Category: devotions about helping others

A ripple of hope

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Acts 6:7, “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”

Many of us operate under the assumption that in order to change the world we have to do great and mighty things. The truth of the matter is: a simple act of kindness in the name of Jesus; a loving gesture displaying Christianity; an understanding word to honor Him can start a rippling effect.

How we interact on a daily basis influences others. Have you ever had your day interrupted by someone’s rudeness? Maybe you were grabbing breakfast on your way to work and the person in the car in front of you bought your meal. Or you are dropping your children off at school and someone holds the door for you. Maybe you are running 10,000 errands in a small amount of time and someone offers to help you. The way it makes me feel in turn causes me to respond to others in similar fashion. And the rippling begins…

Words and actions cross our paths every second of every day. Did you ever stop and think how your words and actions are impacting others?

I once read a church billboard which said, “Always testify to the goodness of Jesus Christ and when necessary use your words.”

Sometimes I see someone acting out in a loving way to another person and I think, “I know that makes God smile!” Other times I see someone acting in an ungodly way and I think, “I bet God is wishing he or she would just sit down and hush.”

As Christians we have a higher calling – to spread the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ – with our words and our actions. When we do so, the ripples start and make such a difference in the lives of others. Try it! You never know how God may use it to benefit His Kingdom.

The Season of Giving?

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I’ve always been fascinated by the television crews who go out on the street and ask every day people, living every day lives, questions. I don’t know, I guess I’ve always wanted to do it too. So, I decided to go into areas where people do not know me and propose this question, What does the Season of Giving actually mean?

My first stop, Race Track in Gainesville, Georgia; perfect spot to find an answer to my question. I pulled up next to a guy in an F250 and started filling up my tank. “Sir, could I ask you a question?” I began. (It didn’t seem as smooth as the television guys, but it was my first shot.)

“Sure,” he responded, spitting tobacco juice to the side of his truck.

“What does the Season of Giving actually mean?”

“Christmas,” he said, quickly and a matter-of-factly.

I realized I needed to rephrase my question. “Can you give me an example of what the season of giving means?”

“Santa Claus,” he answered.

I decided to drive further up the road to a McDonalds off I-85. There were two older ladies having lunch, and they seemed please to answer anything I asked. “Can you ladies give me an example of what the season of giving means?”

“Gifts. Every year I bake cookies for families in my neighborhood and church,” one answered.

“For me,” the taller, more serious looking woman responded, “It’s time with my grandchildren.”

At The Home Depot, a man answered, “Jewelry for my wife. She expects it every Christmas and I work for it all year-long.”

In the Mall parking lot I heard:

“I don’t really think about needy people being necessarily poor. Like, needy people could be people who need attention. So, I try to spend time with lonely people.”

“Time when you focus on others and not yourself.”

“The season of giving is about finding the joy of the holiday.”

“Getting toys and lots of them…”

“I’m not really into Christmas, but if I were Christian, it would be about giving to other people and not about getting from other people. That’s why I’m not really into Christmas.”

“I’ve been hoping all month my parents get me PlayStation 4! Yeah! That will definitely be the true season of giving.”

“Christmas parties, family gatherings, greeting cards, and packages.”

“It’s the season FOR GIVING. Get it? Forgiving others.”

There were some workers – a construction crew – taking a lunch break just outside of downtown Atlanta. “In Mexico, in our village, we used to go from house to house. We would bring food and our neighbors would offer food. It was a time of celebration for Mother Mary and the Christ child.”

“It’s about remembering why Christ came to earth and thanking Him for coming.”

And my favorite answer, which came from a little girl at Chic-fil-A, “‘For God so loved the world, that He GAVE His only Son…’ That’s it! That’s Christmas in a package, tied up with a bow.”

So, what does “the Season of Giving” mean to you? Maybe we all need to stop and think about it and start implementing what it means to us.

 

Who are you pulling for?

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Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

When I was in Elementary School, my class won the Tug of War game. We clobbered all our opponents. Our secret? My teacher would yell out, “Pull! Pull! Pull!” We would pull and release on her command, unified. We defeated people older and stronger than us because we pulled together and we won every time. The other teams simply pulled individually at different times. Our strategy worked!

I often remember those Tug of War days and our victory when I read this scripture. By carrying one another’s burdens, together we present a unified front against the struggles of the world. Together we pull! pull! pull! And burdens are lifted.

Jesus came to bear our burdens, to carry the weight of our sins, and to die on the Cross for us. It was His purpose so that we might have salvation. It was the choice He made for our redemption. We must do the same. If someone you know is in trouble, whether it be from his or her own sin or a trial or a difficult season in life, we need to do something. We need to help carry his or her burden. Don’t stand back and watch. Don’t allow them to go down a path of destruction. Come to their aid and come quickly.

I’ve often heard, “Well, it’s really none of my business!”

God didn’t ask us to meddle, He asked us to love and make lighter the burdens of others. He didn’t ask us to judge or punish, He is asking us to carry the burdens of others.

A few years ago, a lady in the church I serve was fasting for the salvation of her marriage. Because of infidelity, her husband was preparing to file for divorce. The lady became overwhelmed with grief and sickness but she wanted to be committed to her fast. Another woman in our church went to the lady and said, “I will fast for you.” She continued the fast for the lady. Miraculously, the marriage was saved.

In another incidence, a woman in our church worked for another woman for several months while she was out sick and gave her the pay-check. A man in our church kept up the yard of his neighbor when his neighbor fell off the roof and was bedridden for several months. I know of a lady who watches over a child with a severe handicap so the parents can go out every Thursday night for alone time.

God asks us to carry the burdens of one another. He is yelling down to us, just like my teacher did that infamous day of Tug of War, “Pull! Pull! Pull!”

The question is then, who are you pulling for? Today, be aware of those around you, those you love, your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers. Offer your help to them. Be consistent. Carry their burdens.

Too busy living it

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Psalm 35:9, “Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.”

Take a moment today to stop and enjoy life. We are all moving on the fast track. Schedules are filled to the maximum with appointments and activities. We are so busy doing our list that we do not even realize if we actually like what we are doing.

When is the last time you stopped to notice which bird in your yard was chirping so beautiful. Do you even listen to them for any length of time? What about the stars at night, or the flowers blooming, or a butterfly passing by? When is the last time you really looked at your children? Noticed their eyes?

Time stops for no one and it is moving quickly.

Yesterday, I was running late for an appointment but as I was leaving the building, I noticed two children in a nearby park, playing.  It was their laughter that caused me to stop. I leaned up against my car and simply listened. The voices reminded me of my children many, many years ago. Oh, how I miss that sound! I can remember coming home and hearing the kids in the yard and how they would drop everything and come running toward me.

Don’t miss your life because you’re too busy living it. God created so many splendid things for us. Take the time today to really notice what is around you. Refresh yourself. Taste your food. Listen to the sounds surrounding you. Touch those you love. Rejoice in the God who gave it all to you. Fill your spirit with Him.

Today, delight in the God of your salvation.

The Leech List

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How do you deal with people you just do not like? Are there certain people you purposefully avoid, duck into a corner when you see them coming? They are leeches in human form – people who literally drain the life out of others. Those who only want to talk and never listen; those whose problems are the only ones that matter and expect everyone to be in crisis with them. People who never see what they are doing wrong but always see what others are doing wrong. People who never give and only take. People who only want what you have to offer to them. That one person who literally believes the sun rises and sets on his time-table. That person who believes she is the center of the universe and everyone else revolves around her.  I bet some names of some folks are popping in your head. They are certainly popping in mine.

So, how do you ‘love’ those leeches; the ones who suck the life out of you? Does God really expect us to love them too?

Paul wrote in Romans 7:21-25, “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

I read a quote the other day; it said, “Forgiveness is accepting you are just like other people.” Do you know that you too get on someone’s very last nerve? Hard to imagine, but its true. So do I. While we compile our list of leeches, someone else is compiling his or her list of leeches and your name and my name is probably on their list. See, it really isn’t about us. And it really isn’t about them. It’s about our Creator and He wants us to love and cherish one another.

Jesus Christ didn’t just die for you and your tennis buddies. He didn’t hang on that cross for just me and my best friend. He didn’t accept those stripes on his back for just the athletic types. Those nails in His hands didn’t go through just for the thin and beautiful people. That crown of thorns on His head, it didn’t press into His forehead for just the educated people or the people who attend the big church on the hill. He died on that cross for every last one of us – leeches and all.

Who are you avoiding? Maybe it’s time to stop avoiding and start loving. Who are you judging? Maybe it’s time to stop pointing fingers. Who do you dodge when you see him coming? Maybe it’s time to start walking towards him and stop running.

Today, talk to God about the people you put on your leech list and while you are at it, talk to Him about how to get your name off someone else’s leech list. We are all uniquely and wonderfully made; maybe we need to learn to see people as God created them to be.

Our faith or God’s faithfulness?

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Whether it is financial, relational, or physical, we are often in the middle of a battle. When we are there, our faith in God’s delivering power may be the very element. He is trying to teach us. We know God honors faith; and Jesus challenged us to maintain faith and a willingness to put our trust in Him regardless of the situations of our lives.

Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

Matthew 17:20 – “He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’”

Yet, there are times in our lives when God is teaching us other lessons.  Sometimes the emphasis isn’t upon our activity, but God’s.  Often the focus isn’t our faithfulness but God’s showing His faithfulness. Sometimes, the focus is on someone else, and God uses our circumstance to teach lessons others need to learn.

In the end, we learn to rest in Him, whether by difficult times, joyful occasions, storms, droughts, sunny days, or prosperous events. The manner in which our lives have been designed and molded forms us in God’s purpose and plan for our personal lives.  In short, we become the people God intends us to be as we respond in faith regardless of the situation. We come to a point where we see His purpose for our lives fulfilled. And in each situation, God wants us to see His faithfulness.

One of my favorite Bible stories is a story of ordinary events, typical humanity responding to circumstances of life. As with our lives, the events of this story mold the lives of the persons involved. It is a story about people like you and me, facing life circumstances and finding God’s faithfulness in the midst of life.

A famine strikes the land of  Israel and a Hebrew family, Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons, move to Moab in hopes of finding better conditions. Moab, a nation on the east side of the Dead Sea, was just next door geographically but was light years away philosophically, religiously, and morally. While there, the sons marry two women from Moab, Orpah and Ruth. Tragically, Elimelech and both the boys die; Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws are left as widows in a land foreign to Naomi. She decided to return home to Israel. Orpah, one of the daughter in-laws, returned to her family in Moab; but, Ruth, the other dauther-in-law, committed to stay with Naomi.

Ruth 1:16 – “But Ruth replied, (to Naomi) “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.'”

Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem together. They were accepted by Naomi’s family there. A prominent land owner named Boaz noticed Ruth and asked his workers to be kind to her and her mother-in-law. He left extra grain for Ruth to pick up, glean, in the fields. Boaz took Ruth as his wife, bought Naomi and Ruth out of debt, and provided the two ladies with loving care. The result was provision in their lives though they had both been widows.

Sometimes the focus isn’t on our ability to demonstrate faith, but God’s loving faithfulness to us in tragedy. The story of Ruth and Naomi demonstrates God’s interest in our lives. Simple women living in Godly ways are noticeable to God. All He requires is a willingness to serve Him as our God. Just as He cared for the details of their individual lives, He cares for all the details of our lives.

You may be in a situation through no fault of your own; it may simply be tragic circumstances. Be assured God will show His faithfulness to you. He will restore, renew, and care for you. Trust in His faithfulness.

Move that bus!

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There was a popular show on television a few years back. A team of demolition workers, construction workers, decorators, architectural designers would come together and transform a person’s home in a week. The family would be sent on vacation and return to their home, no longer looking like it used to look, totally transformed – in a week! A large bus usually sat in front of the house and people would gather around and the family would yell, “Move that bus!” Emotions ran high as the camera crew would capture the moment of realization when the family saw their new home for the first time.

A friend of mine remodeled his home recently. He laughed because his kids had the idea the home would be finished in a week – like they do it on TV. He told them, “No. It takes much longer than that. We don’t have the ability to do what they do on that television show.” His daughter was discouraged because she had believed it would be like that.

Dave Earley in his book Living in His Presence writes, “There is no such thing as spiritual transformation. It is an ongoing process of ever-increasing glory. Our character is transformed little by little, a bit at a time.”

2 Corinthians 3:17-18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

When we come to know Christ, the Bible tells us we are “new creations” or that we are “born again.” John 3:3, “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone,  the new is here.”

Like infants, we have a lot to learn! Your walk with Christ is an ongoing learning experience. It doesn’t happen over-night. The transformation does not happen in a week either. Christianity is about studying the word of God. It’s about making mistakes and learning from them. It’s about repenting and turning in the other directions. New Christians are as vulnerable as an infant would be if left unattended. God is teaching us every day, molding us, and making us into the people He needs us to be.

If you know a person who is a new Christian, make it a point to encourage him in his walk. If you feel stagnant in your relationship with God, join a Bible study and learn His ways. If you feel frustrated that you are not where you need to be in your relationship with God, talk to Him about it. He is always there. He hasn’t gone anywhere – you have!

Remember, God is the Creator. Every second He is shaping you in ways you cannot imagine. He is forming you into the beautiful being He knows you can be. What He needs is your full attention to the project.

Waiting by the Red Sea

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1 Samuel tells of an event in the life of David. He is not yet the king. Saul is king and the city in which David, his soldiers, and their families have been living, was attacked and burned. David and his soldiers were actually gone when it happened and their wives and children were taken by the Amalekites.

David prays to God to ask what to do, and God instructs him to go after the Amalekites. No strategic battle, no blueprint, God simply tells him to pursue them. On the way, David’s soldiers find a sick man, an Egyptian who is the abandoned slave of an Amalekite.

1 Samuel 30:13, “…’I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.'”

Now Ziklag is David’s town. David asked the slave if he could lead him to the raiding party and the slave responds, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”

Sometimes we are looking for God’s BIG ANSWER. When Moses stood before the Red Sea, the Egyptian soldiers thundering down upon the Israelites, millions of lives hanging in the balance, God parts the waters and the Israelites are delivered. Red Sea – Big Answer – Big Miracle.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (the guys thrown into the fiery furnace), God shows up and is in the furnace with them. The king actually sees a fourth person in the fire! Fiery Furnace – Big Answer – Big Miracle.

If only God worked that way all the time.

God sometimes gives us answers in ways we would have never thought. Would David have ever imagined he would find a sick slave who would lead him to the exact location of his enemy?

Be careful that you are not sitting by the Red Sea waiting for the waters to part, when God has someone in need for you to help who will in turn help you. Consider, David’s men could have passed this guy up. David could have instructed them, “We don’t have time to help this sick man, we are pursuing an army! We are going to rescue our wives and children! We are on a mission instructed by God. Who has time to stop and help a sick man!”

Who are you passing by? What are you missing that God is going to use to help you? Who are you too busy to help?

When looking for God’s answers, make sure your eyes and ears are opened to hear and see what He is trying to convey. Through out the Bible, time and time again, God shows up in ways no one ever expected. Since God doesn’t change, why do we look for Him in the obvious? He is not a God of the obvious, but of the extraordinary, unique, and impossible.

Today, ask God to open your eyes and ears to see the miracle He is planning for you. Your answer is on the way.