Christian Daily Devotionals

by Mike Woodard

The Winter Olympics will soon come to BC. Any event like the Olympics is filled with people who line up and start competing with an intensity and energy that is admired by millions, but the prize only goes to the one who finishes well ahead of the others.

A race is the test of one’s depth of training and self-discipline and a measure of one’s strength and endurance which has been built up during many months and sometimes years of preparation. Even without the Olympics to motivate us to train, life can bring its own set of challenges that require a discipline and motivation that makes us dig deep within.

There are at least 4 attributes that are needed in order to compete well: vision, discipline, adaptability and personal satisfaction. Vision is sometimes defined as a mental picture of the desired future. The more specific the vision is, the greater the potential benefit of that vision toward success will be.

I had the desire to run a marathon.  It was a great vision, but not really helpful, in terms accomplishing my desire until I set a date, picked a race, and set a time goal for pacing myself.  Only then did my vision begin to become a reality.

Once my vision was more defined, it moved me to action, I began to train in a focused way and to talk about what I was going to do, which provided a sense of accountability to follow through on my vision.  The discipline that I imposed on myself in training for a marathon also began to impact other areas of my life, causing me to be more focused in setting goals and implementing them.  I’m convinced that a true vision will result in focused goals and self discipline towards those goals.

Adaptability and personal satisfaction come as by-products of the vision and its implementation.  It’s surprising how the will to accomplish something causes one to adapt accordingly, and the ultimate satisfaction of seeing the vision “in process” and becoming a reality can help with the rough or challenging moments along the way.

Sometimes people become overwhelmed with the task of creating and implementing a vision because they feel the need to have an ultimate vision for their life.  It’s actually easier to start with “baby steps”:  pick an area of life and get a mental picture of a desired future in that area.  This could be in the area of one’s physical, intellectual, financial, professional, spiritual or relational sphere.

Vision is created twice. The first creation is the mental picture, the shaping of vision which is like the general form of clay in a potter’s hand.  The second creation is defining it so that it can be lived out in a physical reality, taking specific, small steps toward the vision becoming reality.  Both are important.

Stephen Covey in his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, calls this, “Beginning with the End in Mind.”  What is your desired future?  Take the time to think and dream before rushing headlong into goal setting and implementation.

King Solomon said, “Without a vision, the people perish.” He must have understood some very fundamental about the human spirit. Each of us longs to for change and a better future. Solomon in all his wealth, position and power realized that the future was realized beyond physical.
What is your vision for 2010? Does that desire go beyond simply the physical aspects of life?

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/02/11/mw_finish-well/

by Max Lucado

"God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases him." Philippians 2:13 (NCV)

What God said about Jeremiah, he said about you: “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work�? Jeremiah 1:5 (NCV).

Set apart for a special work.

God shaped you according to yours. How else can you explain yourself? Your ability to diagnose an engine problem by the noise it makes, to bake a cake without a recipe. You knew the Civil War better than your American history teacher. You know the name of every child in the orphanage. How do you explain such quirks of skill?

God. He knew young Israel would need a code, so he gave Moses a love for the law. He knew the doctrine of grace would need a fiery advocate, so he set Paul ablaze. And in your case, he knew what your generation would need and gave it. He designed you. And his design defines your destiny. Remember Peter’s admonition? “If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies�? 1 Peter 4:11.

I encountered walking proof of this truth on a trip to Central America. Dave, a fellow American, was celebrating his sixty-first birthday with friends at the language school where my daughter was studying Spanish. My question—“What brings you here?�?— opened a biographical floodgate. Drugs, sex, divorce, jail—Dave’s first four decades read like a gangster’s diary. But then God called him. Just as God called Moses, Paul, and millions, God called Dave.

His explanation went something like this. “I’ve always been able to fix things. All my life when stuff broke, people called me. A friend told me about poor children in Central America, so I came up with an idea. I find homes with no fathers and no plumbing. I install sinks and toilets and love kids. That’s what I do. That’s what I was made to do.�?

Sounds like Dave has found the cure for the common life. He’s living in his sweet spot. What about you? What have you always done well? And what have you always loved to do?

That last question trips up a lot of well-meaning folks. God wouldn’t let me do what I like to do—would he? According to Paul, he would. “God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases him�? Philippians 2:13 (NCV). Your Designer couples the “want to�? with the “be able to.�? Desire shares the driver’s seat with ability. “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart�? Psalm 37:4 (NIV). Your Father is too gracious to assign you to a life of misery. As Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Human life would seem to consist in that in which each man most delights, that for which he especially strives, and that which he particularly wishes to share with his friends.�?

So go ahead; reflect on your life. What have you always done well and loved to do?

Some find such a question too simple. Don’t we need to measure something? Aptitude or temperament? We consult teachers and tea leaves, read manuals and horoscopes. We inventory spiritual gifts and ancestors. While some of these strategies might aid us, a simpler answer lies before us. Or, better stated, lies within us.

The oak indwells the acorn. Read your life backward and check your supplies. Rerelish your moments of success and satisfaction. For in the merger of the two, you find your uniqueness.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/11/27/ml_read/
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Max Lucado
From Cure for the Common Life
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2006)
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
http://www.maxlucado.com/info/view/about_max_lucado/

by Max Lucado
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What would it take to restore your hope?

What would you need to reenergize your journey?

Though the answers are abundant, three come quickly to mind.

The first would be a person. Not just any person. You don't need someone equally confused. You need someone who knows the way out.

And from him you need some vision. You need someone to lift your spirits. You need someone to look you in the face and say, "This isn't the end. Don't give up. There is a better place than this. And I'll lead you there."

And, perhaps most important, you need direction. If you have only a person but no renewed vision, all you have is company. If he has a vision but no direction, you have a dreamer for company. But if you have a person with direction, ‘who can take you from this place to the right place’ ah, then you have one who can restore your hope.

Or, to use David's words, "He restores my soul." Our Shepherd majors in restoring hope to the soul. Whether you are a lamb lost on a craggy ledge or a city slicker alone in a deep jungle, everything changes when your rescuer appears.

Your loneliness diminishes, because you have fellowship.

Your despair decreases, because you have vision.

Your confusion begins to lift, because you have direction.

Please note: You haven't left the jungle. The trees still eclipse the sky, and the thorns still cut the skin. Animals lurk and rodents scurry. The jungle is still a jungle. It hasn't changed, but you have. You have changed because you have hope. And you have hope because you have met someone who can lead you out.

Your Shepherd knows that you were not made for this place. He knows you are not equipped for this place. So he has come to guide you out.

Question: How does God comfort you when you start to lose hope?

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/08/21/ml_restored/
Not to be reprinted without permission

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Max Lucado
From: Let the Journey Begin: God's Roadmap for New Beginnings
Copyright (J Countryman 2009) Max Lucado
Used by Permission

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
http://www.maxlucado.com/about/

by Max Lucado
____________________________________________________________________________________

What would it take to restore your hope?

What would you need to reenergize your journey?

Though the answers are abundant, three come quickly to mind.

The first would be a person. Not just any person. You don’t need someone equally confused. You need someone who knows the way out.

And from him you need some vision. You need someone to lift your spirits. You need someone to look you in the face and say, “This isn’t the end. Don’t give up. There is a better place than this. And I’ll lead you there.�?

And, perhaps most important, you need direction. If you have only a person but no renewed vision, all you have is company. If he has a vision but no direction, you have a dreamer for company. But if you have a person with direction—who can take you from this place to the right place—ah, then you have one who can restore your hope.

Or, to use David’s words, “He restores my soul.�? (Psalm 23) Our Shepherd majors in restoring hope to the soul. Whether you are a lamb lost on a craggy ledge or a city slicker alone in a deep jungle, everything changes when your rescuer appears.

Your loneliness diminishes, because you have fellowship.

Your despair decreases, because you have vision.

Your confusion begins to lift, because you have direction.

Please note: You haven’t left the jungle. The trees still eclipse the sky, and the thorns still cut the skin. Animals lurk and rodents scurry. The jungle is still a jungle. It hasn’t changed, but you have. You have changed because you have hope. And you have hope because you have met someone who can lead you out.

Your Shepherd knows that you were not made for this place. He knows you are not equipped for this place. So he has come to guide you out.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/07/05/ml_hope/

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Max Lucado
From: Let the Journey Begin:
God’s Roadmap for New Beginnings
© (J Countryman 2009)
Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
http://www.maxlucado.com/about/