A Defeated Enemy

31 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God.

An appropriate message for this Halloween night…Satan, the power that he has, and what we are to do to avoid it.

We are not meant to go into battle with Satan, God has that all taken care of. He has a plan for satan, a time where he has his freedom to run rampant and a time where he will be ultimately defeated. WE are to ignore him (satan) and continue to live our lives for the glory of God.

On nights like this (halloween) there are many temptations to lead us into sin and perversion, these are satan's tricks and he thrives off of them. Don't get caught up in his snares, do your best to avoid trouble where trouble can easily be avoided. When in doubt, take your heat to Jesus in prayer. Ask for guidance and you will receive it.

I hope this doesn't come off as too "preachy" as people tend to call it, but as much as I don't like the connotation of that word, I suppose I am preaching to you. I don't take satan's ploys lightly, I know they are a very real, and very dangerous, and it frightens me to no end to see where humanity is going and how light hearted they are about them.

I'll end with this. God is in control, He is the ruler of your life and mine. We have nothing to fear as long as we keep Jesus in our hearts and satan behind us.

Spiritual Enemies

30 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

We all fight, we all get mad and we all antagonize one another now and again. Why do you suppose that is?

Simply put…Satan.

The devil loves to try and run our lives and when we give in to sin and temptation that is exactly what he is doing. When we curse our neighbor, or fight with our siblings…steal, mock, slander or things worse than that…we are being fueled by satan. We ought not let him be in control, our lives are to be in the Lords hands and thats where they should stay.

When you feel like you are drifting away from Jesus, or see another one of God's children (christian or otherwise) doing so, immediately take it to Jesus. Ask for help, guidance, advice and forgiveness.

Remember, Jesus is ALWAYS there, He is just waiting for you to say yes to Him.

The Lord Hears

29 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

God understands that we struggle, we have burdens and "crosses to bear" as the old cliche goes. Fortunately for us, we are not alone! God places wonderful people in our lives to which we can confide. Don't try to be a superhero when it comes to your worries and problems, don't try to take them on by yourself… Seek fellowship! Talk to your friends, your confidant, your pastor, parents, neighbors, coworkers…Anyone who you feel comfortable talking to who will respond with reciprocity.

Community is key in Christianity; as I have stated before, Christianity is a team sport. Support the other players and be accepting of the support they give to you. Try to make a point of meeting with someone, maybe once a week, every two weeks…once a month?? Talk about Jesus, talk about where you are in your relationship with Him, where you struggle and what He has done for you. Meet over coffee, lunch, or whatever…Keep it chill, but remember why you are there.

God said, "for where two or more gather in my name, there I am with them."

History

28 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

As Christians it is important to remember those in the past who stood up for their faith and continued to do the Lords work no matter what. These are the men and women who kept the faith alive and helped to grow it to what it is today. Much the same, it is our responsibility to set examples for future generations. Besides all of our brothers and sisters from the bible, who are some big influences of your faith, whether it be family, friends, co-workers…past, present, living, deceased…Who are you setting an example for later in life? Sons? Daughters? Grandkids? Neighbors? Christianity is a team sport. We aren't just in it for ourselves. We are to go out and make disciples. To make disciples, we must live like disciples.

Are You Coming To The Celebration?

27 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

When you are serving the Lord, whether it be working at your church, discipling on the streets or praying/studying His word, where is your heart? If you work for the Lord but your heart is not in it, you will not feel the same passion and excitement as someone who is in it for the Lords glory and not their own. It could even become a dangerous situation where you become jealous or bitter towards those other people. You will begin to focus on all the work you are doing and be concerned with the "lack of work" others are doing.

Don't make serving God a competition. Working in Jesus' name is a commandment from the Lord but it is also a gift. We are His children, we all have jobs to do.

Revival

26 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Is you relationship with Jesus just as strong as it was the first day? Week? Month? Probably not… Don't feel bad, you are not alone in this battle. Most, if not all, Christians take on their new found relationship with Jesus with great enthusiasm, but as life, work, relations and other clutter get in the way, Jesus tends to take the back burner. Lucky for you, He is still there just waiting for you to bring Him back to center square.

Satan revels in the fact that you can be so easily distracted and drawn away from Jesus. He loves it when your sins go unchallenged; when you become desensitized. That is exactly what happens when you take your relationship with Jesus for granted.

Stop and think about where you are with God right now. Is He still your number one super hero? Where does He fit into your life? If He isn't where He is supposed to be, fix it… It's easy… All it takes is a little prayer, some studying of His word, fellowship with Christians… Any or all of the above (and more) are great ways to get back in touch with your Savior.

Don't let God go unnoticed. It's going to end up hurting you, a lot more than it hurts Him.

P.S. It's still going to hurt His feelings a little bit…

God Speaks Through His Activity

25 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

One of the ways God speaks to us is through His works. As a non-believer you see God's works everyday and don't even realize it. Of course, Christians may not realize what they are seeing either.

You've all heard the old cliche, "Everything happens for a reason," and while those words are somewhat twisted, the underlying idea of the phrase is true. God does exactly what He sees fit and knows is best. So…does everything happen for a reason? Yes…That reason is, God says it's the thing to be done. We don't always want to accept that though…especially when it's something bad, like a death, illness, loss of job, etc. "Why would a loving God allow such terrible things to happen? It's not fair!"… Who are we to judge what is fair and what isn't? Was it fair that Jesus gave up His life to save ours? God wants nothing but the best for us and one of the ways that He shows that is through life lessons. Acceptance, understanding, surrender, and obedience are all things to be learned through trials. If everything was perfect everyday, and we never had to learn anything about life's hardships, we wouldn't need Jesus, right? But we would also be spoiled, self righteous brats with a god-complex and a power trip… God is our Father, our right hand man, and the ONLY one who really keeps us in check. The next time you blow Him off, take Him for granted or even deny Him completely, think about about what He has done for you and where you would be today without Him. That applies to non-believers too…Believe it or not, He created you, He loves you, and He is just waiting for you to say yes.

Not In Word, But In Power

24 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Calling yourself a christian in and of itself is not enough. You can't just use that title to get brownie points from other "good people." Part of being a christian is living it out. Following the word of God, studying Him, actively yearning to know Him better…these are just a few things. I know it seems like a lot of work, but trust me, it is worth it, and if you really are in love with Jesus, it's no work at all.

So many non-believers have such a hard time with Christians and the church, because so many christians act in such a hypocritical way, and it's a shame. The word Christian gets a bad name from people who claim to love Jesus, but are just doing it for their own glory and not the glory of Jesus…

The next time you think you are living like a christian, take a look at your life… How are you really acting? Remember, please, no one is perfect…you will never be sin free…but when you do sin, when you slip up, when you go off the path that is straight and narrow, what do you do to get back on it? How do you feel inside? What do you do to change it and try not to let it happen again?

A Second Time

23 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

God, as our heavenly father, has tasks that He wants us to walk out; number one being, to make disciples and spread His word. However, God speaks to us in many ways about many different things. If you feel like God isn't speaking to you, or hasn't spoken to you in a long time, consider your heart. How did you respond to the last thing He said? Did you ignore it, did you do it half-heartedly? Do you thinking "hearing God" is a crock and you just blew it/Him off entirely?

When God speaks, He expects you to listen, respond and obey, just like your earthly father. However, unlike (some) earthly fathers, your Heavenly Father will remind you a second, third or fourth time what He requests of you, withOUT getting mad, and certainly with love in His heart.

We are God's children, when He needs us to do something in His name, it's our job to say, "Yes Papa" and do it with a servants heart.

Hidden From The Wise

22 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

One of man's greatest downfalls (christian or otherwise) is thinking that he is a big shot; numero uno, as they saying goes. It's all well and good to know things, or to be great at a particular subject, but we have to be careful not to let it go to our head or become an idol. One of my favorite speakers, Todd White, once said "God is OK with you having things, but He is not OK with things having you." You get it? Don't let the worldly items, or any amount of knowledge become who you are.

Be humble… Accept criticism, advice, wisdom, and help. We are all here to help one another and as much as some of us would like to think it, no one is better than anyone else. We all have different circumstances going on in our lives, but in the end, we are ALL God's creation and we are ALL loved exactly the same by Him.

Bringing People To Jesus

21 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

What are you known for? What is your niche in life? What makes you, you? Think about that for a second? Are you are a musician or a sports star, prom king, or bus boy…?? Those are all admirable things, but is that what you SHOULD be known for, especially as a christian?

Bringing people to Jesus should be your number one goal in life. The bible clearly says to go out and make disciples. That is our only job here on earth. God will provide everything else the way He deems necessary. So, while you can be all those things I listed above, and more…think about how you can incorporate Jesus into them. Make sure that the real celebrity in your life is Jesus, not your ego.

I want to be known as "the guy who loves Jesus and helped others find Him" what about you?

Prepared For Worship

20 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Going to church, singing songs and talking to other christians in all honestly means nothing if your heart is not in the right place. Henry Blackaby refers to it as "religious pageantry" Now, keep in mind, these are all good things and there is certainly an opportunity for a heart change if you continue to do these acts, it is not necessarily all in vain.

Just because you enter the building called "a church" does not mean you are guaranteed to encounter God. If you feel like you are distant from God, yet go to church every sunday, examine your heart and see where you lie in your relationship with Him. Are you actively seeking Him or are you just going through the motions? How often are you in the word? Do you pray? Do you lean on Him? If you can't answer these questions with certainty, I would strongly urge you to figure out why…

A true heart of worship comes from a foundation of trust, belief and surrender.

It Is Your Life

19 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

The word of God (aka the bible) is not just a book for of words, good stories and scary people…It is the written word of our lives. The bible tells us so much about how we are to live, to follow God and love others. Not only that, but it is full of prophesies of the future…To the non-believers reading this right now, that may seem like a lot of horse hockey, but it's the stone cold truth. Revelations talks about the end times, the apocalypse. Joel, Hosea, Isaiah, and many more have countless stories and warning about what is to come.

By not reading the bible and studying what God has to say, you are not only ignoring one of God's commands, but you are ignoring life lessons and refusing to learn what God has in store for you.

So the next time you are sitting around with nothing to do and your options are Netflix (guilty) or reading…pick up the bible, you may just learn something about your life you didn't know.

Seeing With Your Eyes

18 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Todays message is kind of weird but encouraging at the same time. Today we learn about God's unending love, compassion and care.

Even when earthly relationships end, strangers mock you, and friends abandon you…God will always be there. It's a sobering thought, really. No one LIKES the idea of losing friends, and (while it's a popular trend in our society) divorces are never easy and usually messy…but through it all God stands strong. He loves you, He always will.

God is our rock and He isn't going anywhere.

One Man's Sin

17 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Sin not only affects your life and your relationship with God, but it also takes a toll on those around you. We are to set an example for our fellow man on how to act in a Godly manner, but if we choose to sin and deny God's good works we are not showing the greatness and glory of God.

It is so easy to misrepresent Christianity by preaching one thing and acting another way. This is one major reason non-believers have such poor feelings towards us. They see us as hypocritical posers who can't be trusted, and if we portray ourselves like that, they have no right to think otherwise. So, it is our job to change that outlook, and show them what Jesus is really about.

Remember, the ultimate punishment for sin is death; Jesus took that payment upon himself, so now we have to show our fellow man what it looks like to repay Him.

Never To Busy

16 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

What is so important in your life that you can't make time for God? Whats so pressing that you can't help save a life, or say a prayer, or help a stranger in need?

If anyone could have used the excuse of "I'm to busy" it would be Jesus, but He NEVER did, and He was way busier than you or me… We have no excuse.

The next time you see someone struggling, whether you know them or not, lend a helping hand.
The next time you are personally struggling, say a prayer…Take your needs to Jesus.

He is never to busy to work for you, so make sure you're not to busy to work for Him.

Discouragement

15 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Discouragement happens to the best of us, do NOT mistake it for weakness. You may be a very strong, outgoing individual and still get burnt out doing kingdom work. It happens. It happened in the bible, it will happen to you.

When you become discouraged, consider what is going on in your life and see what it is that is bringing you down, and above all, listen to God. God will guide you every step of the way, all you have to do is lean on Him. If God thinks you are taking on too much at one time, He will pull you off that "assignment" as it were; He may send someone to help you, or even take over for you. God will always encourage you on your journey. Never assume that the flack you receive from others or the downtrodden attitude that you may acquire is from Jesus. That's not His style. God is Love, compassion and encouragement. He's always got your back.

Victory Versus Defeat

14 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Which do you prefer? Victory or Defeat? I think the answer is pretty obvious…but if it's not…Im going to go with victory. How do we obtain victory in our lives? Simply by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. God says that if you believe in Him, He will lead you to victory. This is not to say that you won't have hardships or snares to get past, but it does mean that you will always come out victoriously. If you have been defeated by worldly idols, sins and impurities, check your heart. Have you drifted away from Christ? Is you're defeat a result of doing so?

Life is not perfect, it's not all rainbows and butterflies. It's not easy, but its a heck of a lot easier with Jesus.

No Secrets

13 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

When you sin in secret, in your heart, behind someones back, or tell a lie straight to someones face, you get away with it, right? Nobody knows… whats the harm?

FALSE…

God makes it clear that every sin you commit will be made known to His people on the day of judgement, you will have to answer for everything you've done. So, while you may "get away" with something here on earth, you can never run away from it forever. Not to mention, God knows… God knew before you did it, He saw you sin, He knows where your heart is afterwards. The only insurance from having your sins exposed is to live a blameless life…Good luck with that.

The next time you feel the urge to sin, whatever it may be; stop and think about what you are about to do. Pray about it…invite the Lord into your heart and ask for help. He is always there for you, an endless resource in our messed up lives. Lean on Him.

Godliness And Persecution

12 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

God created us in His image, which means we are to act as Christ acts. So…How's that going for you? Not to good huh? What does it mean to be like Christ? If we were exactly like Christ, we would be perfect in every way possible, we would never sin, and we could probably walk on water, but that isn't going to happen…What we CAN do to be like Christ though, is do our best to not sin, spread the gospel of Jesus to non-believers, and love those who may not love you back.

Show the world you are in love with Jesus, don't be afraid, but at the same time, don't be surprised when persecution comes your way. Remember, Jesus was persecuted for what He had to say, and if we are to act just as Jesus acted then we can expect persecution. As Henry Blackaby puts it in this passage, "Persecution may be the best evidence that your life is like that of Christ."

Just remember, no matter what flack you take from non-believers, atheists, agnostics and haters, your God is still there, ready and willing to protect you and fight for you. Don't loose faith in Jesus; He has never lost faith in you.

Spiritual Preparation

11 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Today message is killer. When I get killer messages like this, I like to take them right out of the book. So, here is just a little snippet on being spiritually prepared… enjoy.

If you are spiritually prepared when a crisis comes, you will not have to try to develop instantly the quality of relationship with Christ that can sustain you. If you suddenly have an opportunity to share your faith with an unbeliever, you will be equipped to do so. If you enter a time of worship spiritually prepared, you will not miss an encounter with God. If you are spiritually filled when you meet a person in sorrow, you will have much to offer. If you have established safeguards in your  life in advance, you will not give into temptation.

Christians lose many opportunities to experience God's activity because they have not devoted enough of their time to their relationship with God. If you have not yet developed the habit of daily prayer and bible study, why not begin now, so that you will be equipped for whatever life brings.

Leaders And Managers

10 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

What is the difference between a leader (boss) and a manager? Blackaby puts it this way… A leader creates rules, regulations and operations that need to be done. Where as a manager takes those tasks and  delegates them properly. Now… Lets look at Leaders and Managers in a spiritual sense…

God is the ultimate leader. He has rules that He has set up for us to do, laws to follow, etc. We are to manage our lives under His leadership. We follow the rules, we delegate accordingly, e.g. spreading the gospel, avoiding sinful behavior and the likes.

When we try to overpower God and step into his managerial sandals, things tend to get a bit dicy.
I guess what I am trying to say is…God is the ultimate employer and He is offering you the best job you could ever apply for and He hired you on the spot. Don't take advantage of the love that He has given you. Though His love will never run out, if you abuse it you're only going to hurt yourself.

God's Sufficient Grace

9 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

How often do you try to handle life's hardships on your own, instead of relying on God? I know I try to take the world on by myself sometimes, and it never works out in the end. In the message Blackaby makes a good point that I think we should all keep in mind. It's often our strength, rather than our weakness that hinders us from trusting in God.

God is here to watch out for us, protect us and teach us. Let Him be in control. Put your trust in Him, as He continues to pour out His love upon all of us.

Trusting God's Wisdom

8 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Todays message correlates with the message we went over yesterday, and that is, letting God do what God does best.

God know's everything, He created everything, so He has the right to rule everything. Everything that God does in our lives is done for a reason. We may not like the outcome, but we have to trust that God knows exactly what He is doing. We often struggle with, "whys" Why did they die, why is he sick, why did my house burn down, why did she lose her job…that must be God's fault. I can't believe God would do that to me. How can I trust a God who doesn't take care of His people… Trust me, these thoughts pass through everyones mind, and they are straight up the work of the devil.

I can not honestly say I know why God does everything He does…No one will ever fully understand God…But what I can tell you is, I fully believe that what He does, is done for a reason, for a greater cause, or for a lesson, and we must trust in Him and do as He teaches.

God has a master plan, He is the ultimate architect and above all, our saving grace. Put your trust in Him, you will not regret it.

Questioning God

7 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

There is a difference between questioning God and asking God questions. God loves it when we ask Him questions. In fact He encourages it, through prayer, fasting and reading the bible. On the other hand, He is not to keen on us questioning Him, in other words, taking the world into our own hands and putting Him second.

What right do we have to argue with God or try to disprove Him? He is the creator of the universe; He know's what He is doing and why He has done it. Everything that God does, did or will do is happening according to His plan and it is a perfect plan at that. We need not worry where He is taking us on this journey called life. He is the captain, we are just along for the right. Of course, there are a few chores we need to take care of, along the way.

Don't push God around, don't doubt or belittle Him. He has nothing but undying love for you and only wants the best for His children.

Prayer Changes You

6 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Todays message is another one on prayer. Though it may seem like I/we have gone over this topic 100 times, it still gets me going. I love everything about prayer. I love the act of it, the symbolism behind it, the rewards and answers we reap from it and the respect that we give during it.

Prayer is an amazing way to communicate with God since we can't see Him face to face. We can and should go to God for everything, from the smallest question to the biggest praise and everything in between. A solid prayer life with God will change our outlook on life as well. You can't have a real prayer life with Jesus and still remain complacent and plain in your life. The more you pray, the more you become like Christ, which is how we were created in the first place.

Take some time to think about what is causing you not to pray…what is so important that you are too busy to pray. Remember, this is literally the most portable form of communication EVER… You don't need to worry about your phone battery dying, you don't need to worry about your friend being present to listen to what you're saying and you don't need to worry about postage to mail a letter… For those of you who don't know what a letter is, as your parents… I digress… Jesus is always there, always listening and always answering your prayers. You are NEVER apart from Him and He will never leave you.

Pray it up!

All Things Are Pure

5 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

When we clutter our hearts and souls with impurities and worldly material, like lust, jealousy and greed, we tend to muddle our view towards God and how we should act towards Him. If we are focussed on what he or she has we will not make time for what He wants from us.

We are to set an example to others, non believers especially, what a life with Jesus Christ looks like, but we can't do that if we don't give our all to Him. Take some time today to think about what comes before Jesus in your life…What makes that/those item(s) so important? How do they trump God?

I read a phrase a few days ago (maybe on Facebook??) that said, live your life for Jesus in such a way that it causes others to question their disbelief in Jesus. Or something along those lines. Basically, what it was getting at was… Don't be a hypocritical Christian, preaching one thing and doing another. Don't base you salvation on "well, God is going to forgive me anyways, so I can get away with it just one more time." Live your life for Jesus, as though He is the most important thing in your life, because guess what? He is…even if you aren't a Christian.

Spiritual Optimism

4 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Through God, all things are possible. You may say that, and preach it to others, but do you believe it? Having never met God in the flesh AND not always getting what you want when you want it, makes it sometimes hard to believe that all things are possible. But as Christians, we must believe in God and expect the best. The best, may still not be what YOU want, but God knows what is best and He will provide, 100% of the time.

A pessimistic view towards God is going to hinder your relationship with Him. It will cause doubt, remorse, and all around muddled feelings. So, really…ask yourself, if that is the outcome of not "caring" what God says, why do it? (or rather not do it…errr…well you know what I mean)

God's love is unending and unconditional, that is enough to make a guy like me, have nothing BUT optimist thoughts about my Jesus.

Weak With Those Who Are Weak

3 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

As Christians, we should not live solitary lives; my pastor always points out that Christianity is a team sport.

When your fellow Christians are hurting, it's ok to hurt with them. You are, have or will be going through the same trials as them. We are here to help one another. If you can look at any fellow HUMAN (Christian or otherwise) who is suffering and not feel pain inside for them, perhaps you need to realign your mind and have a heart-check. We are all on the big blue ball called earth together, to aide and support one another.

God says, love your neighbor as yourself. Those are wise (and sometimes difficult) words to live by, but if we all gave it a try, the world would be an entirely different place.

While He Prayed

2 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

The most powerful tool we can use to communicate with Jesus is prayer. God wants us to pray, He wants us to come to Him with our problems, praises and concerns. God will also work through us as we pray. He will give us the strength to move forward, the knowledge to answer questions, or the patience to stand back and let things ride.

If you have trouble praying because you don't think it sounds good enough, or you don't know what to say, just remember…Jesus didn't even get the answers He wanted 100% of the time when He prayed, but, His prayers were always heard and always answered.

You don't have to be the most eloquent, well spoken person to talk to God. It's not about your words, it's about your heart.

Painful Reminders

1 Oct 13 devotional from, Experiencing God

Starting off the month with a good, but sad message.

God, being our father has the authority and duty of punishing us for our sins, just as your earthly father would punish you for disobeying him. In doing so, God gives us reminders of the sin that we have committed so we might engrain it into our minds and try not to do it again. Keep in mind, God is not doing this as some sick game, but rather to teach us where we have gone wrong and how we are to correct it. Know also that God loved, loves and will always love you no matter what you do. We were made in His image and when we sin we tarnish His name and make mockeries of His glory.

God's reminders may seem harsh at the moment, but remember, they are learning blocks, stepping stones if you may, to lead to to a better christian life.