Carry My Own Cross

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24

Recently when visiting Nashville with my nephew Brian and great niece Rylee we visited The Upper Room ministry near the Vanderbilt University campus. I purchased a wall cross for my nephew and during the course of the day he said "Aunt Becky I can carry my own cross." Bingo, devotion idea,thanks Brian!

The vivid picture we have in scripture of Jesus on his way to be crucified was Him dragging the heavy cross on his back. No complaints just the look of pain on His face. Each of us daily is to bear our cross. We must deny ourselves and our desires and earthly pleasures for the purpose of advancing God's kingdom.

Denying self is a pretty tall order in our self absorbed society. Are we able to forget ourselves, concentrate on God, and look forward to helping others. Sit and ponder that for a while then see what changes need to be made.

PRAYER: Lord God I thank you for opportunities you put right before us at times to deny ourselves and help others. Many do it in their careers such as doctors, nurses, and first responders. Help me Lord look for ways to get myself off my mind and reach out to others. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Guilt Trip Express

"Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.” (MSG)Galatians 5:10

Yours truly, the devotion writer, has to read my own devotions at times. Many writers say they get their material from their own life and I am no exception. 

One of the things I absolutely hate doing is making someone go on a guilt trip such as my own adult children. Not sure how it transpires but mainly a 'self' thing done unintentionally. Any parent out there will probably identify with me that it is hard to parent at times and get everything perfect.

The worse kind of trip that is no vacation at all is the guilt trip. It involves saying things to make yourself feel better or heap up a pile of self pity at the expense of someone else. Probably a tool of Satan to try to drag down relationships because it certainly is not a Christian thing to make someone feel bad. 

If you have this problem ask God to help you recognize when you are doing it. Ask Him to help you with things you say or do. Above all think before you say something stupid that hurts people or starts a fight. Just let it go and try to not do it again. 

PRAYER: Every day I know that I need to wake up and thank you for a new day. When I do help me tear down any barriers in my life that are hurting myself or worse, others. Help me learn from my errors how to live life without guilting people. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

Deceived?

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3

You know what happens when you saturate yourself too much in the world? This world that should not be our home tries to shape you into its' mold. Lately this mold has not been God shaped or inspired. 

Teenage girls can be really susceptible to the Hollywood and cool girl mode more than the godly girl mold. Pressure to conform and fit in often overrides common sense. But not just teen girls but all of us that spend too much time listening to news, reading Hollywood magazines, saturating ourselves in some other place other than God's word, are easily led astray. 

Make up your mind today you will live in this world but not let it seduce you. Satan loves to lasso people into evil. To combat this attack stay in prayer and make sure you spend daily time in what really matters and that is the Bible. 

PRAYER: I pray for those who may easily be trapped by Satan's cunning tricks and that includes me. Help me remember to put you first and run from worldly temptations and recognize lies of the enemy before I am trapped or tricked by them. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

Note: Want to remind you about my recent book release available on Amazon, Kindle, Nook etc. God's Lemonade Stand:101 Sips To Refresh Your Soul. To order signed copy from me email me for details. 

Training In Patience

For you have need of patient endurance [to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising], so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may enjoy to the full what is promised. Hebrews 10:36

How many of you have experienced these things. Overly loud person on their phone in a coffee shop, library, airport terminal waiting area or airplane. Perhaps a disgruntled person in line in front of you at a fast food restaurant constantly complaining. A driver who chooses to tailgate you for miles. Many things try our patience.

There are all kinds of people in the world. God did not make any of us alike and it is probably good. In life patience is required so you don't end up spouting off and getting into an argument that could even escalate into the police being called.

As a believer you are to be set apart. You are to handle situations in a different manner. If you find yourself in the middle of a trying situation ask God for strength to say and do the right things.

PRAYER: Each day Lord I need your help to love all kinds of people and to let you work through me in the lives of others. Sometimes it is hard so I know you will see me through. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Hidden Vegetables

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” Mark 4:18-20

I have a fairly large garden but I am not the world's best gardener.  There are so many weeds I need to pull to be able to find the vegetables sometimes. Recently when my great niece and nephew were visiting she was fascinated by the country life and our garden but had to admit it was difficult to find the vegetables ready to harvest among the choking weeds. 

Our spiritual life can be sort of similar to my weed infested garden. There maybe good 'fruit' in you, but at times the cares of the world, acting too much like the world, trying to fit into the world's idea of success can cause us to be choked out and not grow for Christ. Maybe at times our 'fruit' can't bloom because of all this junk. 

Is it time to pull some weeds in your own life and let your good fruit have a chance to grow and blossom for Christ? 

PRAYER: Many times Lord I allow worldly things to push you out and thus choke the fruit of the Spirit out of my life. I choose to 'weed' my spiritual garden each day so it produces good fruit. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Hug Your Bible

"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land-- not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Amos 8:11

When we have tornado warnings here in the Southeast to the magnitude the weather radio is warning us to seek immediate shelter, the first thing I grab is one of my Bibles. I treasure the word and want to have it with me. Is your Bible important to you? Do you often see those close to you who seemingly have lost their love for God's word?

I feel it is easy to become complacent about the wonderful things we have in a free country. Many countries are not allowed to have God's word and are killed for it. It is God's word that sets the captive free. There has been a major assault on God's word by atheists groups trying to get it removed from hotels, military bases, schools and more. Satanic forces know the power it carries. 

Do you have enough of God's word stored up in your heart that if enemies of the cross of Christ took it physically away from you it would still be retained by you? Just something to think about in these trying times.

PRAYER: I treasure your Word Lord. I pray for those whose love for you has grown cold,some within our own families. I pray you will stir a hunger for the Word and re ignite the passions in hearts that have become complacent. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Celebrity Lookalikes

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.2 Corinthians 4:6

I have a habit of finding celebrity lookalikes for people. Just the other day the manager of a restaurant we were dining in looked just like Blake Shelton. I pulled up the real Blake Shelton's picture on my phone and then I showed it to the manager. He said. "I get that allot". I told him he  probably was Blake just posing as a restaurant manager. His face turned red.

The celebrity we should all try to 'look like' is Jesus Christ. To ignore him totally in your day and in some cases not even attend church because it is boring or Sunday is your only day off is not a good excuse. If you feel this way perhaps you may have never even truly asked Him to be Lord of your life or you have but Satan has blinded you and 'things of this world' have taken center stage more than Jesus. Maybe you need to find a church home where Jesus' words are alive and you look forward to Sundays!

Would you like people to be able to actually tell that you loved Jesus and were sold out to Him without the aids such as a Christian bumper sticker, cross necklace, or Christian tee shirt? You can be a Jesus 'lookalike' in Spirit by being transformed daily by reading His word each day. Start today to make yourself more in the image of Christ. 

PRAYER: I know the enemy would love me to be saturated with the things of this world and neglect getting to know Christ better and radiate that glow. Guard my heart Father so that the lies of this world do not affect me. In Jesus' name. Amen.