According to a recent survey, only 8% of students always give credit to original creators, 35% of students sometimes do, while 30% never give credit to original trendsetters. (And who knows if this survey is correct—I found it on the internet!)
Taming the Tongue
My 3-year-old son made the joyful revelation when talking and making faces at his baby cousin this summer - “If I’m happy at her, she’s happy at me!” Life isn’t quite always like this, but typically, if you speak kindly to someone, you are much more likely to get a positive response from them whether it is a kind word back or help in an area you are looking for.
Will You Stand Firm or Topple?
Judy Hopps, from the movie Zootopia, is a good example of how your mentality can help you stand firm or be swayed. Judy is a small bunny whose childhood dream was to become a cop. She worked her hardest to pass from the police academy. She continued to work towards her strong desire to do good even when everyone around her didn’t think she could do it.
Mindset
Your Perfect Parent
Psalm 94 uses some harsh language at the start of the Psalm. To start, the psalmist calls God: “God of Vengeance” and is asking God to let His vengeance come down on the wicked. The psalmist also calls upon God to have judgment upon those who are proud. This Psalm calls upon God’s justice against the wicked. It even ends with saying that God will destroy the wicked because of their sin. This paints a rather harsh and commanding picture of God’s character. This is similar to Psalm 7 where it displays that God will sharpen His sword against those who do not repent. 2 Chronicles, it shows that God sent Egypt to rise up against King Rehoboam due to his sinful ways.
Attitudes
Utilization of Our Time
Someone dying of cancer commented that they thought they still had more to accomplish in life, but limited time prohibited those ambitions. Perhaps one of the devil’s great tricks is to lull us into lethargy as time swiftly passes, regardless of whether our years be few or many. We cannot reclaim time and opportunities past.
Children of the Light
Our identity is found within the Bible. We can find peace and hope in our identity. You are a child of light. You are light through Christ. This means you are filled with the love and goodness of God, and your life has been sanctified through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. What you have read about in the last few devotionals are all centered around living out this light. Living in a manner that brings glory to God by shining your light to all those around you.
Plan to the Pain
There is increased pain in the world these days. Tensions are rising between nations, and there are areas of significant conflict, war, suffering, and death. These may portend earth’s final conflict, prior to the return of Jesus. But, beyond the world scene, there is private pain. Death’s tentacle reach brings profound grief to friends and families. Fractured relationships result in painful, agonizing isolation. The death of hopes and dreams leave deep emotional scars.
Quiet Living
In 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, Paul discusses one of the ways to live a sanctified life. Paul reminds the readers to love one another which God has taught them previously. In the case of the Thessalonians they were doing well with showing this brotherly love to those around them. Because they are doing well, Paul encourages them to love even more. What a high praise to have received from Paul and great encouragement to continue not only in doing well but to do it even more! If Paul wrote you a letter inspired by God, would he praise you for the love you show others or would he need to teach you what it means to love those around you?
For the Majestic God
Do you recognize the work of God in your own life? It’s easy to fall into a mundane routine of our lives, living each day the same and simply going with the flow of life. In these moments of routine, we are likely to miss God’s mighty hand working within our lives. When life is peaceful and easy, we tend to forget to lift our eyes to God in praise and thanksgiving.
Walk By The Spirit
Individuals walking almost unaware in public while focused on their smartphones serve as illustrations as to how we may be walking by the Spirit. We may have a desire to walk by the Spirit, but worldly cares and attractions easily draw us similarly to focusing on a smartphone. As such, we may wander from the way of the Spirit and not even be aware of the danger.
Serving – with Joy
Jesus said in Matthew 20:28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” He is explaining to his disciples that his role was to serve the people and to give his entire life to them. Jesus many times flipped the worldview of being the best and greatest to showing that humility and service was above all most important. Paul recognized this about Christ and imitated this selfless and humble lifestyle.
Eyes of My Heart
We need to be enlightened as to the greatness of God’s power. The prime exhibit of this power is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. If God’s power working in us is the same power that brought the helplessly dead Jesus back from the grave to immortality, imagine what that power within can do! Not only did the power of God raise Jesus from the dead, it has exalted Him to the right hand in the heavenlies, and has elevated Him far beyond all other powers and authority.
Changed
Acknowledging Almighty God
We can scarcely imagine a President, prime minister, or king calling a major press conference to declare the sovereignty of Almighty God, but a Mede ruler named Darius did exactly that. He declared that “he is the living God, enduring forever.” When confronted with the miraculous deliverance of Daniel from the lion’s den, it was abundantly clear to Darius that the true God is living and active in human events. He wisely and humbly acknowledged that the living God’s kingdom and dominion vastly superseded his - an amazing acknowledgment in itself for a governmental ruler to admit.
Cherries & Pits
God Showing Up in Unexpected Ways
As a kid growing up, I’ve always loved baseball. From the time I was five or six my favorite player played for the Baltimore Orioles and his name was Frank Robinson. Frank had a lot of natural talent, but what really set him apart was his grit and determination and willingness to get back up after being knocked down.
When I went into the hospital for surgery, I brought along a couple of books of light reading in case I wanted to read some. I decided to take and read Frank Robinson‘s autobiography. I have been finding it very inspiring, and while reading it, there was another example of God showing up in unexpected ways , I received a small package in the mail that was brought to my hospital bed. When I opened up the package, I found that it was an autographed Frank Robinson baseball card with a portion of a bat that he used in a game back when he played in the 50s through 70s, it came directly from a baseball card shop and I didn’t know who sent it to me. I eventually found out that it came from my friends, Michael and Melinda Cisler. Is it a coincidence that I just happened to receive an autographed baseball card from my favorite player while I was reading his autobiography? as I recovered from surgery? absolutely not! To me this is just one more of many signs from God that he is with me and paying attention to me, and this particular story reminds me of the importance of continuing to persevere even when you get knocked down. Frank Robinson went from growing up in a ghetto in Oakland and a broken home to becoming a two-time, most valuable player, Triple Crown winner, World Series, champion, member of major-league baseball Hall of Fame , and the first African-American to manage a major-league baseball club. Perseverance.
©Jeff Fletcher
Spiritual Warfare
The evidence of spiritual warfare is readily observable daily. We are constantly being bombarded with the philosophical messages prevalent in today’s culture. Gender identity and abortion are just a couple of the specific issues ever in the forefront today. The most effective way to combat these and other issues is to be as close and clear concerning God’s truth as possible. A pro-active gospel approach (Acts 8:12) is the only real weapon capable of demolishing the philosophical fortresses built against us. This spiritual “nuclear” weapon alone is able to utterly destroy all satanic strongholds.
The Lord Pleads the Cause of the Poor
It is easy to look at poor people and blame them for 'being too lazy' or 'on drugs.' Sometimes that is no doubt true. But we don’t necessarily know that. We don’t know how lack of educational opportunities, racial inequalities, generational poverty and many other factors may be contributing to their situation.