Category Archives: devotional

Act like Abraham (John 8:39-41), February 26, 2017

Today’s Podcast

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Do you ever flatter anyone? Do you know the highest form of flattery? Let’s talk about it.
Scripture
1. John 8:39-41
2. Jesus: If you are truly Abraham’s children, then act like Abraham! From what I see you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that comes from the Father. This is not something Abraham would do, but you are doing what you have learned from your father.
Devotional
1. In 1820, Charles Caleb Colton wrote “imitation is the sincerest of flattery.” Although something similar appeared in the biography of Emperor Marcus Antoninus by Jeremy Collier in 1708 when the quoted the Emperor as saying, “you should consider that imitation is the most acceptable part of worship and that the gods had much rather mankind should resemble, than flatter them.”
2. Often told imitate habits of successful people
  1. Rise early
  2. Plan well ahead
  3. Pay attention to detail
  4. Anticipate problems and develop contingencies to deal with them
  5. Share success but own failure
  6. Read broadly
  7. Learn something every day
3. Wouldn’t expect to be successful if you did just the opposite
  1. Lazy
  2. Just let things happen
  3. Never thought through ways to recover from failure
  4. Push everyone away
  5. Blame everyone else for your own mistakes
4. We become very much like the people we imitate, whether we want to believe that or not
  1. Business
  2. Parenting
  3. husband/wife act like father/mother
  4. Friendships
  5. Spiritual life
5. Who are you watching to pattern your life?
  1. Jews said they patterned after Abraham, but just progeny; long dead
  2. Watched someone else
    1. Greed
    2. Pride
    3. Selfishness
6. Who do you watch? Who is your example?
  1. Accountability to peer
  2. Need human mentors
  3. Do they try their best to mimic Christ
    1. Accept failure
    2. Repent
    3. Own frailty
    4. Lean heavily on God
    5. Know what real success means
    6. Know priorities in life
7. Song titled “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”
  1. Watch Him
  2. Anyone between you and Him is closer to Him than you are
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

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The King’s Son and His power (John 8:34-36), February 25, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
There are few true monarchies any more. Most are democracies with a monarch as a head of state, like in Great Britain or Monaco. But we are fascinated by their ancestry, who is next in line for the throne, the hidden secrets of the royal family. We love stories about the palace, don’t we?
Scripture
1. John 8:34-36
2. Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.
Devotional
1. Even in America, we get a lot of buzz about Prince William and Kate. They have revitalized the monarchy in Great Britain in the last few years. Every generation of the monarchy, tracing its history back to Egbert of Wessex reign about 800, looks for that first born son to rule as king of the united empire.
  1. See the authority used wisely and foolishly
  2. Always in the news
  3. People are interested in their lives because their lives influence them in a direct way
  4. Much more so in the past than today, but still they play an important role in the politics of the nation as the head of state for the country
2. Everyone keeps up with the descendants
  1. Who is next in line if something happens to William?
  2. What if both he and his brother died at or near the same time?
  3. Who is next in line for the throne?
  4. What is their character and how will they lead?
  5. Not so anxious for Charles to take the throne, but excited for William to lead because of his appeal to the common people.
3. King carries tremendous weight in a monarchy
  1. We don’t understand it in our democracy
  2. We elect representatives to write and execute our laws on our behalf
  3. True monarchies have a king that decides it all. The king rules.
  4. He determines who lives and dies and how people progress between those two points of birth and death
  5. Generally the kingdom passes down to the heir unless overthrown in battle or he abdicates the throne for personal or political reasons
4. Those listening to Jesus thought they could stand on their pedigree, their ancestry as descendants of Abraham to do as they please just as a prince might extend his rights because of his position to the throne.
  1. Jesus stops their argument
  2. Commands come from the real King of kings, creator
  3. Jesus, His son has power they do not have because they are only human, not divine
5. The question is who is your father? God or Abraham? Heavenly or earthly? Divine or human? Who do you follow? Your choice
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Imposing on our freedoms (John 8:31-32), February 24, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Have you ever considered just how many laws we must follow every day? Some are so old and archaic they don’t just border on the ridiculous, they fell off the cliff long ago. Here are a couple to consider: It is illegal to milk another person’s cow. The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home. It is illegal for one to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel. Talk about imposing on our freedoms!
Scripture
1. John 8:31-32
2. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Devotional
1. In this country, we talk a lot about freedom. But I think sometimes we have a real misconception about what freedom really means.
  1. Definition: 1.the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial. 2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc. 3. the power to determine action without restraint. 4. political or national independence. 5. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom. 6. exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually followed by from): freedom from fear. 7. the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
  2. We can define it, but can we really live within the scope of these words?
  3. Not without infringing on the freedom of someone else except for perhaps the first, at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint
  4. All others are illusions if we live in community with others to maintain order and preservation of the community
2. Look at definitions
  1. Exemption from external control – establish laws and regulations to govern our behavior for the health and safety of the community
  2. Power to determine action without restraint – laws and regulations restrain our actions, cannot do anything we want
  3. Political or national independence – no nation is completely independent in today’s society, we are interdependent because of the trade, commerce, migration of people from state to state, negotiate our freedoms to avoid conflict
  4. Personal liberty – we talk often about the loss of personal liberties: some speech today puts you in jail – hate speech; loss of religious freedoms; debates about what Second Amendment means; even where you live (codes), how much you can make (taxes), and more
  5. Exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually followed by from): freedom from fear – often an emotion that still lingers and we cover with some tools we’ve learned
  6. Absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc. – just as with laws and regulations, we will always live under some kind of laws as long as we live
3. Man’s laws are fickle and always changing, difficult to understand and impossible to follow
4. Follow God, His rules have never changed. Believe in Jesus for forgiveness and life. His spirit will live in you to help you live His within the laws He gives, freedom from the oppression and guilt of the laws that burden others.
  1. Know the rules
  2. Know the spirit of what God wants for your life
  3. Know the truth of who God is and what He wants
  4. Know freedom because of who you belong to and whose rules you fall under
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Pleasing the Father (John 8:28-29), February 23, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
How hard did you work to make your father pleased when you were a kid? I sometimes worked really hard, but often failed miserably. My early days of sitting on the front pews of the church were often accompanied by spanking for my misbehavior when I got home. Not exactly pleasing behavior, I expect.
Scripture
1. John 8:28-29
2. They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”
Devotional
1. I’m a preacher’s kid. Growing up, my brother and I usually sat on the front seat so my dad could keep an eye on us.
  1. Had a problem sitting still
  2. Got in trouble almost every service
  3. I wanted to please my father, but just had to cut up with my brother instead of paying attention to the service
  4. I knew the rules, sit still, be quiet, and listen
  5. I could only do that for a little while when I was in elementary school
  6. Wanted to please, but got in trouble a lot
2. We’re like that with THE Father
  1. We know the rules
  2. We know when we are about to break them
  3. We know what He wants from us and how He wants us to behave
  4. Like little kids that can’t sit still, we can’t please Him sometimes
  5. We do our own thing instead of obeying
  6. And we get in trouble
3. As I matured, I learned to appreciate what the pastor was saying
  1. First my dad
  2. Later other pastors
  3. I still want to please my earthly father
  4. I want to please my heavenly Father more
4. Always present to help me know how to please Him
  1. Sometimes have to guess with our earthly fathers
  2. We think we know what they want, but we don’t
  3. God lives with us and in us to guide us if we will listen to His voice
  4. Earthly fathers can’t be with us all the time to help us through life and let us know what they want. God can and does
  5. Earthly fathers change their minds and change the rules sometimes
  6. God never does, His plan for our salvation has not changed since the beginning of time and Adam’s first sin
5. Do I always please Him?
  1. No
  2. But He always forgives when I ask in true repentance
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Big brother gives commands (John 8:25-26), February 22, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Did your mom ever send your brother or sister to tell you to do something? How did you like it? That just how some people felt when Jesus came around.
Scripture
1. John 8:25-26

“Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

Devotional
1. My daughter doesn’t do it very often, but every once in awhile, she sends her oldest child to tell her younger ones to do something. “Jonathon, go tell Grayson to put on her shoes so we can go.”
  1. Doesn’t do it often because of the backlash
  2. Youngest doesn’t like to be told by the oldest
  3. Both are her children
  4. Grayson feels like an equal
  5. Doesn’t want to hear from anyone but her mother
  6. Certainly doesn’t think Jonathon should tell her what to do
2. Many of those who heard Jesus looked at Him the same way
  1. He’s just a man
  2. He’s the same as us
  3. Born of a woman, eats and drinks and breathes like us
  4. Who does He think He is telling us what to do
3. Just like Jonathon gets yelled at by his sister when he passes on a command from his mother, Jesus wasn’t liked by those with whom He shared the Father’s commands
  1. He only passed on what the Father told Him to share
  2. His words were those of the Father and His commands were those of the Father
  3. Until people believed He truly was the Son of God, He was just another man trying to tell them what to do and they didn’t want to listen anymore than a younger child wants to listen to what an older child passes on from his mother
4. We can begin to see some of the danger involved in the dynamics that played out around Jesus during His time on earth as we put ourselves back in His time and in that place. We can be obstinate and raise the hackles on the back of our neck and refuse to believe the Father spoke through Him. We can refuse to believe Jesus is God incarnate who gave Himself for us. We can refuse to trust Him and so suffer the wrath of the Father because of our disobedience. Or we can be obedient children and understand that God sent His Son, Jesus to tell save us from ourselves.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

What if it’s all a sham? (John 8:21-24), February 21, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
What if all this Christianity stuff is just a sham? Some of those early listeners thought it was. Many people today think it is? How do we know it is real?
Scripture
1. John 8:21, 23-24
2. Jesus: Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

Devotional
1. We in the Christian community sometimes scoff at those outside the Christian community and wonder why others can’t see things the way we do. We just don’t understand why something so clear to us is so foreign to everyone else. But we forget that we live on this side of the cross and we have God’s spirit living in us to guide us and teach us His truth.
  1. Perception is real in the mind of those who perceive it
  2. How do we know we are right and others are wrong
  3. Can we trust what Jesus says is true?
  4. What is His word isn’t true and we’re just chasing the wind?
2. Many have raised that argument over the centuries
  1. God isn’t real
  2. He can’t be seen so how can we know He is there
  3. What makes us think there is a divine being interested in our eternal well being?
  4. Why should we follow His command and His teachings?
3. Take a look at Jesus’ words and how they fit into history
  1. Same story of man’s salvation handed down from the time of the first sin
  2. Everything pointed toward Jesus
  3. Nothing since the crucifixion and resurrection has refuted His act of salvation
  4. God’s word has stood the test of time
    1. No other book transcribed and translated through centuries without change like God’s word
    2. No other book preserved like God’s word
    3. No other book treasured like God’s word
  5. Testimony of thousands attest to the truth of what He says
4. What happens if we follow His word as truth and it is not?
  1. We treat each other well
  2. Communities thrive
  3. We live peacefully with other
  4. Conscience clear
  5. Die happier and more content than most people around the world
5. What happens if we don’t follow His word as truth and it is?
  1. We live only for ourselves
  2. We are at war with others trying to gain things for ourselves
  3. We sin against others and against God
  4. We stand in judgment at the end of life
  5. We suffer eternal judgment apart from Him
6. It doesn’t take much faith to realize His word is truth
  1. Takes much more faith to think it is not and live apart from Him
  2. If He is the final judge we need to listen to Him since He will determine our final destiny
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Are you part of an accountability group? (John 8:19), February 20, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Are you part of an accountability group? Do you have anyone that really knows you and challenges you in your daily journey? How do you find someone like that in your life? One group of men I heard did just that.
Scripture
1. John 8:19
2. Jesus: You don’t know the Father or Me. If you knew Me, then you would also know the Father.
Devotional
1. A few days ago I was listening to a vignette about a men’s group that decided they wanted to become accountable to each other. The short video didn’t explain how the men met or tell much about any common interests that brought them together.
  1. Might have been a Sunday School Class
  2. Might have been a Men’s Bible Study
  3. Might have been neighbors at the time
  4. Might have been co-workers, but probably not
  5. Came several areas of business, some entrepreneurs, some blue collar
  6. Made a commitment to met for support and accountability to each other for the next 20 years
2. During those twenty years…
  1. One plead guilty to felony charges and spent time in prison
  2. Two lost a child
  3. One when through rehab for drug and alcohol addiction
  4. Three went through divorce
  5. All had major crises in life
  6. All supported each other and helped them through those crises
3. Seventeen years later
  1. They know each other
  2. No secrets
  3. Nothing off limits in their accountability circle
  4. Grow in their spiritual journey together
  5. Challenge each other in all areas of life
  6. Still committed to life of integrity
4. Jesus said we don’t know Him or the Father
  1. Maybe it was because they didn’t spend any time with Him
  2. Maybe they thought a superficial relationship would do
  3. How are you, what’s happening, good to see you, kind of relationship
  4. He wants us to commit like these ten men committed to each other
  5. Spend time with Him, get to know Him and make nothing off limits in discussion with Him. He knows anyway.
5. When we spend time with Him we will get to know Him and when we know Him we will know the Father because they are One. How? I don’t need to understand it, I just need to believe it.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The importance of the right criteria (John 8:14-18), February 19, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
How important is the criteria you use to make decisions, to complete projects, or to make judgments? I hope you said pretty important. If you don’t think so, just listen.
Scripture
1. John 8:14-18
2. Jesus: Even if I am making bold claims about Myself—who I am, what I have come to do—I am speaking the truth. You see, I know where I came from and where I will go when I am done here. You know neither where I come from nor where I will go. You spend your time judging by the wrong criteria, by human standards; but I am not here to judge anyone. If I were to judge, then My judgment would be based on truth; but I would not judge anyone alone. I act in harmony with the One who sent Me. Your law states that if the testimonies of two witnesses agree, their testimony is true. Well, I testify about Myself, and so does the Father who sent Me here.
Devotional
1. Have you ever gone through a bunch of papers or files or closets or drawers looking for something only to find out you were looking for the wrong thing. I have to admit, I’ve done that more than once in my lifetime. In fact, I seem to do it a lot more often that I like. What a waste of time, right?
  1. Look for the receipt from a particular company only to find out it’s the wrong company
  2. Look for an address only to find it’s the wrong person
  3. Look for a tool only to find out it’s the wrong tool for the job
2. Justice system is sometimes like that
  1. Every crime has a number of elements that must be proven to find a person guilty of that crime.
  2. Unless all are proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury must find not guilty
  3. Doesn’t mean innocent, but doesn’t meet the criteria for guilty verdict
  4. We get frustrated or angry at verdicts we think are unjust, but those are the criteria we have established to try to keep innocent people from being incarcerated
3. Jesus’ judgments are perfect
  1. Not based on man’s laws
  2. Based on God’s perfect love
  3. Excludes all evil from the Father’s presence maintains His holiness
  4. Perfect judge, perfect accuser, perfect advocate
  5. He made the rules
  6. We perverted them
  7. He judges with grace, mercy, and love
  8. We judge with vengeance, revenge, and at best justice
4. Time to follow the perfect One who will judge us at the end of time; He didn’t come to condemn but to save
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The light that shines through the cosmos (John 8:12), February 18, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
In the 1950s and 60s, just about every boy I knew thought of being an astronaut at one time or anothers. We were in a space race with the Soviet Union and rushed to land a man on the moon. Everyone around me dreamed of being that person.
Scripture
1. John 8:12
2. Jesus: I am the light that shines through the cosmos; if you walk with Me, you will thrive in the nourishing light that gives life and will not know darkness.
Devotional
1. As one of my electives as an undergraduate I took astronomy. I got interested in astronomy in Junior High during the height of the space race and our race to the moon. Space and the complexity of the universe fascinated me. I think a great many young men of that time dreamed of screaming away on the back of a Saturn rocket and visiting the stars.
  1. Astronomy class tried to take away some of the wonder
  2. Explained universe and just happenstance of gravity wells pulling on matter and causing the reactions in the stars and formation of planets
  3. Left God out of the equation
  4. Never explained how the Big Bang might have occurred in the first place or who created the dense material from which the Big Bang sprang
2. Still awed by the universe
  1. Distances are mind-boggling
  2. 32 billion light years to the farthest known galaxy (eight minutes and twenty seconds for light to reach us from the sun, 5.3 hours to reach Pluto)
  3. Billions of galaxies in the known universe
  4. Each galaxy made of millions or billions of stars
  5. Many of those stars have planets
  6. We are only beginning to discover the real scope of the universe over the last 200 years
3. Think about Jesus 2,000 years ago describing Himself as the light of the cosmos
  1. Pierces through the darkness
  2. Created all the universe in all its vastness
  3. Brings life and sustains it
  4. Set in motion all the rules that lets us exist on this tiny world
4. That Man, the God/Man, invites us to walk with Him
  1. We will thrive in the nourishing light that gives life
  2. We will not know darkness the thing that brings fear to men
  3. All we have to do is believe in Him for forgiveness and walk in His ways
  4. He will be beside us all the way
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Show grace or condemnation to those who wrong us, which will it be? (John 8:11), February 17, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
We have a choice to condemn or show grace when someone wrongs us. Which will you do?
Scripture
1. John 8:11
2. Jesus: Well, I do not condemn you either; all I ask is that you go and from now on avoid the sins that plague you.
Devotional
1. The doctor asks, “Does it hurt when you move your arm like this?” You reply, “Yes, it does.” His expert treatment. “Then don’t move it that way.”
  1. We would think the doctor is a little crazy wouldn’t we?
  2. Sometimes he’s right.
  3. Humans are the only animal that do things the body isn’t built to do.
  4. Try to build safety gadgets instead.
  5. Bone structure built to withstand hitting something at the speed you can run
  6. Cheetah, dog, elephant, human
  7. We wear ride motorcycles at 90 mph and wear helmets and leather jackets for protection
2. Critics dismissed by asking the one without sin to cast the first stone.
  1. Caught in the act, witnesses to attest to crime
  2. The law said she should be stoned for her adulterous actions
  3. But wait, where was the guy?
  4. Doesn’t it take two?
  5. If she was caught in the act, wasn’t he caught in the act also?
  6. Didn’t the law apply to both? Why, yes it did!
3. Jesus wrote in the sand
  1. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what He wrote?
  2. Maybe a list of everyone’s secret sins
  3. Maybe He began to put names to the violations of God’s laws
  4. We’ll never know what Jesus wrote in the sand that day, but no one threw a stone
4. Then Jesus taught us something we should all remember
  1. He told us He came to extend grace and forgiveness to all those who believed in Him
  2. He also told us to show grace and forgiveness to those who wrong us
  3. He demonstrated it in more ways that we ever could
  4. Jesus gave His life as a demonstration of that grace and forgiveness
5. When I’m quick to judge or condemn others for their actions, maybe I need to stop and remember this scene in the streets of Jerusalem. Jesus didn’t condemn but asked that the woman caught in adultery avoid sinning again. He extend grace and forgiveness to her. I expect He changed her life forever just like He can change mine and yours. All we have to do is ask and then let Him empower us to live the way He wants us to live.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”