DAILY DEVO...love covers all

Billy Graham was once quoted as saying, "Love does more to solve our problems than anything else does."

When it comes to relationships; whether family, friends or co-workers; love is truly what makes the world go around and love is what it takes to fix relationships that become broken. 

Not just any kind of love, but genuine kind of love, the kind of love found in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13. If you want to fix a broken relationship with unconditional love, try this:

*Extend forgiveness.

"Love BEARS all things." (1 Cor. 13:7)

If you want to bear ALL things, you may need to endure a thing or two. 

*See something good.          

"Love BELIEVES all things." 

           (1 Cor. 13:7)

This may seem hard, but believing the best about others is a choice we make, even about those who have hurt us. If we focus on the good, it might outweigh the bad.

*Believe it will get better.    

"Love and hatred cannot exist in our hearts at the same time."             

              -Billy Graham

1 Corinthians reminds us that love and doubt are incompatible. There must always be hope, even when it comes to loving others. If you have hatred for others, than how can you love them? You can't!

*Keep pressing on.              

"Love ENDURES all things".  

           (1 Cor. 13:7)

Love doesn't give up, it doesn't fade away, drift or get old. No matter the issue, no matter what gets in the way, love presses in and  love overcomes....if love is unconditional.

I don't know who is hard to love in your life, but applying unconditional love may be the solution. After all, isn't that what God did for you?

DAILY DEVO...are you a Mary or Martha?

If we would need to pick a team to serve on, I wonder which side you'd be on ...the Mary or Martha side?

If you are like Mary; you are probably more contemplative. You may seek discipline, silence, solitude, praying and maybe journaling every thought or idea.

Now, all you Martha's out there; you probably would be described as "active". You like to get things done. You are a doer and you may gravitate towards things that are active like preaching, teaching, serving, administration and making dreams become reality.

Martha wants to do things: do the dishes, do the laundry, get the task done.

Mary just wants to be: be with Jesus, be teachable, be humble, be present. 

Both Mary and Martha are worry warts, but in different ways. Mary is worried about the relationship..."did I get my time with Jesus?" "Did I listen?" "Was I humble enough?"

Martha, on the other hand is more worried about responsibilities. The check-list is never ending.

I'm not sure if you are more like Mary, with a full heart or more like Martha, tending to your full schedule. But it is no secret that we live today in a Martha world; full of technology and working to get ahead and doing what is good for us and our own. Living in a Martha world has caused us to work more, pray less and become stressed out and maxed out.

I don't really think God created this wonderful world to become Martha-ized completely. We need alittle bit of both Mary and Martha to be successful servants. After all, God built this world to be a "Mary" world (worship first) with Martha moments (work hard).

So, I must ask you today: Do you put God first or second? Do you put more effort into worship or more on getting the details done first?

You are either on the Mary team or the Martha team, which side will you choose?

(Read about Mary and Martha in Luke Chapter 10)

DAILY DEVO...worship is our witness

When I was a teenager and I would go to the mall with my friends, we would sometimes just sit on the benches in the middle of the mall and watch people as they passed by.

One time I was at the mall with my mother, I sat on the bench as I waited for her to finish shopping. When she returned to me, she asked, "what are you doing?" To which I replied, "people watching!"

We tend to watch people, don't we? And people watch us. There is a direct connection between a Believer's WORSHIP and a Believer's WITNESS ...

"They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved." (Acts 2:46-47). 

The way that we worship (and what we worship) is a witness to those inside the church and outside the church as well.

When things are going great in our life: our job is going good, we are healthy, our marriage is happy...people are watching.

When things all of a sudden turn upside down: we lose our job, we get cancer or our spouse leaves us; guess what...people are still watching.

It is in this time of struggle, strife and stress that people are watching to see if our worship matches our witness. Is the God who we praise for our riches also the God who we praise in our time of need?

People not only are watching WHO we praise but WHAT we praise. Our neighbors and friends see us going to church every Sunday, but they also see us coming in from the clubs on Friday night. People are watching from afar the things that come out of your mouth, what you spend your money on, what you do in private.

If we are a Christian and we have to look over our shoulder to see if someone is watching...they probably are. If we have to mute a song we are listening to or turn the channel quickly because we don't want someone to hear what we are listening to or watching...they saw, they heard.

In order to have the Acts 2 kind of witness that will build His Church, we must first look at our worship...our worship IS our witness. And people are watching us to see if what we say lines up with how we live.

People watchers...they are everywhere, even when we aren't looking.

DAILY DEVO...take a dive!

As a young Jr high teen, I spent most of my summer days at Joanne's Park in Green Bay, WI where I grew up. Today, that park is still there.

I remember going to the pool all day long with my friends and my brothers. All of them were good swimmers, I however, was not.

The cool place to be was no doubt over in the deep end, by the diving boards. Whether it was a cannonball, a back flip or even a belly flop; when you reached the end of the dive to jump; all eyes were upon you.

I was always chicken to go on the dives. But somehow I would get sucked into it. Waiting in line, I always was in awe of how my friends would run and leap into the water from their stand on the board. When it was my turn, I climbed those stairs slowly, wondering how I could turn back around without being noticed but as I turned, there always seemed to be someone already on the steps ready to go after me.

I suppose you could say that sometimes as a Christian we may see ourselves like that; standing at the edge of a dive, staring at the water, trying to convince ourselves to take the leap. Part of us wants to swim awhile out in the deep but fear keeps us standing on the edge and turning to look for a way to climb back down.

"As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before Him?" (Psalm 42:1,2)

When it comes to God and stepping out to do what He is asking, don't be hesitate. Go to the edge and dive in. Don't be afraid, He won't let you drown.

TODAY'S DAILY...using the right measuring stick

Have you ever felt like nothing is working or like you can never measure up?

I have felt like that. In fact, sometimes it has felt like someone is holding that "you have to be this tall" measuring stick to me (like at the amusement park) and based on the judgement of the one holding the stick, I may or may not be allowed to pass.

Reminds me of the Israelites who were feeling alittle convicted of their self interests, so they returned to work on rebuilding the temple...

"The people feared the presence of the Lord . . . and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God” (Haggai 1:12, 14).

As the foundation of the temple began to go up, something went wrong, the older people began to cry. They had remembered what Solomon's temple from 68 years ago looked like and this new temple just was not measuring up; which brought great discouragement to the point of giving up.

Too many of God’s children are being discouraged today and giving up because they think they do not measure up. All they see is that measuring stick that says "not good enough - Do not enter!" 

Like the Israelites, even though we are trying to put God first and build His house, we just don't feel wise enough, good enough, strong enough. Instead of keeping on, we throw in the towel and miss out on what God has called us to do and we lose out on who He has created us to be.

We cannot always measure up to everyone's standard, but when we apply God's measuring stick, we will always be accepted and be enough for Him!

DAILY DEVO... You are someone!

TODAY'S DAILY...

As a pastor's wife, one of the most repeated statements that I hear is, "we should do this at our church!" Just this past week, I heard that 4 different times! Praise God for new ideas!

I love hearing new ideas and what I love even more is when someone not only thinks of a new idea but has a plan to implement it.

Years ago, a pastor I sat under often would say, "Somebody needs to do this ...AND YOU are somebody!" Not only would he say this from the pulpit but he expected if you came to him about an idea, you were saying you would be the one to take charge!

If only that was the way it worked. Lol (and all ministry leaders say amen right here!) Here's the thing about servanthood...we must all realize two things:

1. We are ALL called to serve.

2. We are to do every task, no matter the size, with all that we have.

The size of the task is really irrelevant; whether it be cleaning the toilets at church to leading worship every Sunday; the important thing to ask is, "does it need to be done?"

God will never excuse us of the little, mundane tasks that need to be accomplished. In fact it is in the little tasks that our character is defined to handle the bigger tasks...

"Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” (Luke 16:10) 

Great opportunities are often disguised in small packages. Paul gathered wood for a fire to keep everyone warm after a shipwreck. (Acts 28:3). Don't you know he was as equally as worn out as everyone else, but he did what was needed to be done.

I don't know what little thing (or big thing) that God is showing you that someone needs to do, but remember, God made YOU a SOMEONE!

DAILY DEVO...do everything in excellence!

I've been thinking about what it takes to be a person of excellence. I once read something that Joyce Meyer's had to say...

"Excellent people exceed expectations." 

In other words; they go the extra mile, they do more than is asked, and they take extra steps to ensure the highest quality. 

If people were to describe your work, would excellence come to mind or simply mediocre? Joyce Meyer's also says, "You can
run into mediocrity accidentally but you have to purpose to be excellent." 

Certainly, going above and beyond the call of duty takes a conscious 

effort:

"Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus . . . " (Colossians 3:17) 

Paul also writes, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward" (Colossians 3:23-24).

We are ALL called to strive for excellence in order to be the best testimony for the  Lord that we can be. 

Excellence does not necessarily mean there are no mistakes, but it does mean, the presence of faith and determination. To be excellent at whatever God has called you to do, you must ask for two things: His strength to accomplish the task and also for His endurance to complete it. 

Jim Elliot once said, "Wherever you are--be all there." 

Consider what God has entrusted you with today...your job, your family, your finances, your faith; have you been ALL there with what you have to offer?

Whatever you do, do IT with excellence, as unto the Lord. He will reward you greatly.