Christian Daily Devotionals

By John Fischer

Vicky never gave up. For 42 years she prayed for her uncle. Last year she thought she could see some cracks forming in his 101-year-old heart. Earlier in the summer, Vicky's daughter joined a short-term mission group in Hawaii. Her emails home were all about what God was doing in her life, and Vicky's uncle read them all. Vicky wasn’t sure, but he seemed moved by them. And then something happened that broke his heart. Was God was opening up a place in the hard heart for Himself?

“I am a scientific person,” he once screamed at Vicky, “and I need scientific evidence. I need proof! I won’t believe unless I have proof!” C.S. Lewis has said that God dragged him, kicking and screaming, into heaven and Vicky decided to hold onto the hope that God was dragging her uncle in like Lewis. He’s an intelligent man and a self-made millionaire. He’s been fighting God for 100 years. Those are hard odds to overcome, but nothing’s impossible with God.

Vicky and her daughter went to see him after her daughter’s return from Hawaii. “We went with highest hopes,” Vicky said. “As usual, he was incredibly distracted and appeared not to be listening. My daughter kept trying to steer the conversation back to Jesus and he kept changing the subject. Finally I told him how I knew he had no purpose and hope for living and asked him if he wanted to pray with us to find the peace that his sister and I had found in Christ. Miraculously, he softly said, ‘Yes.’ My daughter and I couldn’t believe it!”

Shortly after Christmas, the sister he dearly loved and had looked after all his life, passed away. Vicky believes it is the grace of God that kept her alive long enough to see her brother’s salvation. Though he was deeply saddened by her leaving, Vicky’s uncle was visibly buoyed by the knowledge of being able to be reunited with her in heaven. This is the same man who only a few months earlier had claimed there was nothing after death. Nothing. Now he has a new purpose for his life, and, by the way, another sister to take care of. This one is only 96 and in better health than her older sister, which puts a little sparkle in her brother’s eyes because it means he can get out again. He may not be screaming anymore at 102, but he’s still kicking!

Last October, Vicky’s family got to celebrate her uncle’s one-hundred-second and her aunt’s one-hundredth birthday with the joy of adding the celebration of his first natural birthday as a Christian. Born again at 101. Proof that it’s never too late; and encouragement to all to never give up, even amidst the most obstinate resistance. Just ask Vicky.

Question: Is there someone in your life who you’ve been praying for, seemingly without results, for a long time? Can you recommit to continue praying for them?

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/03/10/jf_born-again/
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by John Fischer

Mister Rogers was right after all: There is only one you. But this information is much more important than to just be boosting your self-esteem. It is to help you better serve others by being more confident about your God-given role in life.

No one else fits your shape. No one else has your blend of gifts, talents and natural abilities making you very important in the whole scheme of things. “God made our bodies with many parts,” wrote Paul, “and He has put each part just where He wants it”
(1 Corinthians 12:18). And as it is with the human body, so it is with the Body of Christ, the corporate collection of all who believe.

But this uniqueness goes beyond giftedness; it reaches as well into the depth of each of our experiences in life. No one else has your life. No one else has your pain, your hardship, your joys and sorrows. Everything in life shapes us and we are shaped by everything for a reason: so that we can touch others in a unique way based upon who we are and what we’ve been through. God doesn’t waste anything in our lives.

Every piece of our lives and experiences can be used of Christ to touch someone else. We were made for each other; we live for each other; we even die for each other. We die with hope so that others who live might see the reality of Christ in even the darkest of hours. God uses everything.

Are you just getting by, or are you living for a reason? Think about your unique gifts and ask yourself how those gifts are benefiting others. What specific way is God using you to touch others in the Body of Christ?

Do you seem to have an extra measure of wisdom, or mercy, or discernment, or knowledge, or administration, or desire to serve? These will help determine how you can look for opportunities to help others.

And then think about the things you have gone through so far in your life, especially the difficult or challenging things where God has met you with His presence and power. That information is not just for you, it’s for you to empathize with and encourage others who have encountered similar struggles.

God isn’t messing around here. There are no accidents with our lives. Whatever we have received and experienced has shaped who we are, and because of that, we are qualified servants. There is truly no one else like you … for a reason.

Question: How has God crafted you uniquely, to make you uniquely you?

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/01/28/jf_one-you/

by John Fischer

Did you know that one of the most significant aspects of our mission in the world is simply being there? Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16:

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.”

Part of our mission is consciously telling people about Christ. Another part of it is unconsciously telling people about Christ. This is the unconscious part Paul is talking about here. This is the part of our mission that goes on all the time, and it is one of the reasons God wants us out in the world and not isolated or only associating with believers.

God has us on parade.

That’s what is meant by this “triumphal procession.” The Corinthian believers would have had an immediate picture in their minds of Roman soldiers marching through the streets of Corinth returning from a military engagement somewhere in the empire. It was a public display, and Paul says we are always being lead in one of these things.

Now some of you are already saying, “Wait a minute… I’m not returning from battle, I don’t think I’ve been very victorious lately, and what’s more, I don’t like parades, much less being in one!”

Well hold your horses because this is not that kind of parade. This is not you marching through your office leading the worship band. This is a thing between you and God, with Christ being the source. It’s Christ in you carrying on a relationship with God through your life and affecting everyone around you as a result. It’s you and I living our lives of faith out in the world where it will have an effect on those who come into contact with us. This is not putting on airs: this is being who we are as people of faith.

Did you know that living your life out in the world, loving God and following Christ as best as you can is a very powerful thing? It is. That’s why you can have a sense of mission about what you do in the world. You are not just getting by. You are, at whatever stage of faith that you find yourself, putting Christ on display, and people will react to you based on what they see of Him.

So whatever you’re about to do today - be conscious about your relationship with God, and you will unconsciously leave a mark on others.

Question: How can we remain confident in who we are in Christ, even when our immediate circumstances don’t exactly testify to this truth?

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/01/08/jf_parade/

by John Fischer

"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25:2 (NIV)

It's the only bumper sticker I've ever really liked: WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM. I like it because it says at least two things.

1) Those who seek God are wise. God affirms the dignity of the searcher and the search. The fact that God has set it up this way — has concealed His matters and invited us to search for Him — confirms our nobility. It says we have enough smarts to look for Him and recognize Him when we find Him. In fact, the proverb puts the searcher in the realm of kings. It's a noble task to seek after God.

2) Those who seek God are given the benefit of the doubt, that if they seek Him, they will find Him. This is actually a promise in scripture: "…He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). This is why those of us who already know Him don't have to jump all over those who don't when they get something wrong or don't put it in exactly the right words. If they are truly seeking, it will be God who opens their eyes anyway. We need to respect the search of those we know who are seeking and not get impatient with them or think of them as stupid for not seeing what we see. When it's time, they will.

This may mean you might have to bite your tongue a little bit and not say everything you know all the time. Better to listen for those parts of the truth the seeker has already found and affirm them. Jesus didn't spill all the beans as soon as He started preaching. He let a little bit out at a time. He talked in code (parables). He asked a lot of questions. He protected the search. He didn't give what was sacred to dogs or throw out pearls to pigs. He always said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear," and then He went on to not say everything. He made them hang on His words and come back for more. All of this protects not only the dignity of the search and the searcher, but also the dignity of the truth.

So you can't put all that on a bumper sticker, but you can put:
WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM."

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/12/18/jf_wise-men/