Tag Archives: prayer

What does McDonald’s and the Post Office have to do with our spiritual walk? (Luke 24:41-49), January 17, 2017

Today’s Podcast

2017-01-17-devotional-What does McDonald’s and the Post Office have to do with our spiritual walk? (Luke 24:41-49)

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
We have developed a real problem today when it comes to building a relationship with God. Our problem is related to McDonald’s, Intel, and the Post Office. Stick around and see why those things cause us problems in our spiritual walk.
Scripture
1. Luke 24:41-49
2. Jesus: Do you have anything here to eat?

They hand Him a piece of broiled fish, and He takes it and eats it in front of them.

Jesus: I’ve been telling you this all along, that everything written about Me in the Hebrew Scriptures must be fulfilled—everything from the law of Moses to the prophets to the psalms.

Then He opens their minds so they can comprehend the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Jesus: This is what the Scriptures said: that the promised Anointed One should suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, that in His name a radical change of thought and life should be preached, and that in His name the forgiveness of sins should be preached, beginning in Jerusalem and extending to all nations. You have witnessed the fulfillment of these things. So I am sending My Father’s promise to you. Stay in the city until you receive it—until power from heaven comes upon you.

Devotional
1. How impatient have you become in this technological age?
  1. TR 80
  2. Apple iiC, 128 kb memory
  3. Transmissions measured in bytes per second, not megabytes or gigabytes
  4. Open programs, get coffee
  5. Now complain if more than 15 – 20 second start-up
2. Fast food grew up with McDonalds and Wendy’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken
  1. No long waits in restaurants
  2. Short menus
  3. Already mostly cooked
  4. Warmed up and served
  5. Not very nutritious, not very good, but fast
  6. Happy because we don’t wait
  7. Complain if it takes five minutes to get food
3. Complain about speed of delivery
  1. Used to expect seven days for a letter
  2. Ten to fourteen days for a package
  3. Now expect not more than two day delivery, even on weekends and holidays
  4. Can’t wait that extra day for delivery even though it’s something you probably never had before and don’t really need
4. Need to get over our impatience when it comes to knowing God
  1. Stay until
  2. Pray until
  3. Wait until
  4. Until what
5. You are as close to God as you want to be. How long does it take to get as close as you want to be to Him?
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 Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

How to face the toughest tasks (Luke 22:40-42), January 9, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
What is the one thing you hate doing most of all? So why do you do it? Out of a sense of duty, fear, responsibility, love, all of those? We all face those tasks at some point, Jesus taught us how.
Scripture
1. Luke 22:40-42
2. Jesus: Pray for yourselves, that you will not sink into temptation.

He distanced Himself from them about a stone’s throw and knelt there, praying.

Jesus: Father, if You are willing, take this cup away from Me. Yet not My will, but Your will, be done.

Devotional
1. Jobs you just don’t want to do.
  1. Dusting
  2. Dishes
  3. Yardword
  4. Painting
2. We do them most of the time without too much complaint even when we don’t want to
  1. Sometimes talk others into doing them
  2. Sometimes swap with others
  3. Sometimes hire out the work
3. Every once in awhile get tasks that no one can do but us
  1. Our responsibility
  2. Can’t shirk or put it off
  3. Must be done
  4. But nothing like what Jesus faced
4. He wanted out of His task
  1. About to bear the weight of the world’s sins on His shoulders
  2. Pay the penalty required for each of our sins
  3. Guiltless but paying anyway
  4. Asked if there was any other way to let Him take that alternate way
5. Resolved to do what the Father wanted rather than what He wanted
  1. May ask us to do some things we don’t want to do
  2. May be unpleasant or difficult
  3. Can be sure they will never be as difficult as what Jesus did for us
  4. He will help us accomplish whatever He tells us to do
  5. He understands our reluctance to do difficult things because He’s been there
  6. He also knows the importance of doing what the Father asks, because He’s been there
6. Not my will but Your will, can you say that from your heart
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 Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Ever make a big promise you didn’t keep? (Luke 22:31-38), January 8, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Ever make a big promises that you didn’t keep? Peter made a whopper of a promise. Jesus caught him in his failure in less than half a day. Remember what that promise was?
Scripture

Devotional
1. Peter is like a lot of us.
  1. Think we can stand the test
  2. Make promises we can’t keep
  3. Crumble under the intense pressure against us
2. Honest with ourselves
  1. We’ve done the same
  2. Failed to honor Him in the tough times
  3. Kept silent when He said to speak
  4. Went the path of least resistance
  5. Denied Him when the pressure was on
3. Jesus says something important
  1. I have prayed for you
  2. That you faith will hold firm
  3. That you will recover from your failure
  4. That you will become a source of strength for your brothers
4. Peter still failed that night and many other times recorded in the New Testament
  1. Recognized his failure
  2. Repented
  3. Learned from his errors
  4. Became stronger in his faith each time
  5. Finally was executed for his faith
5. Jesus prayer extends to us as He sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us
  1. That our faith will hold firm
  2. That we will recover from any failure
  3. That we will become a source of strength for our brothers and sisters
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 Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Guard your hearts (Luke 21:34-36), January 4, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
What does it mean to guard your heart? Have you ever thought about that? Let’s see what Jesus has to say.

Scripture
- Luke 21:34-36

So be careful. Guard your hearts. They can be made heavy with moral laxity, with drunkenness, with the hassles of daily life. Then the day I’ve been telling you about might catch you unaware and trap you. Because it’s coming—nobody on earth will escape it. So you have to stay alert, praying that you’ll be able to escape the coming trials so you can stand tall in the presence of the Son of Man.

Devotional

Have you ever thought much about that command from Jesus? Guard your hearts.
We aren’t doing very well as a society.
- Description of what He said makes it heavy
- Moral laxity
- Drunkenness
- Hassles of life
Drag by day after day with heavy hearts, what does it mean?
- Sounds a lot like depression – listless, purposeless, everything hard
- Anxiety – worry about everything, anything that can go bad will go bad for you
- Frustration – things never work out the way they should according to your plan
- Despair – never get there, never succeed, never accomplish your goals
Direct result of some of those warnings.
- Think tolerance of all things would improve society, it hasn’t and it won’t
- Drunkenness loosens judgment, leads to moral laxity, creates the same problems
  - Nothing good happens after midnight
  - Never lose control of mental faculties unless under a doctors care
- Rut of daily life underwhelm and make us trudge through life
Military know how to guard things.
- Put barriers in place, physical and electronic, to keep the enemy out
- Put warriors in place to keep watch on all those barriers to make sure no one and nothing slips through
- Trains almost daily, even while in combat, to make sure they are ready to face the enemy and repel him
Do we know how to guard our hearts against the enemy?
Do we even try in these days? Sometimes I’m not sure we do as I look at the state of the world and our society.
- Back to Jesus warning – Guard your hearts. They can be made heavy with moral laxity, with drunkenness, with the hassles of daily life.
- Moral laxity – rampant
- Drunkenness – 20% of all drivers on the road are intoxicated, that means over the legal limits, with drugs or alcohol, but over 65% of all drivers are on the road with a buzz or some sedation from drugs or alcohol. Drunkenness? Here!
- Hassles of daily life – road rage, gun sales, violence, hatred spring up everywhere
  - criticisms instead of complements
  - petitions instead of praise
  - complaints instead of thanksgiving
  - we live in a pessimistic, hate filled time surrounded by evil
How do we guard our hearts?
- Spend time with God
- Listen to Him from His word, hymns, devotionals,
- Pray – a lot
- Study His word, don’t just read it
- Keep garbage out
- Put up barriers to the things Satan would use to fill your mind
- Be aware of your weaknesses and watch carefully in those areas
- Did I say pray – a lot
- By the way – pray – a lot

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.”
Music exit

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

What you can give our nation (Luke 20:23-25) December 27, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Esther 1-5

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 20:23-25
Jesus: Why are you trying to trick Me? Show Me a coin. Whose image and name are on this coin?
Chief Priests, Religious Scholars, and Elders: Caesar’s.
Jesus: Well then, you should give to Caesar whatever is Caesar’s, and you should give to God whatever is God’s.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I’ve been thinking a lot the last year about how distorted our views are about what Jesus thought about governments. We’ve just been through one of the most tumultuous election cycles in our 240 year history with both sides screaming about the unfair system. Both winners and losers claim problems at the polls with voter identification fraud, or the need for voter identification in the first place. Claims that dead people vote, some stealing votes by using someone else’s identity, non-citizens voting, broken or hacked machines, boxes of ballots not counted. There has been an incredible scandal about he whole system.

Then people decry the electoral college and how fair or unfair it might be. Of course the sparsely populated areas of the country think the electoral college is extremely fair, otherwise they would have no voice in the country. The overly populated areas of the country think the electoral college is extremely unfair, because as we’ve seen the majority doesn’t always rule. And then some think we should have a completely democratic system while some think we should be socialist.

Well, one of the great things I like about reading God’s word over and over and particularly concentrating on Jesus’ words these last several months, He never supports or condemns any particular form of government. Have you ever noticed that? Jesus had a few things to say about unjust rulers, but not about their form of government. He called King Herod, “that old fox”, but didn’t say the Roman Empire or the regents and kings, as Herod liked to be called, were necessarily good or bad forms of government.

In fact, God’s words tells us that governments exist at His pleasure to assist human society to live in community. Since we have proven we cannot rule ourselves with decency because of our selfishness, He puts kings and authorities over us to rule us and keep some order in our communities instead of leaving us to the chaos that would erupt if left to our own devices. I don’t think God cares much whether that government is a democracy or dictatorship. I think what He would prefer is a theocracy with Him in charge.

Our problem is, we won’t give Him that place in our communities. Whether we’re talking about cities, states, or nations, I don’t know of a single place on earth right now that gives God sovereignty. We take it from Him. Or at least we try to, thinking we can do a better job of managing our affairs that God. We’ve done a pretty lousy job, though. Just look around at the mess we’ve made. We can’t get along with anyone. We can’t even get along in our own families if you look at the divorce rates, the incidents of spouse and child abuse, the domestic violence, and even the murders within families.

So what should we do about the mess we’ve made with the governments we live under? We are about to start a new year in a few days and an opportunity to start a new season, with a new president in this country, whether you voted for him or against him. We will have a new congress with new senators and new representatives, whether you voted for them or against them. But the interesting thing is that you just happened to be born into this particular country at this particular time with these particular leaders and we can do one of two things.

We can pray for them and ask God to help them make godly decisions and guide our country toward revival using each of us who claim to be followers of Christ as the instruments of revival fire. Or we can belly-ache about the conditions and how unfair the system is and how the side we’re not on politically just doesn’t understand and how gullible they are to the untruths the media spews our way. (By the way, that works whether you are Democrat or Republican or Independent.)

As for me, I feel privileged to live in this particular country and have prayed for my presidents whether they have been the party of my choice or not. Whether I have agreed with them or not. Whether I voted for them or desired for them to take that seat of power or not. Because it really isn’t up to me or you or the 120 million people who voted as to who will sit in what some think of as the seat of power. It’s not for us to give to them. It’s not for them to take or earn or buy. God puts into those positions the people He wants into those positions. Sometimes He even lets us have what we deserve. Ouch! Scary thought, huh!

Make it a point, whatever your political persuasion the rest of this year and the next to pray for our leaders. They need it. We need them to know as Christians we lift them each day in prayer in a positive way. That, more than anything else you do this year, will make a difference in our political system and our nation.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

God is God, and we are not (Luke 18:10-14) December 19, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Deuteronomy 29-31

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 18:10-14
Jesus: Imagine two men walking up a road, going to the temple to pray. One of them is a Pharisee and the other is a despised tax collector. Once inside the temple, the Pharisee stands up and prays this prayer in honor of himself: “God, how I thank You that I am not on the same level as other people—crooks, cheaters, the sexually immoral—like this tax collector over here. Just look at me! I fast not once but twice a week, and I faithfully pay my tithes on every penny of income.” Over in the corner, the tax collector begins to pray, but he won’t even lift his eyes to heaven. He pounds on his chest in sorrow and says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
Now imagine these two men walking back down the road to their homes. Listen, it’s the tax collector who walks home clean before God, and not the Pharisee, because whoever lifts himself up will be put down and whoever takes a humble place will be lifted up.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus words are especially important for us in our society. We somehow miss the boat today on humility. We talk about it. We tell each other we are humble. We seem to think it’s important. But our actions to often say something very different when we get around those who are not like us. We tell ourselves we are not like the Pharisee. We know we are sinners and don’t measure up to God’s standard. But does it end there? Is God just interested in what we think about our spiritual welfare when we talk about humility?

As I look at all the different denominations and all the different religions that spring up around me, I wonder how humble we really are. We may think everyone in our congregation is on an equal footing, but how about those that attend that church down the street? Why can’t we get along with others? I’m equally guilty sometimes. I must pass fifty churches on my way to my own every Sunday morning. But I don’t stop at any of them. I don’t know who the pastor is at most of them. I’m not sure if I know anyone who attends most of them. I assume I know what some of them believe, and because of my pastoral studies, I think I know the differences between my denomination and theirs for the most part.

But I have to admit, except for the weekly food pantry that several community churches around my church participate in with us, it’s been a long time since I’ve set foot in one of those other churches around me. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten an invitation to any of those churches around me. It’s been a long time since I’ve invited all those churches to join mine in a spiritual event that will pull us together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Do I think my denomination is better than theirs? The doctrine in my church fits my personal beliefs better, but quite frankly, I think all of us are doing church wrong these days. As I read and re-read the New Testament and the writings of those early church leaders, those services don’t look anything like our services today. I think maybe the churches in China or Kenya or Iran or Pakistan come a lot closer to doing church right than we do in this country. Those churches don’t much care about denomination. They are born out of persecution and thrive because of their determination to live for Christ even in the face of death.

If ISIS showed up at my church’s doorstep this Sunday, I’m not sure how many of those in my congregation would stick around to lose their head for Christ. A lot say they would, but when the knives come out and blood starts flowing, I’m not so sure about those Christians in name only any more. I expect there would be some mass exodus out the back doors if the choice was denounce your faith or lose your life. I expect it’s the same in your church. You probably don’t want to hear that or admit that, but I’m afraid it’s true today. We like the sound of the words, but we don’t want to make the sacrifice necessary to really be like Jesus.

So now that I’ve bashed all of our churches, all our denominations, what do we do? Where should we go? If all the churches are full of hypocrites, should we stop going and start another church? No. Jesus didn’t stop going to the temple because there hypocrites and sinners there. He just worshiped the way He knew the Father wanted Him to worship. Like that man who prayed humbly and recognized his broken state. Our churches are full of sinners and hypocrites and that is a great thing. Where else can they hear the message that God loves them and has a better way of life for them? Go, worship, be an example to others of how to live like Jesus. But to do that, you must live like Him. And to do that, it takes a lot of soul searching and letting Him have complete control of your life. Something that’s not always easy in a world that tells us we are the number one and can do anything we set our mind on.

Well, let’s get real, I will never be number one and neither will you. God will always hold that place whether you give it to Him or not. And you can not do anything you set your mind to. Only God can do that because He is God and we are not. Now, any questions?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Don’t give up (Luke 13:6-9) November 24, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ecclesiastes 9-10

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 13:6-9
Jesus: (following up with this parable) A man has a fig tree planted in his vineyard. One day he comes out looking for fruit on it, but there are no figs. He says to the vineyard keeper, “Look at this tree. For three years, I’ve come hoping to find some fresh figs, but what do I find? Nothing. So just go ahead and cut it down. Why waste the space with a fruitless tree?”
The vineyard keeper replies, “Give it another chance, sir. Give me one more year working with it. I’ll cultivate the soil and heap on some manure to fertilize it. If it surprises us and bears fruit next year, that will be great, but if not, then we’ll cut it down.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I remember as a lieutenant, one soldier in my platoon that just couldn’t do anything right. I’m not sure how he made it out of basic training and certainly couldn’t understand how he got through his medical training to become a medic. But there he was in my platoon formation every morning filling one of the slots and as short as we were of personnel at the time, I had to figure out how to use him or get him better trained to do the missions we needed to cover to take care of the soldiers in the battalion my platoon served.

After he had been there for about three months and doing everything I knew to do to try and teach this kid how to do his job, I’d just about given up. Everything I tried backfired. None of the companies we supported wanted him as part of the team when it came to their medical support. He just couldn’t do anything right and was a lot more of a hindrance than a help when it came time to go to the field and train.

I was ready to do the paperwork to send him home before he hit that magic timeline to get him all the benefits as a veteran and just let him go when my platoon sergeant came to me. It was a lot like the story of the fig tree. He asked me to give him one more month to work with this soldier and see if he could turn him around. It would still fit within that probationary timeline before he received full VA benefits and I agreed.

I don’t know what my platoon sergeant said or did with that soldier, but a minor miracle occurred in that month. Something woke up in his brain and he suddenly started understanding his role and responsibilities as a soldier-medic in a deployable infantry battalion. He understood that the lives of those infantrymen he went to the field to support were in his hands as they trained and maneuvered in some fairly risky environments. And he became one of my best medics in the rest of my time as platoon leader in that organization.

I learned a lesson from that soldier and from that platoon sergeant that carried across in both my professional and spiritual life. I’ve tried not just write people off. I think we are often too quick to do that sometimes. We assume people are unsalvageable and quit on them. We give up trying and consequently lose out on an opportunity to gain a good employee, win a good friend, or bring another person to Jesus.

We forget that some people just aren’t ready to accept what we have to teach them or tell them and need time to think things through. Few parents today know that a hundred years ago, formal education, reading, writing, math, didn’t start until kids were 8 or 9 years old. The thought was their brains weren’t ready for them to sit in a class all day and absorb the information. A kid’s role in life was to play, learn to get along with other people, begin to form their basis for moral and ethical values through their interaction with other kids and adults. Their job was to play, not go to school. So maybe those kids that don’t get it in first and second grade today aren’t slow or behind or learning disabled. Maybe they are right on target and we just miss the boat in how we try to educate our kids. We need to give them another chance and remember that we are not all alike.

And maybe that son or daughter that you’ve been praying for or that neighbor that you know needs God or that co-worker that seems so abrasive just needs a little more nurturing in God’s love to have that eureka moment when it all comes together and suddenly the lights come on. In our instant gratification world, we want everything to happen right now. That’s not how things usually work in nature. Often it’s not how God works things out for us in our spiritual journey, either.

So when you have that urgent prayer need, that loved one that really needs God and you’ve been praying your heart out for them. Don’t give up. Remember the story of the fig tree and the caretaker. Give it a little longer with extra effort and extra care and see what happens. You never know what God will do in that time. You might be surprised at the results.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

A house divided (Luke 11:17-20) November 4, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Haggai

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 11:17-20
Jesus: People, be logical. If a kingdom is divided against itself, it will collapse. If a ruling family is divided against itself, it will fall apart.
So if Satan’s kingdom is divided against itself, won’t his whole enterprise collapse? Does it make any sense to say I’m casting out demons by Beelzebul? Besides, if you’re saying it takes satanic power to cast out Satan, by whose power do your own exorcists work? If you condemn Me for an exorcism, you’ll have to condemn them. But if I by the power of God cast out demonic spirits, then face this fact: the kingdom of God is here, just as I’ve been saying.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We are less than a week from election day in this country. I’m sure everyone knows this is an important election for us, but many think it is more important than it really is. In fact, what this election shows is exactly what Jesus’ words tell us in these verses. Never has our nation been more divided than it is today. I’m not suer, even during the years of the Civil War when we raised arms against each other were we as bitter about the issues as we are today. None of the candidates or parties talk about how they will fix anything, they just talk about how bad the other candidate is. And it’s not just the presidential candidates. The vitriol ripples down through every election all the way to mayors and council members and school superintendents.

The division in our country has become pretty disgusting as a whole and as Jesus said, “A kingdom divided against itself will collapse.” We are on the brink of collapse – economically, politically, morally, spiritually, you name it, we’re on the brink. Just read the statistics and you’ll see it in front of you. Don’t listen to the rhetoric of the candidates, they want to be elected. Go to the statistics in the courthouses and Congressional records and look for yourself. We are on the brink of collapse. Why? Because we are more divided than we have ever been in our 240 year history.

So what do we do about it? How can we fix the divide that threatens us? Is there a solution that can pull us together instead of the party wedges that keep pulling us apart?

I can assure you the answer is yes and it’s a simple answer. Unfortunately, the answer will probably not happen in my lifetime or in yours as we look at the path we take as a nation and as a race called humans. You see, the answer is total commitment to God’s will instead of ours. Giving up what we want and acknowledging God as the Master of all things including us collectively and individually. But we won’t give up our selfish control because we think we know best. Just like the Democrats and Republicans each declare they know how best to run the country. Neither know how as both parties have each adequately demonstrated through their failures in their tours in the White House and in Congress.

It doesn’t matter if the Squid party runs the country as long as God is really in control. And if He is not, again, it doesn’t matter who is in control, nothing will be fixed. Everyone will look out for themselves instead of lifting God and letting Him fix what needs fixed, our sinful hearts. Are there Christian candidates? I’m sure there are a few. But watching the behavior and character of the candidates, there are a lot more who say they are Christian but are not than there are real Christians with Jesus as Lord of their life.

Maybe you want to say that’s judging people and we are not supposed to judge others. You can call it what you want, but Jesus also told us to be wise and watchful and avoid false prophets. He understood the tricks and schemes of those who would try to lead God’s children down the wrong path. When He talked about judging, His words said to remember we would be judged by the same yardstick. I can’t talk about the thief if I’m cheating on my taxes, for instance, because I’m stealing from the government when I do. I can’t talk about adultery if I’m lusting after other women. Because Jesus says that’s where adultery starts.

So can we judge the behavior of others? Yes and we should these days. Satan is trying his best to use that “don’t judge” phrase to trap us into all sorts of tolerance for evil. Stop! Judge others for their evil behavior. But also let God shine His light on your own and become Lord of your life by being obedient to Him. Only then do we have any chance of finding unity of any kind in this world.

Remember what Jesus called us to as His disciples? If your answer was unity, you got it right. That doesn’t mean we’ll all be Democrats or Republicans or Green Party or any party. It means we’ll be children of God and get along even in this crazy mixed up ridiculous election year.

All that said, don’t forget to pray for all of the candidates because someone will win each seat up for election and lead us for the next several years. Each of them need God as their God whether they know it or not. According to His word, many will use their own wisdom instead of His, unfortunately. He’s coming to take us home where we will be unified. But if we call ourselves Christians here, we better be getting along. It’s one of those qualities He expects in us.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Keep on (Luke 11:9-10) November 2, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 125-127

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 11:9-10
Jesus So listen: Keep on asking, and you will receive. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened for you. All who keep asking will receive, all who keep seeking will find, and doors will open to those who keep knocking.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Aren’t those great words from Jesus we’re considering today? Keep asking and you’ll receive. Keep seeking, and you’ll find. Keep knocking and the door will be opened for you. Just keep on and it will happen for you. Be persistent.

We have a problem in today’s society, though. We have too many fast food restaurants. We have get too many television channels. We have 24 screen movie theaters. We have 300 mega bit per second download service at home. We have interstates with 70 and 75 mile per hour speed limits. We fly across the country in jets traveling at near super sonic speeds. We have meals ready to pop in the microwave and whole sections at the grocery with vegetables and fruits already pealed and sliced for us. Our cars even start before we get to them and the doors unlock a few feet before our arrival so we don’t have to worry about fussing with keys. Everything is instant.

We want what we want now. I can’t wait until tomorrow. I need it now. Amazon has made a fortune because they can deliver anything in two days. Even on Saturday and Sunday thanks to UPS and the Post Office agreeing to our unreasonable demands for instant delivery of those things we just have to have now. We are an incredible society, aren’t we? What ever happened to patience? Isn’t that one of those virtues we’re supposed to be developing as Christians?

God, you mean I have to ask twice, or even three times for something? You mean I have to look in more than one place for the thing I’m seeking from you? You mean I might have to wait for the blessings you want to give me? I don’t know about this. I don’t know if I’m ready for this faith thing that says I have to be patient and wait on God’s timing. How do I know He’ll answer if He doesn’t answer my prayers right now? Doesn’t He know I have a life I need to get on with? I don’t need to be wasting my time asking twice or three times for the same thing, do I?

How much do we miss because of our impatience? What does God want to do for us that we let slip past us because we are just not willing to spend the time and effort persistently seeking God’s will and going to Him in prayer seeking His will? What opportunities go untouched because we just don’t slow down enough to see them or pull the door handle once and find it closed and never try the door again?

Jesus told us to ask and keep on asking. He told us to seek and keep on seeking. He told us to knock and keep on knocking. How long are we supposed to keep up those efforts? Until our prayers are answered. Sometimes God does say no, but so often in our Google search, instant answer world, if He doesn’t give us what we asked for within ten minutes of our prayer, we assume the answer is no when God hasn’t answered yet.

Sometimes God takes His time answering and we don’t like that much, but God’s time is perfect. Sometimes He does say no, but sometimes, He says yes, but on His timeline, not ours. Remember time means nothing to God. He existed before time began and that wristwatch you wear means nothing to Him. His days are not measured in minutes and hours and days. His time expands across eternity and just can’t be measured in any way.

So if God waits a day or a week or a month or a year to answer your prayer, what’s that to Him in terms of time? It means nothing to Him, only to us. He still cares, but sometimes He uses that space that that we measure by the ticking of the clock to help us get to know Him and ourselves a little better. Sometimes He lets us mature and understand His ways a little more before He gives us what we ask for our lets us find what we are looking for or opens that door we’re knocking on.

However, the promise is still true. God does answer our prayers. Keep on asking, and you will receive. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened for you. All who keep asking will receive, all who keep seeking will find, and doors will open to those who keep knocking. Jesus made that promise to His disciples and if you belong to Him, you are one of His disciples.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Learn the lessons (Luke 11:5-8) November 1, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Chronicles 29-32

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 11:5-8
Jesus: Imagine that one of your friends comes over at midnight. He bangs on the door and shouts, “Friend, will you lend me three loaves of bread? A friend of mine just showed up unexpectedly from a journey, and I don’t have anything to feed him.” Would you shout out from your bed, “I’m already in bed, and so are the kids. I already locked the door. I can’t be bothered”? You know this as well as I do: even if you didn’t care that this fellow was your friend, if he keeps knocking long enough, you’ll get up and give him whatever he needs simply because of his brash persistence!

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Well, today the scenario might end a little different. Today, we would call the police and tell them about someone trying to break and enter and have them arrested, friend or not. If they bothered us at midnight we wouldn’t care who they were, we’d just call the cops and that would be it, right? Or maybe we would wait just a little while until they were loud enough to be heard by one of the other neighbors and then invoke the “castle law” and pull out a 12-gauge and end the conversation.

We’re not nearly as hospitable in this country as the middle easterners were in Jesus day. No one wanted to get up in the middle of the night and have their sleep disturbed, but their rules of hospitality led them to get up and help sometimes even when they didn’t feel like it. A lot of people then would have put off the neighbor until morning, asking them to make do until they the city woke up. Then they would be happen to not only provide the bread, but would probably invite them over for a whole meal.

That’s the way of these hospitable people. Their society was much more friendly than ours. Actually, it still is. We hear a lot about ISIS and the radical side of the Muslims that want to kill us, but the typical middle easterner is much more hospitable than the typical American. There, expect to be invited into their home for tea often. It’s just their way. Here, if you’re invite for coffee or tea at all, it will be at Starbucks or some local coffee shop, not in their home. We just don’t make people feel welcome. We say we do, but we don’t.

So what does all of that have to do with Jesus’ words today? Two things. First, we should recognize sometimes we don’t understand His words the same way those He spoke to originally did. They lived that middle eastern hospitality every day. They would have taken the story a little more to heart than we do because sometimes travelers did get stuck on the road later than expected and just dropped in unexpectedly, but their rules of hospitality said you took them in and fed them. The neighbor had to get some bread from somewhere and hoped his friend would provide it. We don’t understand it as well as they did, but we can put ourselves in their culture and understand the parable better.

One of the lessons learned from this and many other stories Jesus tells reminds us we can experience His lessons better when we know more about the culture of those to whom Jesus spoke. It isn’t hard to find out what it was like for the people in first century Judea, but you do need to study a little. Isn’t it worth a little study to get more out of God’s word? I certainly think so.

Second, the simple message of the parable is two fold. The man could never have gotten the three loaves of bread in the middle of the night unless he went next door and asked in the first place. So first, we need to ask God for what we need. He knows what we need, but we need to ask so that we know it is God who provides. It helps us remember that God is the one who gives us what we need day by day. Second, we need to be persistent in our asking when we are asking for something. Sometimes we figure out the thing we are asking for is not in our best interest when we keep on asking and God doesn’t answer the way we want Him to. Sometimes God needs us to mature our thinking about an issue and delays an answer so that we can be better prepared when the answer comes. Sometimes God is working on solutions behind the scenes and wants to work His miracles through other means that what we might think is the most obvious way to answer our prayer. In all these instances, He asks us to be persistent in our asking.

So now, go out and do some study about the culture of Jesus day. Read His parables again and learn the lessons even better than you did before. You’ll be glad you did.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.