Daily Devotionals

Ecclesiastes 3:22

We usually can do very little to change our lot. We can only change our reaction to our lot. 

We cannot change our past, for example. I don't care how brilliant we are, our past stands in concrete. We cannot erase it. 

But we can learn today to see our past from God's perspective, and use the disadvantages of yesterday in our life—today and forever.

Romans 14:13 

Each one of us belongs to the same Lord. When we stop dictating, it is easier for others to mature as they follow the Lord's directing.

Freeing others means we never assume a position we're not qualified to fill. This, in one sentence, is enough to stop any person from judging another. We're not qualified. We lack full knowledge. 

How often we have jumped to wrong conclusions, made judgmental statements, only to find out later how off base we were...then wished we could cut off our tongue.

What keeps us from being qualified to judge?

Prayer is never something we do to be seen. It loses its whole purpose if it becomes a platform to impress others. 

It is a private act of devotion, not a public demonstration of piety. According to Jesus, it belongs in the closet of our lives, an act done in secret.

Christ never saw prayer as pleading or begging or hammering away at the throne of God. 

No, the Father knows His children, He knows what we need. Therefore, there is no reason to think that connecting with Him requires special words excessively repeated.

Isaiah 6:8 

We all have excuses to disqualify ourselves from God's service.

• "I'm not physically well"
• "I've got this temper problem"
• "I can't speak very well in public"
• "I don't have a lot of education"
• "My past is too raunchy!"
• "You see, I'm a divorcee"
• "I was once in a mental hospital"

And on and on and on.

Psalm 19:13

Life on earth is really nothing more than a string of moments, one after another. And I do not want my testimony for Jesus Christ to be shattered by a single moment of indulging my flesh.

I don't want one moment of rage or pride or arrogance to cast a shadow over a lifetime of walking with my Lord. 

Frankly, I fear that possibility. And do you know what? I want to fear that possibility. When I stop fearing it, I am in grave danger.

Proverbs 15:32

People who are accountable usually have four qualities:

Vulnerability—capable of being wounded, shown to be wrong, even admitting it before being confronted.

Teachability—a willingness to learn, being quick to hear and respond to reproof, being open to counsel.

Availability—accessible, touchable, able to be interrupted.

Honesty—committed to the truth regardless how much it hurts, a willingness to admit the truth no matter how difficult or humiliating the admission may be. Hating all that is phoney or false.

Proverbs 10:29

Colossians 2:5

Ecclesiastes 9:10

Matthew 11:29