If you want to preorder Faithbook of Jesus now, please click on the Amazon.com link below:

One of our friends is Renee Johnson, who is getting close to releasing a great devotional book titled, “The Faithbook of Jesus”.  You can pre order the book here. Check out some of these endorsements for her book:

“Faithbook of Jesus” is a powerful and creative tool to reach out to 20-somethings to draw them into a daily relationship with God. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy. – Josh McDowell, Leading Apologist/Evangelist. Author of over 77 books, 49 million copies sold

“As Senior Pastor of a church known for its young following, I see the power 20-something’s can have when they truly connect with God and seek His Will for their lives. This is a book for young people to draw closer to the heart of God. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of “Faithbook of Jesus” today”. – Miles McPherson, Senior Pastor of the Rock Church, San Diego

We’ve worked with Renee for a while now and really appreciate her heart for wanting to inspire people to draw closer to Christ!

For marriage choices it narrows down to two critical things every married individual must exercise: unconditional love and personal responsibility. Unconditional love means you accept and cherish your mate as he or she is. Personal responsibility means you take charge of correcting your own faults instead of your mate’s. That, in a nutshell, is it. Intimacy, happiness, growth, communication and all the other vital aspects of a good marriage grow out of these two choices. If both partners recognize this fact, there will be no victims in the marriage. Each person’s happiness will rest entirely in his or her own hands. And the end result is the safety and security that every marriage must have in order to thrive.

Do you believe this? Really believe this? Since it’s my contention that all behavior is a result of what we believe, this is a crucial question. Do you believe that you can take personal responsibility for the success of your marriage? If you don’t, then you must believe the opposite—that your spouse or circumstances are in control of what happens to you. You must believe that you are a victim. Therefore you must react and put the blame on your mate when the marriage does not meet your expectations. This is a tragedy, because when you blame your mate you not only divest yourself of your responsibility, you also reduce the choices you have to change the relationship. You forfeit the ability to control your own destiny.

So if you want your marriage to be the most exciting and rewarding journey of your life, the question to ask is not whether your mate is doing enough to make the marriage work, but rather: Are you loving your mate unconditionally by taking responsibility for your role in the relationship? A good way to turn this intention into a commitment is to make a promise of it. Promise to look at yourself first, to take responsibility for your own part of the marriage, and to stop trying to change your mate. Such a promise puts legs on unconditional love. It says you are willing to put your personal dreams and needs on hold for a while and make what’s best for the relationship a priority.

Hamming it up, I told the young kids to give me a count down. Five…Four…Three…Two…One…Blastoff! I turned the ignition and away from the dock we flew like a rocket ship from its launch pad. I overheard the five-year-old boy say to his father, “This is the coolest boat on the lake!” I loved it. I was in boat heaven. But then something happened; the engine stopped and we started losing speed.
“Don’t worry everyone; I’ll have this fixed in a second.” I turned the ignition key several times and the engine roared back to life. Once again we were off. But then it happened again. The engine died. What was going on? This pattern of the engine starting and stopping went on for the next few minutes. I checked the gas level, oil, and anything else I could possibly think of to create the illusion that I knew what I was doing. But no matter what I did, shortly after I’d get the engine running, it would die.

“Why won’t this boat work!” My voice boomed across the lake. I was completely frustrated and totally embarrassed. “Nothing is made with quality any more.” I wanted to sink that stupid boat right then and there, but I figured that drowning a missionary wouldn’t help my reputation.

That’s when Greg said, “Hey, Dad, what’s this cord for? Every time I pull it, the engine stops.” And then he started laughing. That cord was the emergency engine kill. I had been ready to blow up my boat, while all along it had been Greg playing a practical joke on me. At that moment I understood how it was possible for Abraham to place his son upon an altar.

For a boat, or anything electrical to function as it was designed, it needs to be connected to a power source. If human relationships are to function as they were designed, they too need to be connected to a power source. It’s as if you have a built-in battery that needs daily charges to keep you feeling complete and satisfied. For a long time I believed that I could keep that battery charged if I just plugged a 110-volt electrical cord into other people or my wife. Many of us enter marriage looking to our mate as the source of that power charge. We think, “Now that I have this person in my life, I am really going to have my needs met and be happy.” We ultimately find, however, that our mates cannot recharge our battery. Indeed, husbands and wives can be frustrating and irritating and drain away more emotional energy than they give. Our mates can be tremendous sources of help and encouragement, but if we expect them to be the source of our happiness, they are sure to disappoint us in the long run.

When coming face-to-face with this inevitable disappointment, many people assume they must have married the wrong person. Some may resort to an affair to recharge their battery. The stolen charge may light up the circuits for a moment, but after the glow fades they will feel emptier and more miserable than before. Even if they divorce and remarry the “right person,” they will encounter the same frustration. The problem is not in the person they marry; it is in their expectations that that person will make them happy and keep them charged day after day. Wrong.

Sooner or later we run headlong into an inescapable fact: no person on earth is capable of giving us the fulfillment we crave. We can never plug in to enough people to keep our lives filled with the happiness we want. It’s no wonder so many people consider suicide as a way out. By depending on people to make us happy, we not only miss the positive emotions we crave, we also saddle ourselves with the very negative emotions we want to avoid—deep frustration, disappointment, hurt feelings, worry, anxiety, fear, unrest, uncertainty, and confusion. These emotions are the inevitable result of depending on a person, place, or thing for your fulfillment. Bottom line: We’re just not wired to plug into other people as our power source. God made a way for us to find fulfillment and true happiness. God created us. God designed us for a relationship with Him. But the power cord must be connected through His son Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said he was the way to connect to God.

The thought:

We teach our children weekly that the three most important things in life are to honor God, honor others, and honor ourselves. This morning we are focusing on honoring God.

The questions:

1. Why is it important to honor God?
2. What does giving God honor as a family look like?
3. How does God honor us?

It is next to impossible to have an open heart, receptive to God’s will, if we are in serious conflict with others. God desires a sincere gift, not tarnished with unreconciled differences and past hurts. We are responsible to make sure people we have offended, or been offended by, are freed from the bondage’s of anger, vengeance, or hate.

So is anyone excluded from receiving our forgiveness? According to Matthew 5:44-48, even our enemies are worthy of forgiveness:

“But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”.What a verse! Again it touches on the very nature of our incredible God who is merciful and gracious to all. We are called to be perfect, “as your heavenly Father is perfect”. Understanding that we cannot be perfect while existing on this planet, the verse is calling us to strive for Christ’s perfection. Christ’s willingness to love those who were unlovable. To care for those who were prostitutes, thieves, and yes, even tax collectors. To forgive those who most offend us. Why our enemies? God knows how much unresolved anger kills the spirit within, and designs this command to help free us from eternal regret.

No one is to be excluded from our forgiveness. Some of the greatest verses exploring the complexity of forgiveness are Romans 12:14-21. We will quote the passage at length because of their foundational quality regarding forgiveness:

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live I harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary:
‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’”.We are encouraged to bless people who persecute us. To some Christians, and probably many nonChristians, this seems very masochistic. Bless our enemies! Sure, if we were Christ maybe we could pull that off, but we are human. Remember, being human means we are created in God’s image, therefore we have the capacity to pull this off. Trust in God that this humanitarian rule serves to better the human condition rather than defile it. Think of all the hate crimes that never seem to find a resolution. This idea of blessing reminds us of turning the other cheek. Evil begets evil and love begets love.

In the passage we also read, “In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head”. When I first read this passage I imagined that forgiveness and love toward those who hurt us is painful for the perpetrator. My mind wanted to believe that loving and forgiving made evil people suffer. However, this was not Christ’s message. In further study I learned the custom of placing hot coals on someone’s head was actually a kind gesture. A surprise to me! I’m not sure how I would receive someone placing hot coals on my head. But it was a different time.

Placing coals on someone’s head was helpful because it kept the weary traveler warm throughout the cold desert nights. It was a way of honoring someone. This is why we are commanded to forgive. Remember the “Golden Rule”? We need to do for others what we would want done to us. Would we want someone to refuse to forgive us because we sinned against him or her?

I believe a 79 year-old woman robs a bank because hope has been lost.  People do desperate things in desperate times.  This woman chose to rob a bank.  You might choose to divorce your husband.  I might choose to eat an entire cake made by my mother-in-law (if you’ve had one of her cakes, then you understand).

Hope is one of the most important things we need in our relationships.  My wife and I run a retreat called the Marriage Restoration Retreat.  The retreat is mainly for couples who feel stuck and need help in gaining positive momentum in their relationship.  The main, and most important, prequalification for attending one of our marriage retreats is that a couple believes a miracle could occur in their marriage.  No matter how bad it has gotten, or how deep they feel the pit is, if they believe a miracle could occur – then hope has not been lost.

If you believe in Christ you might be thinking, “How could anyone who believes in God ever think that a miracle couldn’t happen?”  You’d be surprised.  It doesn’t happen a lot, but I’ve asked this question to hundreds of couples through the years and I’ve heard people say, “I don’t believe a miracle is possible.”  At which I say, “It was nice meeting you.”

If hope is gone then nothing can happen.  Even the tiniest sliver of hope can result in a miracle.

Have you ever been to the mouth of the Mississippi river?  If you have, then you know what a little thing can lead to.

So I think a great question is, “What is righteousness?”

Here’s a definition I found over at DiscipleshipTools.org:

Righteousness is defined as conformity to God’s Law, both from our heart and deeds, inside and outside. No one can attain it apart from perfect adherence to the law; Christ was the only one in all of human history to do it. No one can attain it without Divine intervention; righteousness to please God must come from God Himself. Because we all are corrupted by sin, and unable to live according to God’s perfect standards. Thus it must be a gift from God! Even though some people are better than others, your neighbor versus Stalin, both are guilty in view of God’s perspective. (vs. 1: 10; 17). Our only hope is in the Person and Work of our Lord.

What do you think righteousness is?  Let me know

14 The sinners in Zion are rightly terrified;
the godless are at their wit’s end:
‘Who among us can survive this firestorm?
Who of us can get out of this purge with our lives?’”

15 The answer’s simple:
Live right,
speak the truth,
despise exploitation,
refuse bribes,
reject violence,
avoid evil amusements.

16 This is how you raise your standard of living!
A safe and stable way to live.
A nourishing, satisfying way to live.
God Makes All the Decisions Here

17 Oh, you’ll see the king—a beautiful sight!
And you’ll take in the wide vistas of land.

My wife and I help couples in crisis through our Marriage Restoration Intensive program. These verses were part of my daily reading, but I felt like they were perfect verses for anyone going through a struggle or a hurting marriage.

I tell individuals all the time, “You can’t lose if you do the right thing.” This doesn’t mean that life is easy, because sometimes the right thing to do is also the toughest thing to do. But in the end, when it really matters, you can’t lose because God will not forget how you handled yourself and you will be blessed!

We live in a fallen world. We are going to make mistakes that not only affect ourselves, but the people around us. Particularly the people that are most important to us, and there is no relationship more influential than the marital relationship. But why is forgiveness important?

I will offer three major reasons why forgiveness is important for your relationship with your mate. The first reason is the reality we are made in God’s image. Being made in God’s image carries with it a tremendous amount of honor and responsibility. Honor in knowing our innate value because of our likeness with the Creator. Responsibility because it is God’s nature to forgive.

1 John 1:9 reads, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” If we are to strive to be more Christ like in everything we do, then forgiveness is incredibly important. If God’s nature did not consist of forgiveness, where would we be? God knows the awesome power of forgiveness, and God graciously uses it to cleanse us all of our sins.

It is our nature to hunger for God, and to be in God’s light. Most people, if given the choice between two tunnels, one with light at the end and the other a cavernous black, would choose the tunnel with the light. We work better in the light, we see better in the light, and are usually less afraid in the light. “Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother (i.e. does not forgive or reconcile) is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him (1 John 2:10).” When we refuse to follow in God’s likeness and will, we only find pain and suffering.

The second reason why forgiveness is important lies in the essence of love. Forgiveness is one of the only ways we can love like God loves. When we decide to forgive someone of wrongfully harming us, we are deciding to love him or her unconditionally. The French writer and moralist, Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, wrote in the 1600’s “We pardon to the extent that we love”. If we choose not to forgive, then we are putting up limits and boundaries to our love for other people. Doubtlessly the greatest verses on love are in 1 Corinthians 13. They are quoted in weddings, sonnets, and aspiring romances. The verses speak of what love is, and how we should go about the business of love. All we will quote here is the last verse in this passage, 1 Corinthians 13:13 reads, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Thirdly, forgiveness is freeing to the soul. Forgiveness allows us to break the bonds of anger, rage, hatred, and vengeance. All these lead down the path of destruction. They are like toxins to the soul, and forgiveness is the cleanser. Much of the work in therapy often focuses around the issue of forgiveness. Anger, rage, hatred, and vengeance prevent us from growing to become the mature adults God intends us to be.

© Copyright 2003 Smalley Relationship Center

Isaiah 40:29 “He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.”

Finding strength in God

Possible family questions:

1. What does it look like if you are depending on God?
2. How have you depended on God before, and how has God given you strength?
3. What would you prayer sound like if you were asking God for strength?

Humility as Supreme Virtue

I’m Glad Rick Warren Said Yes

The verse is James 1:5 and is from The Message:

5 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it.

By the way, you won’t believe how Reagan worked the word “cheese” into this devotional. It is quite hilarious!

Questions you can ask the kids:

1. What kinds of questions can you ask God?
2. Does God seem interested in our problems?
3. Is there any problem that we can have that God would laugh at or ignore?

There is a verse or two that really stood out to me this morning and I thought it would make a great family devotional.  We will have this ourselves on Monday, but I wanted to give a heads up to you before Monday.

Here are the verses that I want to focus on (Daniel 3:16-18 MSG):

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. 17 If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. 18 But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

What stands out to me in these verses is that they tell King Nebuchadnezzar that “if” God wants to save us, He can.  The word “if” is important for us to understand when it comes to following God’s will.  What they recognized is that God may not want to save them from the fire, but they chose to not dishonor God anyways.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew they were not allowed to worship any idols, even if it meant their death.  So they did what was right in God’s eyes and didn’t worry about whether or not it would turn out well for them here on earth.

They were God focused and not “fire” focused.

We always need to remember that God’s will is far better than our own.  Sometimes we pray for things to happen, as if God himself told us to pray for them, and then we are hurt or dissapointed when they don’t turn out like we wanted.

This is why, when I pray, I always end my prayers with, “and God, if this is not your will, then please give me the wisdom to see your will because ultimately, Lord, I want your will done in this thing and not my own.”

“What has your mind has you.”

If you focus on what’s wrong in your life, you will experience the wrong. “One small stone and a sling of faith, that is all you need to make it.” (In regards to the story of King David in 1 Samuel 17)

With each devocast, I will include the verses that we talked about and some of the questions we asked.

Verses:  John 8:31-32

Questions:

• What does it mean to follow Jesus?
• What does it mean to “abide” in His word?
• What does it mean that following Jesus leads to freedom?  What kind of freedom are we going to experience?

“What do you see?” Came the quiet voice.
“Well”, I said, “I see many different colors and patterns. “
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Was the reply.
“Oh yes, it looks like there was a lot of time and effort used to create it.” I reveled.

“There was.” It spoke again…” Look at the individual sections. Each part comes together to create something beautiful. Individually, every square looks different and a little disordered, but once they are sewn together they make sense. There is a specific purpose for each element, and every single stitch was planned long before hand to fill a unique place.

I continued to examine it, and playfully poked my fingers through the small holes in the fabric.
“You see, your life is like this blanket. You may see only sections of chaos and unrelated segments, yet I see necessary pieces of an intricate tapestry. I am taking the good and bad, and knitting them together to form an exquisite pattern of significance. Where you feel holes, I see components of a bigger picture. When you see dead ends, I see opportunity for new and different colors. When those around you are cold, I am giving you a tool to adequately warm them.”

A sense of peace passed over me, and I sat back to ponder a bit longer. How incredible is it that our God loves us as He does! He doesn’t haphazardly look at our lives and simply take the pieces as they fall. No, Instead He lovingly and painstakingly works to mold and craft something beautiful and special from each strand of experience. At times when life doesn’t make sense, we can know that His plans for us are good, and that he does indeed have a purpose behind each part! What a delightful portrait of His grace and mercy!