Category: Purpose

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An Empty Page

Each morning I sit with my laptop and before me on the screen is an empty page. My heart’s prayer is “Lord let me fill it with Your words. I want to make an impact for you”.

This morning was different, I sat here for the longest time wondering what to write or if I should write at all. Then I realized that ‘s exactly what the Lord wants us to do – He wants us to sit each day with an empty page and ask Him to fill it.

People constantly sought Jesus out. Most of them were wanting some kind of a miracle; healing, deliverance from demonic oppression, or help with an impossible life situation but others were wanting to criticize and entrap Him. He needed to know what the Father wanted Him to do each day so He would rise early and spend time in prayer.

“The next morning Jesus woke up very early. He left the house while it was still dark and went to a place where he could be alone and pray.” Mark 1:35 ERV

He offered the Father the blank page of His day and asked Him to fill it. There were times when Jesus’ disciples would say we should go here or there and Jesus would respond with a no or not yet. It’s important that we know which way the Father wants us to go.

“If you wander from the right path, either to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, “You should go this way. Here is the right way.” Isaiah 30:21 ERV

A blank page can be intimidating or it can be exhilarating. If we feel that we need to fill the page on our own, without help or direction, we might become timid or immobile. But when we know that we can trust God to give us insight and instruction it brings a new excitement to what otherwise could be ordinary.

“Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. 6 With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way.” Proverbs 3:5-6 CEV

“The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful,  we would have been destroyed. 23 The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. 24 Deep in my heart I say, ‘The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!’” Lamentations 3:22-24 CEV

When we start our day by bringing the Lord our empty page to fill we are in for an exciting and glorious day!

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Stay on Course

Recently we watched “Kon Tiki”. It’s a movie about the “real life” of Thor Heyerdahl and his crew who sailed from Peru across the Pacific to the Polynesian Islands in 1947 on a balsa wood raft. It was a 4300 mile trip and took over one hundred days. The courage of Heyerdahl and his crew is matched only by their determination. It’s definitely a “must” watch.

The raft’s only means of propulsion was its sail and the ocean’s currents and a rudder were its means of navigation. The rudder helped them hold their course as the current and the trade winds moved them on their journey. I was captivated by their story, after all, Heyerdahl is Norwegian and so am I.

The rudder – a long wooden pole with a flat piece of wood tied to the end of it – was the only thing they had to steer them through the waters. It would have been disastrous to have lost it.

We also need a rudder to stay on course and the Bible tells us what that rudder is.

“All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body. 3 By putting a bit into the mouth of a horse, we can turn the horse in different directions. 4 It takes strong winds to move a large sailing ship, but the captain uses only a small rudder to make it go in any direction. 5 Our tongues are small too, and yet they brag about big things.” James 3:2-5a CEV

Our tongue, the words that we speak, are our rudder in life. The things we say to ourselves and the things we say to others will set our course in all our relationships. One of the best examples of controlling life’s circumstances with words comes from the life of Job. Job had lost all of his children, his animals and his crops. Physically he was suffering and this was his wife’s advice:

“Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.” Job 2:8-10 NLT

Job kept his words pure; they were his life’s rudder. He knew if he began complaining about the way things were going, he would lose the only thing he had left, his faith. He had faith that God would vindicate him and He did!

King David said this: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 NLT

Jesus said this: “I promise you that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. 37 On that day they will be told that they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.” Matthew 12:36-37 CEV

And the Apostle Paul said this: “and never stop praying. 18 Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.” I Thessalonians 5:17-18 CEV

We don’t need to give thanks for the troubles we face but, like Job, we keep our focus on the One who will bring us through the troubles and stay with us in the troubles to keep us in His loving care.

“Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. 17 But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. 18 When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.” James 3:16-18 CEV

When God’s words become our words they are a powerful rudder that will keep our lives on the right course, a course filled with gentleness, kindness, sincerity and peace.

Stay on course!

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Small Beginnings

Last night Dave and I were sitting on the back patio and talking about how things looked when we first moved in here. We love our yard and we have put a lot of sweat equity in the last six years to make it “home”.

One thing that is most amazing is the growth of a mesquite tree out there. In this morning’s picture you can see how big it is now. The little inset shows you how tiny it was when we moved in. The trunk of the tree was no bigger than the diameter of my little finger. It was Dave who said we should leave it and one day it would be a nice shade tree. I, quite frankly, had my doubts.

“Here is another illustration Jesus used: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.’” Matthew 13:31-32 NLT

What these verses and our backyard tree tell me is that we should never under estimate something just because it is small and seems insignificant. Not trees and not people. God has a purpose and design for each one of us.

In God’s kingdom, we will all make an impact on those around us as we allow Him to work in us and through us. God’s Word waters us and that watering causes us to grow and mature. Our lives can provide shade and shelter for those around us. We are all called to do good things for God’s glory.

“God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 ERV

God has a plan of good things for us, we should never despise small beginnings!

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Have A Great Day!

What are you considering today? What we focus on effects our emotions and our actions. We can get up with our mind filled with thoughts of joy or thoughts of dread and those thoughts will dictate our day.

I plan to have a great day, I hope you do too.

Our most powerful adversary as Christians is not the devil. He was defeated when Jesus rose from the grave and we have been given authority over him and all his evil works. However, our greatest adversary is also our greatest ally – it just depends on how we use it. I’m talking about our minds!

God won’t force us to do things against our will. He won’t force us to accept His wonderful gift of salvation, even if it means we will eventually go to hell, and He won’t force us to accept the blessings that He is providing for us in this life either. We must willfully accept all of His provisions for them to work in our lives.

So, how do we move the mind from an adversary to an ally? The answer is simple. It’s by what we consider. Our mind is much like the computer I am using to message with right now. It can only produce on screen, or in memory, what I input.

It becomes our responsibility to input the correct information. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2 “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

When we let God’s word be our input our minds will have a better way of thinking. I love what I heard one pastor say, “Get rid of stinkin thinkin”.

It’s imperative that we guard our minds more than we guard our wallets. The damage caused by wrong thinking is more detrimental than losing our cash. In fact, it’s very similar to spiritual identity theft. Thinking like the world thinks will keep us from realizing all the wonderful blessings that God has provided. “We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. 4 The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, 5 and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5

Counteract the world’s influence today and live this “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7

We can make our day great by concentrating on all that God has done for us!

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Number One Necessity!

In this social-distancing, stay-at-home lifestyle that we are experiencing I know there has been a lot of watching old movies – or maybe that’s just in our house. This morning one of my old favorites came to mind.

City Slickers.

Mitch, Phil & Ed give an account of their crazy misadverntures – they traveled the world and then they met Curly.
Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is? [holds up one finger] This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean ….
Mitch: But, what is the “one thing?”
Curly: [smiles] That’s what *you* have to find out.

Most people spend their lives searching for the “one thing”. Jesus was asked this same question by a young lawyer. Jesus didn’t tell him “that’s what you have to find out” – Jesus gave him the answer.

“Then one of them, an expert in the Law of Moses, asked Jesus a question to test him. 36 He said, “Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?” 37 Jesus answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’ 40 All of the law and the writings of the prophets take their meaning from these two commands.” Matthew 22:35-40 ERV

Loving the Lord with all your heart comes when we realize how very much He loves us. It isn’t something that we really have to work at. Truly knowing that God’s love is unconditional and His mercy endures forever is the foundation of our relationship. When we know, experience and accept God’s love we can return that love and as a result we can love ourselves and those around us.

Loving God becomes our number one necessity!

There was another time when Jesus was teaching in the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha was very busy making the meal and having things just perfect for the Master. Her sister, Mary, was ignoring the work and listening attentively to Jesus. Martha handled it as long as she could and then she complained.

“The Lord and his disciples were traveling along and came to a village. When they got there, a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat down in front of the Lord and was listening to what he said. 40 Martha was worried about all that had to be done. Finally, she went to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it bother you that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!”

41 The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha! You are worried and upset about so many things, 42 but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is best, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 CEV

What is it that has us worried and upset? What is distracting us today?

Let’s experience our “one thing”. As we walk in love with the Lord and His love fills us, we can overflow with love to those around us.

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Big Hearts!

Bigger Buts – Bigger Boats – Bigger Hearts!

I’m developing a pattern here and I didn’t realize it. The crisis we are going through, and we are going to get through it, is causing some to lose their hope and their perspective. They have become short-sighted and self-centered.

We need to be big-hearted people.

I read about a tattoo parlor on the East Coast who took all their supply of masks and latex gloves to the local hospital and donated them. They said they felt there would be plenty of supply once they were able to start business again.

Locally, a resort restaurant had to close and they made food boxes for all their employees who were being laid off. A restaurant in Tucson donated all their food to the local food bank. Instead of thinking only about themselves they were thinking how they could benefit their communities, their neighbors.

Churches are creating teams to check on their members. First with phone calls and then with people to do odd-jobs and grocery shop.

They are thinking with big hearts.

We should be Christ-like in our actions. That is the true meaning of Christianity. Christ was selfless and we should be too. Let’s look around our neighborhood and ask “what can I do to help”. Maybe it’s something as simple as writing a note of encouragement and putting it in a mailbox. If someone can’t get out, ask if there’s something they need from the store and pick it up for them. A mother of small children may need some extra craft supplies, a plate of cookies or some game ideas. Thank a first responder, the mailman, the delivery truck driver and certainly those still working in the retail markets.

We mustn’t allow this situation to side line us. The Apostle Paul teaches us that we all have God-given talents and abilities that will benefit others. Let’s use them.

“I realize how kind God has been to me, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you. 4 A body is made up of many parts, and each of them has its own use. 5 That’s how it is with us. There are many of us, but we each are part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another.

6 God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. 7 If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. 8 If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.

Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. 10 Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than you do yourself.” Romans 12:3-10 CEV

Let’s make it our goal to help someone today. Right now the world needs big-hearted people!

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Life’s Programming Updates

Have you ever felt that your “programming” was going through an update? Things are changing and you have to wait for them to be completed.

Yesterday was that kind of day. My friend, Tom, who set up my blog website worked with me on some behind-the-scenes changes that I felt needed to be made. We worked to have my morning blog post automatically to the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn sites at the same time the emails are generated and sent to your email addresses.

This might sound like a simple step but it was not without its challenges. I am so thankful for Tom’s knowledge and patience. We ran into a few roadblocks. Tom was able to track them down and successfully maneuver past them. We did a test post but this morning will be a full scale effort.

To make this change I had to set up a Facebook page, different from my personal News Feed page. I will be sending each of you who are my “friends” on Facebook an invitation to like and follow Kristi’s Morning Devotional. If you do you will be able to read the blog each morning as usual.

Why this change? I really don’t like change but Dave and I are going to be spending more time traveling this year and sometimes we are in areas that don’t have very good wifi. If I can write my blogs ahead of time and schedule the publication for a few days later it will prevent interruption of posting to social media. I want to make every effort to avoid any days of not posting.

The next few days may have some hiccups but we’ll work them through. Please be patient.

Isn’t that the way it is in life? We know that we are being changed on the inside; things are going on behind-the-scenes but those we love and work with aren’t always aware of the updates.

When the Lord begins to show us things about ourselves, things that need to be deleted, updated and reprogrammed, we begin to change. Sometimes the change is external but most often it is a change of attitude, action, purpose and functionality. The New Testament instructs us to put off the old man and take on the new. Our new life is in Christ and He has a way of changing us for the better.

“Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand him better…Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. 12 God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. 13 Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you.” Colossians 3:10-13 CEV

Let’s be patient with one another – we are all going through changes. Updating is in Progress!

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Clear Direction

I was visiting with a dear friend yesterday and we were talking about how important it is that we hear clearly. If we don’t have good, concise communication we can be misled and taken off course.

The words “but I thought you said” can be disastrous. Years ago I had two friends who were visiting a large city for the first time. This is in the days before GPS. They were looking for a sports arena where a hockey game was going to be played. After stopping at a store and getting directions from the clerk, they got back in their car and headed out the way they had been told, or at least that’s what they thought. “I thought he said turn right” and so they did.

Very shortly they were in the wrong part of town and they were frightened by their surroundings. It was not good! They were able to get out of that situation with a few more turns that took them back to the main road and they arrived late, but unharmed, at their destination.

When we decide to follow the Lord he will give us the direction we need.

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice saying, “This is the road! Now follow it.” Isaiah 30:21 CEV

King David wrote in Psalms 23, that even if our path takes us through the valley of the shadow of death, we can live free from fear because we know that the Lord is with us. The important word here is “through”. God does not take us down a road and abandon us. He leads us through, which means we come out on the other side.

“Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 AMP

The verse above is one of my “go to” verses. It is like true North on a compass. I know that when I follow the instructions in this verse I will receive clear direction. Remember yesterday’s devotional on trust? We can trust the Lord with every area of our life; He only wants what’s best for us. He isn’t out to harm us or to punish us, He is a loving Father who wants to add what’s beneficial and remove what’s harmful.

“We praise you, Lord God! You treat us with kindness day after day, and you rescue us.
20 You always protect us and save us from death.” Psalm 68:19-20 CEV

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins  and heals all my diseases.” Psalm 103:1-3 NLT

Listen for the Father’s voice; follow His leading and He will cause us to succeed.

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Love Gives

Why do we do the things we do?

Why do we do things like dishes and cleaning, baking and bathing, nursing and washing, listening and comforting, going to work and then to after-school activities? Do we do these things because we have too? No.

Love gives!

“If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.” I Corinthians 13:3-7 MSG

Our actions can’t earn us love. If they could, then our lack of action would be reason for us to lose that love. Love isn’t based on our effort or the effort of those around us. True love is unconditional. Our actions are simply an expression of that love.

Love has no room for self pity or a poor me attitude. In all honesty, I have to admit that I have my times of whining and feeling put upon. But then, God’s word will correct me and I get on with loving my family and those around me.

Jesus said this to His disciples: “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. ” John 13:34 MSG

The love that Jesus has for us is unearned and unconditional. He showed his love for us before we were even born. He gave all He had for us. He gave up His life in heaven to come to earth; He gave up a good reputation and took on ridicule. Finally, He gave up His life to save us from death. Jesus gave all!

Let’s follow His example and His command. Let’s love the way we’ve been loved.

Love gives!

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Made New by Love

Yesterday morning I was out for a walk and there it was, crossing the dirt road in front of me. It was a wooly worm, as we used to called them when I was little, better known to all as a fuzzy caterpillar. He was enjoying the warm sunshine just like I was.

I’m not an entomologist and I make no claims of knowing how long it takes for the life cycle of a butterfly to go from egg to caterpillar to cocoon and emerge as a butterfly but I do know the process is one of complete transformation and the end result is beautiful.

Am I the only one who has caterpillar days? We get up in the morning and for some reason we just can’t shake that feeling of being small and insignificant. None of our friends really notice us; so we crawl into our shell (our cocoon) to hide. But while we are in there something amazing happens.

God speaks to our heart. He tells us that He has something wonderful and amazing planned for us. He tells us how much He loves us and that He wants to make us new; never again will we be just a caterpillar, crawling around in the dirt. He is transforming us and giving us wings so we can fly. His love is making us new.

“It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.” Titus 3:3-5 MSG

We emerge from our old life beautiful. Our Father takes our old, wooly, ground-crawling life and His love makes everything new!

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