Honest Reflections

One-minute read.

During my single years, I tried online dating. Using eHarmony, I didn’t have much luck. Anytime a connection got close to a meet, they would ghost me. At first, I let the dating game bring me down, but then I realized God protected me from the wrong mate. Years later, I can see His hand at work, but at the time, I couldn’t.

As I started to apply God’s precepts in my life, I realized that the Lord didn’t want us to get hurt, so He gave us laws to live by that protect us from ourselves and the actions of others.

For instance, if you study the Biblical diet of the Old Testament, you will find its nutritional value. Eliminating preservatives, food processes, and sugar from our diets won’t hurt anyone, but it will help them live healthier, fuller lives. Not having sex outside of marriage protects the heart from the pain of abuse and rejection. Living in moderation doesn’t let anything control our lives. On and on the list goes of the way the Lord puts guardrails in our lives to help us enjoy it to the fullest.

Keeping God’s precepts will illuminate His wisdom in your life. Meditating on the Lord’s ways helps us enjoy an abundant life under God’s wings.

Prayer:

Lord,

Thank You for Your precepts, which protect us from ourselves and others. Please help us keep them to the fullest and enjoy the wisdom that comes from You.

IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

“You have the Bible in your pocket.”

The words came from a video on Facebook when I did a quick scroll. A new friend posts videos and photos regularly of his faith journey. Having had a rugged start to life, his salvation during his teen years started his evangelistic journey. Forgiven much, he loves much.

We do carry the Bible in our pocket. The Youversion app costs nothing but gives everything. At any moment, you can draw from the Bible’s wisdom and let it guide and direct your life. Meditating on God’s word becomes easier when you always have it with you.

During Biblical times, religious leaders wore little boxes on their arms that carried specific scriptures written on scrolls. Now, we have a smaller device containing the entire 66 books, with an easy-to-navigate system allowing us to access what we need when needed.

Applying God’s word to our lives does make us wiser. We avoid worldly pitfalls and stay focused on the truth of the Savior.  Meditating on Biblical precepts gives us discernment.  Instead of falling for the fake news and partial stories we see online, we recognize the emotional manipulation and can let logic take the lead as we search for truth.

Prayer:

Lord,

Thank You for giving us easy access to Your word and helping us to live wisely.  Please help us quickly find what we need, when we need it.

IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Freedom comes through Christ as we receive His forgiveness and experience new life. No longer bound by our past, we can live differently, making choices based on God’s word instead of our limited perspective.  Though enemies may attack, they will not win, because Jesus protects us from their ploys.

“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Psalm 118:6

When Jesus overcame death with His resurrection, giving us eternal life, we no longer need to fear it.  Glory awaits us when we take our last breath, today’s trials gone forever as we bask in the light of the Son.

Don’t let the emotion of an attack cause you to lose sight of the Savior.  Lies can easily distract us from God’s truth.  Stay focused on Jesus, look to Him for guidance by following His example.   Christ faced every persecution, even more than we will endure, and He did it all with love and grace.  Evil doesn’t stand a chance with the Savior.

Enjoy the freedom that comes with Jesus.  Place your faith in Him, learn His ways, and experience the peace that surpasses all understanding, no matter what the enemy tries to do.

Prayer:

Lord,

Thank You for giving us new life in Christ that comes with freedom.  Please help us live fully for Jesus, trusting His promises, and not allowing the enemy to get a foothold.

IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

God’s precepts give order and preservation to life, helping us persevere through affliction and experience miraculous events.  Prayer focuses our attention on the Lord and connects us to Him.  The stronger the connection to the Creator, the more vibrant our lives become.

In our security-driven world, everything requires a password.  I can’t post a devotional without my password.  Online banking has strict requirements to utilize the system.  Healthcare, shopping, and streaming all require credentials to use them.  Once connected, we can enjoy the services, but without the password and a strong connection, we can’t.

Remembering God’s precepts acts like a password. Recalling the Lord’s promises helps us connect to Him on a deeper level, allowing us to enjoy the benefits of our Savior. Grace, mercy, peace, and unconditional love come from above as the Creator’s promises come true in our lives.  Thankfully, with Jesus, you don’t need a password. You can connect to Him at any time. He waits for your call.

Meditate on the Lord’s precepts and talk to God about His promises.  Watch as they unfold in your life, helping you persevere.  The more promises you know, the more you can lean into them.  Connect to your Maker, talk to Him about your struggles, and let God’s precepts guide you through the trials of life.

Prayer:

Lord,

Thank You for giving us precepts we can trust.  Please help us use them to connect with You, drawing deeper into our connection with You and finding victory over life’s challenges.

IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

We stopped at TAC RV on the border of North Carolina and Virginia to get propane for our tanks. While Ron had them filled, I wandered inside to shop. The beautiful young lady behind the counter noticed my T-shirt from the church we attended.

“I go there!” Crystal said, as God orchestrated a divine appointment that began our friendship. I will never forget Crystal whipping her phone out and friending me on Facebook. Still friends, we don’t see each other as much these days, but our connection remains strong in the Lord.

I ask the Lord to help me keep His divine appointments each week, not wanting to miss any. Sometimes, He empties a propane tank or orchestrates a flat tire. You never know the Lord’s plan, or how He will get you where He wants you to go, but you can trust He will.

Following Jesus gives you an unseen calendar, filled with divine appointments that will change your life. Staying alert and tuned into God’s workings will help you recognize them when they happen. Life-changing, divine appointments come in various ways; sometimes, what seems bad becomes the best thing that has ever happened to you.

Let God fill your schedule with divine appointments and enjoy the blessings that come from them.

Prayer:

Lord,
Thank You for filling our calendars with divine appointments that change our lives. Please help us keep them all, get us out of the way so You can do Your thing.
IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Camping in early May beside an artificial pond, geese, ducks, and herons populate the small water spot. Goslings follow their momma across the surface, dad bringing up the rear, protecting them. Trees blossom, kids play, and life moves slowly, another spring coming to life.

Year after year, the earth stands fast, God’s creation going through the cycle of life. Scripture often refers to the seasons, nature’s rhythm set long ago by our divine Creator. The Lord’s foundation doesn’t change; firmly fixing His word in the heavens, we can count on the promises within the Bible’s pages.

Listening to chattering geese and chirping insects, God’s creation thrives with life. Even though we only live on Earth briefly, we can cling to the Lord and enjoy the world He created. Abundant life comes from following Jesus. Applying His solid teachings to our circumstances helps us discover the victory Christ gave us on the cross.

Life changes constantly as we move from one day to the next, but the Lord’s word doesn’t. We can find stability in God’s promises and experience a vibrant life as we follow Him. Lean into the Creator’s faithfulness today and enjoy His blessings.

Prayer:

Lord,
Thank You for giving us an abundant life filled with the wonder of Your creation. Please help us live fully for You today and experience the blessings from our devotion to You.
IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Steadfast love, dependable, unconditional, life-giving, affection from the Savior helps us overcome the persecution we endure on earth. Each of us will feel the fire of life’s challenges scorching us. Following Jesus means learning to respond to them as He did, instead of how our flesh would.

Christ endured arrest, trial, condemnation, and execution by Roman authorities. Suffering a torturous death on the cross, Jesus responds with grace towards His persecutors.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Luke 23:34

We can’t begin to understand the level of persecution Christ suffered for us. Willingly, He got on the cross, felt the spikes go through His hands and feet, struggled for breath, having to pull Himself up to take air into His lungs, and yet He asked the Lord to forgive the people who did it—becoming like Jesus means leading with grace, leaning into His unconditional love to accomplish the task.

Christ gave you new life by dying on the cross. Receive His gift, accept the steadfast love, and honor the Lord by living for Him. Become more like Jesus every day, applying His precepts to your life and responding with grace and mercy as He would.

Prayer:

Lord,
Thank You for bearing our sins on the cross, dying a torturous death so that we may have life. Please help us honor and obey You today in all we do, becoming more like You and less like us.
IJNP. Amen

One-minute read.

Lies permeate the world, and we all must deal with them. Trying to decipher truth from false tales gets harder and harder. Fake news, manipulated photos and videos, and AI technology that imitates people’s voices make knowing what to believe hard. When people lie about us, it hurts, and people will lie about us.

When people don’t know the whole story, they make up details to complete it. We make assumptions to fill in the gaps; I’m as guilty as anyone of doing it. Awareness of our thoughts helps us stop the narrative and remind ourselves that we don’t know everything and we never will.

And when people lie about us, we must respond with grace. Their opinion doesn’t define our identity; Christ does. Correcting them when possible helps, but if we can’t, don’t lose sleep over their wrong assumptions. If you keep a right relationship with God, the rest will take care of itself.

Confess your sins to the Savior. Ask Him to show you any lies you’ve believed. Look to the Lord to keep your heart pure and let Him lead you in all your ways.

Don’t live in the pitfall of someone’s lies. Instead, walk tall in the truth of the Savior and His unconditional love for you.

Prayer:

Lord,
Thank You for revealing the truth and not letting us live in the pitfalls of someone else’s lies. Please help us stay focused on You and Your opinion rather than the false tales of others.
IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Due to wrongful persecution, the psalmist portrays himself as a weathered, useless, shriveled wineskin, blackened with soot. If you’ve ever cleaned a chimney or fire pit, you know the dark, black, powdery residue from a fire gets everywhere. Easy to ignore and overlook, no one wants anything to do with cleaning up the mess.

Wrongful accusations can feel like soot on our clean reputation. People believe what they want to think, and convincing them otherwise doesn’t work. And we shouldn’t waste our time trying. My mom used to say, “If you don’t owe ‘em money, what do you care what they think?”

I loved my mother’s advice, but love the Lord’s even more.

“Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.”
Proverbs 26:2

Don’t fret over wrongful accusations. Lies don’t last, and God will reveal the truth. We don’t have to endure curses without cause because they have nowhere to land. Setting our minds on what God says about us helps deflect the enemy’s lies. Stand on the Rock, live in His truth, and let the devil’s attacks bounce off you, not leaving a mark.

Prayer:

Lord,
Thank You for helping us deflect wrongful accusations and not let them affect us. As the enemy attacks, let his jibes fall away effortlessly, not hitting their mark.
IJNIP. Amen

One-minute read.

Persecuted without cause, the psalmist looks to the Lord for salvation. At the end of his rope, the writer feels useless and shriveled because of the onslaught of lies. He doesn’t doubt God will comfort him, but the author wonders how long he must wait for the Lord’s compassion.

We all have experienced wrongful persecution. Whether a misunderstanding or blatant lie, the pain cuts deep. Doubt about ourselves can cause us to falter, but with the Lord in our lives, we can hold on to Him. We can count on our Divine Protector to care for us by submitting ourselves to God.

Now, halfway through my fifties, I care less and less about people’s opinions of me. Wrongful accusations don’t bother me as much as they did. Only God’s opinion matters to me. He brings truth and teaches me that lies don’t last, nor do attacks.

Loving the Lord and people fulfills the Great Commandment and nourishes healthy relationships. Truth comes to all who follow Jesus. God comforts us in His time and way, constantly vigilant, never leaving nor forsaking us. Hold onto the Lord in your struggles. Keep the Son in your eyes, and trust Him to care for the rest.

Prayer:

Lord,
Thank You for having our backs and knowing what we need. As we wait for Your comfort, please strengthen us for the challenges, allowing us to endure the pain.
IJNIP. Amen