside
for me, me and me?
2. Am I dealing with my wife/girlfriend/fiancé, etc. with a
purpose and drive or do I shrink back and become absentee- my body
the corpse of the man who once gave a rip?
3. Am I accountable to men around me and willing to speak God or do
I hide behind sports, finances, news, weather and silence when
around them?
4. Do I revere relationships with others as valuable uses of my
time or has my routine become work, recover [self-medicating
relaxation method here], repeat?
5. Am I willing to take some baby steps to get up to a sprint
(again, or for the first time), or will I look at this as too
daunting and sit in Jerusalem at home and not move at all until I
find some false-adventure to mire myself even deeper in failure (or
are you already deep in the filth)?
Lord, may we be mighty warriors, quick to your cause and
victorious from the onset with our faith seen in glorious action
well beyond our power but easily within Your might hand! Amen
(which is to say- "So be it!')
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dc 04/04/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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Now faith is being sure of what we
hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the
ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the
universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not
made out of what was visible.
HEBREWS 11:1-3 NIV
One of the first patients I was
assigned to at St. Jude was a newborn who on the third day of his
life flew from the hospital in Louisiana where he was born to us
here in Memphis. His parents were young and he was there only
child. They had prepared a room for him in their home, like all
parents do, to welcome the new arrival to their
family. He never slept in his bed in this room prepared for
him.
The leukemia he was diagnosed with
and the age he was at diagnosis made his prognosis poor. His
parents knew this but were ever hopeful and prayerful throughout
the eight months he was at St. Jude. His mother presented as a
simple person though this was somewhat deceiving. Her demeanor was
sweet and at times child-like, not in an immature way but in a
trusting one. She talked openly about praying for her son and asked
others to pray for him as well. From time to time I was
approached by a member of the Medical team who was concerned about
whether or not mother understood that her son may very well
die.
I was with this mother and a
doctor who had worked closely with the family one day. We were in
one of the exam rooms in the outpatient clinic. I walked in on the
tail end of the exam. Mother was very tight-lipped and was
not speaking directly to the doctor. The doctor ended her visit and
said goodbye to mother, her son and me. I let silence envelop the
room and then after about 30 seconds or so mother cried out, " I am
so angry at her!" I asked her why. She responded that the doctor
wanted to make sure that she understood that her son may not live.
Mother was particularly upset that the doctor said the following, "
It would be irresponsible of me to give you false hope. I want to
make sure you get it. I want to make sure you understand." Mom
looked at me and asked, " Does she think I am stupid? I know that
he may die. I also know that I will always hope and pray that he
makes it. He has always been in Jesus' hands."
Being reminded of this, I am
struck that this mother was not giving her son away, she was not
giving up on her son. She was instead trusting the
Lord.
Faith is being sure of what we
hope for and certain of what we do not see.
-K
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dc 04/03/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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Dan's heartfelt plea to not
ignore the tug of the Holy Spirit when someone specific is put on
your heart touched me and I wanted to speak to that here.
I have had moments when I was
certain that I was being asked to reach out to someone (usually
another man) that I had no perceivable interest (on my own anyway)
of reaching out to. I am here to tell you that these are not flukes
or funny feelings or brought on by a late-night burrito.....They
are also not messages from the enemy. I am certain of this
because the enemy is not about connections or potential
connections of any sort. The enemy is about weakening
connections and eliminating potential connections between God's
people.
The Holy Spirit will challenge us,
stretch us out of our comfort zone while the enemy will whisper,
" How can I tell this man what he means to me. He may not even
remember me. I don't need to humiliate myself."
A little humiliation. A little
awkwardness. The risk of an awkward moment.
Listen to the Spirit when others
are placed on your heart. Be obedient.
K
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dc 04/02/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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Today's DC was written by Dan
Gamber
Rescue the perishing;
don't hesitate to step in and help.
If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business,"
will that get you off the hook?
Someone is watching you closely, you know-
Someone not impressed with weak excuses.
Proverbs 24: 11-12 (MSG)
I just received news that a life-long friend, an older gentleman by
the
name of Rudy, has passed from cancer. Rudy was a kind man I first
grew to
love sitting next to in church choir. I was a teen singing in the
adult
choir, and we were the only two tenors (I'm not a tenor anymore).
Sometimes he would rib me in his Hungarian accent, but he always
treated
me like I was valued--maybe because he didn't want to be the only
tenor in
that choir.
Years later, Rudy was the one who got me an engineering position
with a
plastics company he worked for. It was the job that launched my
career and
has brought years of blessings long after I left that company,
still to
this very day. My job interview was a disaster--the only reason I
got that
job was because Rudy recommended me. He changed the course of my
life.
The heaviness of my heart comes not because Rudy is gone--for he is
now in
our Heavenly Father's embrace--it is because I learned of Rudy's
cancer a
couple of weeks ago. I told myself I was going to call and speak
with Rudy
and tell him how much he had meant to me. How he had changed my
life for
the better, just by knowing him. But I hesitated. I was busy. It
was
difficult to think of what to say. I know I couldn't have rescued
him from
the disease that was taking him, but I could have just talked to
him and
told him what he meant to me. But I thought I'd have more time.
The next time God gives you an opportunity, a chance to touch
someone, to
love someone, to rescue someone; please, do not
hesitate.
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dc 04/01/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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...Do you realize how fortunate
you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on
this!
1 PETER 1:12b (TM)
This Sunday we had the pleasure of
being led in worship by guitarist Charles David Smart. He spoke
casually to us and led us in prayer as he played his guitar. At one
point he asked us to just relax in the
Lord this morning.
A simple request but for me
strangely profound. We live lives on this earth that are filled and
scheduled down to the millisecond and often what we crave and need
most (I know that I often do) is time to relax. I don't really
mean turning on the television and disengaging, I mean curling up
at Our Father's feet, swinging in a proverbial hammock between two
trees. Relaxing. Being recharged by resting in Him.
After a Wednesday men's group I
had an emailed a man I trusted who was in attendance. I was
concerned about whether or not that particular group session had
"worked", were the men in attendance "with me". I asked this man
his opinion and he responded, " Last night was a blessing to me
because my work week has been horrendous and more than anything I
needed an hour to rest." He went on to let me know that he was not
focused on the lesson and quite honestly did not recall what the
lesson was. He just needed a safe space to relax/ to rest in the
presence of Christian brothers at the feet of His Heavenly
Father.
K
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dc 03/31/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day
These lyrics have been playing over and
over in my head, which has led me to ponder this thought- are we
greating the new day as a blessing created for us by God? (Today is
a gift, that's why it's called the present... sorry.) Don't let
the enemy rob you of the joy of this new day- even a MONDAY!
Today's encouragement was written by Nate Pruitt
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