Shine Like Stars

I had written on this subject a while ago, but wanted to bring it back for the holiday season. Our men's group at Grace Fellowship Church in Brooklyn Park rang the Salvation Army bell again this year. During that time of service, you really start to understand what it means to have a giving heart. What happens when Christmas is over and the Salvation Army pots are gone? Do we continue to be so generous? What does the Bible say about generosity?

scrip·ture | Isaiah 58:10 ¹⁰ If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.

de·vo·tion·al | Hunger is one of the biggest and most preventable issues in our day and age.  According to the World Food Program (WFP), Some 805 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. That's about one in nine people on earth, Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five - 3.1 million children each year, and in 2013, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, including 33.3 million adults and 15.8 million children.  The crazy thing is, hunger has been an issue forever.  These statistics are staggering to me, however, biblical hunger was just as real.  Deuteronomy 15:11 tells us "For there will never cease to be poor in the land.  Therefore I command you, you shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."

God is telling us, this opportunity to shine our light for Him, to show grace and mercy on His behalf in this world where darkness is prevalent, will never cease to exist.  Hunger and affliction will always be here, and God does not command us to ignore it, because we won't be able to break the existence of hunger, but He commands us to "open wide your hand"

It is a little difficult for me to give to the homeless person downtown, especially after seeing the 20/20 show, where it shows these "homeless" people begging all day, then getting up and driving away in a fancy car, living out a luxurious life, feeding off the mercy we are asked to give, but also taking away from those that truly need it.  But at some point, I must become an adult about this, and look at the big picture, that those fakes do not represent the hungry in this world, they represent the evil in this world that wants us to turn away from what God commands of us.  There unfortunate act does not diminish the fact that there are millions of others that are truly homeless, hungry, and afflicted.  Those individuals represented on 20/20 will have their day of judgment with God, however, how we act and represent the commandment of God will also fall upon us in judgment.

God has commanded us to "open wide your hand", "then shall your light rise in the darkness."  Meditate on this verse with me for a moment, Matthew 25:45 "Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me."  We must understand that we are presented with opportunities to feed the hungry every day and there will be those that misrepresent the mercies we provide.  We must be smart and spiritually discerning, and prayerfully give to those that we see in need.  There will be times we judge incorrectly and someone will misuse our generosity, but there will be more times that you will be giving to someone who truly needs it.

My fellow brothers and sisters, let "your light rise in the darkness" and as Philippians 2:15 says, "Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky."

prayer | LORD, the grace You have shown us is the kind of grace You have called all of us to. In Your gift of forgiveness, You were not selective on who You showed Your grave to, You are generous with Your grace. LORD, I pray that You give me the humbleness to be generous with all of the blessings You have given to me. LORD, that I might shine like a star. Amen

Daily Alone Time with God |

Chapter of the Week | Matthew 6

Mon·day | Colossians 3:17 ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Tues·day | Leviticus 25:35–37 ³⁵ “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. ³⁶ Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. ³⁷ You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.

Wednes·day | Deuteronomy 15:7–8 ⁷ “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, ⁸ but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.

Thurs·day | Proverbs 11:24–25 ²⁴ One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. ²⁵ Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Fri·day | Matthew 6:19–21 ¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

The Power of Friendships

The Man in the Mirror | Chapter 10 | Friends: Risks and Rewards | “But as time marches on, needs emerge that can only be met by other men—men who walk in the same shoes, men who share the same problems, men with similar life experiences—other Christian men.” – Patrick M. Morley

scrip·ture | Romans 1:11-12 11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some Spiritual gift to make you strong 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

de·vo·tion | I would like to preface by saying that the topic of men meeting with men is exactly the same with women meeting with women. Throughout this crazy walk of life, as we learn more and more about ourselves, we must be honest that God made men and women different. As I previously wrote, men and women have mutually exclusive traits and strengths that contrast yet complement each other. Our wives should be one of our best friends that we can share everything with and be honest with, however, there are just things that both of our sexes go through that we just cannot understand. It is in those mutually exclusive traits and strengths that we must look to other men and women to help deal with the battles of life we have in common.

I am reminded of a childhood story of when our big family of two parents and six brothers all piled into a diesel station wagon and headed to the Black Hills of South Dakota. I cannot remember exactly where we were in South Dakota, but one of my oldest brothers tells a story of how they were confronted by this small group of guys and he was ready to stand his ground. He was ready to stand his ground, because one of my other oldest brothers was right behind him. He had the confidence that between the two of them, they would be able to survive. As he turns around to ask, “Are you ready for this”, he finds his “brother in arms” high tailing it out of there. The situation was so comical, that the whole group of guys just laughed. As time marches on, do you ever find yourself feeling like you are fighting the battles of this world on your own?

There are times in my life where I have felt like the lonely soul that questions God in the poem called Footprints in the Sand. I have found myself in situations where I feel morally and spiritually lost. I have come to realize, it is not only the feeling of God’s Spirit we miss in times of need and during life’s physical demand, but the physical companionship of a person who shares that same friendship and relationship with God. I cannot tell you how important I find sacrificing my Saturday mornings to attend the Grace Fellowship Men’s group. Waking up at 6:00AM on a Saturday does not sound the most pleasing, but I find that the reward I receive from meeting with these guys, not only benefits me, but it benefits the family I come home to. Plus, I get free coffee and doughnuts, double score! Lucky enough, we now have a Men’s Group that meets on Monday, which allows for those that value their sleep a little more to not have an excuse. I have been fortunate to reap the benefits of the Men’s Group and Men’s Retreat for 3 years now.

After a trying week, a week where God has fallen from your mind, which makes snapping back to your Christian reality a little difficult, meeting with people who share in the same struggles and the same faith is both an uplifting and helpful experience in getting back on track. Every week, I find myself living in the reality of Romans 1:11-12 11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some Spiritual gift to make you strong 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

Each one of us is gifted in how we interpret God’s word and can speak about our relationship with Christ. Each of us can bring a different point of view on how to apply God’s Word to our everyday life and misgivings. Reach out to each of your friends and create this relationship. Join a Men’s or Women’s group. Cultivate those personal “fight clubs” together. Hold dear those people that you can meet with every day to encourage you in your life. You may go through hardships, but remember, “…the times when you have only seen one set of footprints, is when I [Jesus the Christ] carried you.” It is also those friendships, relationships, and physical companionships, where God shows us His gift and grace in physically carrying us through those difficult times.

prayer | LORD, I want to thank You for the relationships that You put in my life. Thank You for the friendships You have helped me establish, and the sharing in faith that is common among all of us. I ask that You continue to foster in me a bright light, that You compel me to continue to seek out men that I can fight the battles of this life with. I pray that the men and women who read this devotional are inspired to shed their personal restraints and go to a Men’s or Women’s Group. That they are inspired to personally sacrifice some time and sleep to find refreshment with the relationships that they could find that will benefit themselves and their family. I ask You LORD to compel the group of men I am with to uplift each other in times of need and to be honest in our battles, joys, and faith, that we may grow to know You better and encourage each other through our faith. AMEN

Daily Alone Time with God |

Chapter of the Week | Proverbs 18

Mon·day | Proverbs 18:24 24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Tues·day | Job 2:11 11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.

Wednes·day | John 15:12-15 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made know to you.

Thurs·day | Proverbs 14:6-7 6 A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding. 7 Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.

Fri·day | 1 Corinthians 15:33 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

"The Rest of the Story"

The Man in the Mirror | Chapter 9 | Wives: How to be Happily Married | “That “love feeling” may be there, or it may not. But love is not a feeling, and we are to love our wives first as an act of our will…But the love we demonstrate is a decision made as a deliberate act of the will. Biblical love is a decision, not a feeling.” – Patrick M. Morley

scrip·ture | Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

de·vo·tion | Finally, some Biblical fire power for my at home arguments! I cannot believe it has taken so long for me to find the evidence I needed that my wife needs to treat me like a god…yeah! …um, NO! I don’t know how many times I have heard Ephesians 5:22-24 quoted by men to justify their pig headedness and “Oh holy where art thou” ways in which they approach their marriage and their relationship with their wife. This is usually how it goes, “See, it says it right here in the Bible, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord”, see, she should be doing as I say!” Seriously, I have seen this said multiple times in action and in debate. These men of “faith” have made a grievous error. Like many Christians, they need to take the advice of Paul Harvey and read, “the rest of the story.” Without doing so, they have seriously set themselves up to lead a marriage of continued trials if not total failure. Like many of the males in the time period of Christ, the men of today look at marriage as some kind of male patriarchal leadership. Like the Roman Empire, they feel they hold dominion over their whole household.

Yet, in Paul’s writing, he shows us something different. His writing flows almost like a poem. His message ebbs and flows between the nuances of a loving relationship, comparing and contrasting a mutual bond between a husband and wife. Let’s take a second to read “the rest of the story”. Ephesians 5:25-26 “25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,” We see how Paul’s poetical writing provides the contrasting yet mutual relationships between husband and wife. The relational significance reminds me of Yin and Yang.

Everyone has heard of yin and yang (). Yin and yang is defined as: two principles, one dark and feminine (yin) and one bright and masculine (yang) whose interaction influences the destinies of creatures and things. Yin and yang is a beautiful compliment, a balance of opposite yet mutually respectful powers. A marriage is not meant to operate in a yin and yin or yang and yang model. It is meant to have mutually exclusive traits and strengths that contrast yet complement each other.

In what ways as a husband can I love my wife then? How can I practically bring that balance to my marriage? Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church”. The word love in the text does not denote emotional love (phileó) rather it means to put the needs of others in front of your own, known as agapé. Agapé truly denotes a love that replicates the love that Jesus the Christ has shown to us. Not only does Jesus love us emotionally, but more importantly, he loves us agapé style. This represents a truly sacrificial love, a love where servitude and humbleness are a prime make-up of its character.

As godly husbands and fathers, we must ask ourselves, what am I contributing to my marriage to deliver a mutually respectful love? Am I expecting and contributing to my marriage expecting that a yang and yang marriage will suffice? Am I loving my wife emotionally (phileó), but more importantly, sacrificially (agape)? Challenge yourself this week. Think of all the ways in which Christ loved the church. List off all the ways in which Jesus the Christ loved the church in the form of servitude and ask yourself, in what ways can I work to have the love for my wife reflect Jesus’ love for His church?

prayer | LORD, as always, You know best. Thank you so much for the knowledge You have shared with us in the Word, but also in the character of Your son Jesus. It is so humbling to read Your expectations of me within my marriage, and finding those areas in which I must be honest with myself on where I am failing. LORD, grant me Your steadfast forgiveness, and lead me with Your Spirit to be a more godly husband and a more godly father. Continue to deliver Your truths to me and smack me upside the head when I become lazy and revert back to my yang and yang ways. Praise, honor, and glory to You always and forever. AMEN!

Daily Alone Time with God |

Chapter of the Week | 1 Corinthians 7

Mon·day | Ephesians 5:22-33 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Tues·day | Proverbs 18:22 22 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.

Wednes·day | Hebrews 13:4-7 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” 7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Thurs·day | 1 Peter 4:8 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Fri·day | Ephesians 4:2-3 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.