Category Archives: Devotional

Spirit Fire: Crushed Spirit- Proverbs 18:14

For Spirit Fire last night we looked at Proverbs 18:14. It got heavy as this “Coin” proverb talked about having a crushed spirit.

“The human spirit can endure in sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear?”

I remember wondering as a kid why people become alcoholics. Back then I thought it was merely a consequence of party living. I thought you would just love the flavor so much you’d get addicted to it like candy or something. However, life and actually tasting it, taught me a different tale.

Loss, disease, death of loved ones, shame, regret, these and other burdens can’t be shaken but can be forgotten for a short time in the bottle. These burdens crush the spirit, who can bear it?

We talked about how in the Holy Spirit we meet the Comforter, (greater than the southern kind), John 14:26, and His peace that endures. This life is so hard at times, and yet He meets us there. He lifts us up and gives us renewed strength when we have none, Isaiah 40:31.

Its an honor to teach my children the Book of Proverbs and to show them its fulfillment in Jesus. Who can bear the brokenness and sorrow of this world? Only Jesus, He did it for us and He gives us hope.

Spirit Fire: It Got Real, Proverbs 17:26

Spirit Fire got real tonight, unexpectedly to me, (I didn’t read ahead):

Proverbs 17:26 “It is not good to punish an innocent man, or to flog officials for their integrity.”

We talked about the laws of reason that God placed in our minds to explain why it doesn’t make any sense to punish the innocent. Then we talked about Jesus. If ever there was an innocent man, it was Him. And we spoke of the good that God planned for mankind through His punishment, our salvation.

His ways are higher than ours. Such a glorious mystery!

By Your Word

Thank You Lord!  
 
By Your Word we are protected from heresies, from false teachings that would hijack our faith replacing our confidence in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with unsustainable manifestations of fantasy.
 
By Your Word we are reminded of what Rock we are founded upon. It is not some weak sandstone that could crumble at a touch, or shale that would cut and fail those who depend on it. It is not some type of chalk that can be washed away with the tide, but He is Jesus, the Rock of Ages, the Living Stone.
 
He is not shifting, He is immovable. He is our foundation and what He has written has been done so by His blood.  
 
By Your Word we are not mislead by the wolves, we are not like lambs lead to the slaughter. We are lead by Jesus, our Good Shepherd, who was the Lamb slain for us.
 
By Your Word we do not succumb, we overcome. We are not bedazzled by someone’s personal charisma, but we were bought, saved, and redeemed into Your undeserved favor by Your Gift of grace.
 
Upon this Rock we stand, this Rock that is higher than I or any other. A stumbling block for the lost, a stepping stone for the found. By Your Word we are confronted with Jesus, greater than a capstone. He is the stone rejected by men that has become the Chief Cornerstone in the house of God.
 
Thank You Lord!

No One Knew

No one knew what was going to happen.  They witnessed the incredible for 3 years as they followed Him.  People left their homes and jobs on the spot just because He called or merely walked by.  They knew that whatever they knew about life just didn’t matter or apply to Him.

Oh some were jealous, and they were filled with hatred for the One who with a few words tore down their palaces of oppression.  They worked hard for their positions, they had authority and control over others that was unquestionable, “God ordained” even.  And yet, here was this man who did what no one has ever done.  The miracles He did and the teachings He gave shook everything and everyone to the core.  He questioned them and claimed a position of authority no man ever dared to claim.

Scandalous.  Could it be that the jealousy of the fallen drove them to it?  Having the perfect One in the presence of the twisted only reminded them of their evil?  That the perception of their own inabilities to ever be allowed to taste of the Tree of Life that He said was in reach if they only would stretch out their hands and believe gave birth to the evil that awaited them in their hearts?

They showed Him a different tree and nailed Him to it.  The sheep scattered as the wolves killed their Shepherd.

But no one knew.

No one but the Father.  His plans shattered everything even death itself.  For three days later, Jesus came forth from the tomb and revealed the Father’s plans to those He had chosen.

Scandalous.  Though sin had created the thrones of man, thrones that bound their kings to them and any who would bow before them to the grave, Jesus’ death and resurrection broke every chain and set every captive free.

The power of Sin and Death was broken and the grip of this world could no longer hold those who followed Him.

No one knew the depths of His love, no one knew how great and complete were His plans.  When Jesus came forth from the tomb, He set us free from ours.

His work continues today, will you step away from this world into His embrace?  This ending world with thrones of the grave for His eternal home with crowns that will never fade?

No one knew, but now you do.

Spirit Fire Ch. 6: “No Longer A Slumdog”

A couple of months ago I saw an ad on Facebook for a free book about children in Asia titled “No Longer A Slumdog”, written by K.P. Yohannan.  I thought it would be an interesting read because I know people who serve the LORD there, plus it has a forward written by Francis Chan, so I ordered it.  When it finally came in the mail, I set it aside on the shelf next to where I sit for our Spirit Fires, and truth be told, I forgot about it.  Till one day I saw it sitting there and thought to give the first chapter a read.  Boy, I’m glad I did.  As I read the stories about the hundreds of millions of children that suffer in this world, and about the work of the Spirit and the light God brings to such places, I quickly thought about my own children and how invaluable it would be for them to learn and hear about it.  Most of the children mentioned in the book are around their age of 7 so it seemed even more appropriate for my kids to hear about them during this stage of their lives.

In our beginning prayer time, we talk about our Treasure Rooms which are filled with all kinds of riches from God.  When reading Yohannan’s book, I spoke to them of a rare jewel of Wisdom called Perspective, and each page of his book was loaded with it.  Perspective provides for us an opportunity to value others and ourselves, and it is something every child and adult in every culture needs.  With it we take a step out of our own shoes with our needs and wants and step into another’s and hear of even greater needs and in that trade off, a new need awakens, a need to help and do something about it.  A need to love.

Yohannen’s book provides a personal view into the dark streets of cities like Bombay and what daily life is like there for the Dalit children and communities.  Children who don’t know the love of God, let alone the many who don’t even know the love of a parent.  The harshness of dealing with a pimp who knows a maimed child makes more money begging than a healthy one is contrasted by the blinding glory of God’s redemptive love as the life of a violent child changes to that of a loving child becoming a blessing to his community.  Yohannan shares many stories of hope and joy amidst the dark, each one of these stories is a seed for my children; a seed I know that will grow in the garden of their hearts, souls, and minds.

Last night we had our recap discussion time.  Honestly, my kids couldn’t follow many of the questions I asked like:  “So what did we learn about the Jewel of Perspective?”  But when I asked them about specifics in the book, they couldn’t stop talking about the children we read about.

I know this almost sounds like a commercial, but to get the info out plain and simple here it is:  “No Longer A Slumdog” written by K.P. Yohannan was a perfect book for my family to read and talk about together.  I look forward to the ways its seeds will impact my kids and myself in the days to come.

Spirit Fire Ch. 5: Who wants to pray with Sunny?

In our family devotions, we’ve had times where it feels like we’re in a rut.  Times when you can almost feel the burn of the exercise and discipline that it can be.  Like the other night, since we alternate nights between Spirit Fire and Night Show, my kids asked which one we were doing.  They asked me with that hopeful ‘Dreams come true’ tone, “Is it Night Show night Dad?”  That got my wheels turning.  I thought about the cartoons we’d watch compared to what our devotions were like.  Staring at me while I read from the Bible seemed pretty bland in comparison.  It’s all about their attention, what will grab and keep it.

About 15 years ago or so while down in Tennessee, my wife and I visited a toy shop thinking of presents for our nephews and nieces.  It was there that I saw a puppet I couldn’t ignore.  “Sunny” was its name.  It looked biblical and wise and just spoke to me of adventures.  I’ve never really been interested in puppets before, but in the years we’ve had Sunny, I’ve witnessed how using one can break all kinds of barriers including cultural and linguistical ones.  Years ago I had the opportunity to take it to Hong Kong and entertain the children there.  I carried it around in my backpack with its head sticking out and anyone I passed by or sat next to on the train, boat, plane or bus was instantly interested in it.

I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to use it during Spirit Fire, but once my kids demonstrated their lack of enthusiasm for reading the Bible, it was on.  And now my kids ask for Sunny every time.  It has become a highlight which is what I’ve been wanting to create for them.  Sunny has white plastic strings for hair on its head so I’ve tried to give it an old man’s voice.

“Who wants to pray with Sunny, who wants to pray with Sunny, who wants to pray with SUNNY!!!” is the song I sing with it to call the kids to prayer for Spirit Fire.

Using Sunny has opened up a whole new kid-friendly level to our family devotions.  It has helped to keep everyone interested even if/when I’m the tired one.

You Are The Only

LORD thank You! Nothing is hidden from You. There is no place to hide from You. None can trick or deceive You. There is no mass media that can jade Your understanding. No politician can persuade You. No amount of reward can bribe You.

Your Word separates between bone and marrow. You know us completely, You are the only One who does.

And You love us.

Psalm 139, Hebrews 4:12, John 3:16

Those Aren’t Cute, Cuddly, Little Baby Panda Bears

During my time in East Tennessee, a friend showed me the beautiful waterfall called Laurel Falls out in Dennis Cove of Carter County.  I returned to it as often as I could showing it to friends, family, and even to the kids in my Youth Group.  One thing that I saw there has always stayed in the back of my mind and was a bit of a mystery to me.

Laurel Falls is about 30 ft. wide if my memory serves me correct.  On times when we had enough rain, the falls would cover the full width.  Friends of mine and I would walk out in it.  I’d lay back against the rock and let the water fall over me, it was awesome.  One time I looked down at my arm to watch the water and I noticed a little bug on me.  The water gushed over it but it stayed right where it was.  I lifted my arm up out of the water and flicked it off, then I began to see more of them.  They were all over the rocks.  I looked at them very closely for a while and saw that they didn’t move much, and when they did, it was only a step or two.  I even tried to push them around a little but the water never carried them away, they were so close to the rocks it had no effect.  In fact, as I watched and experimented like a little kid, it seemed it was the weight of the water that held them in place.  A little bit of research later revealed that they were probably mayflies.  They have gills that protrude from their sides to grab at the oxygen flowing over the falls.

It’s easy for me to see bugs as the bad guy.  If they were cute, cuddly, little baby panda bears, I’d be like, “Ah look at them, so strong, so resilient,” and feel lead to write about perseverance or something.  However, they weren’t cute and cuddly, they were creepy.  So it leads me to think of things that we can’t shake even in times of extreme beauty like Laurel Falls.

These days I think of worship services.  During these times like a waterfall, we can experience such an outpouring of His goodness that we become open to His healing, deliverance, and revelation.  But distractions come in many forms:  from technology- feedback in the mics, to ego- pre-madonna leaders, from temptations- short skirts, to stomach pains- lunchtime, these little bugs stick around and can divert our thoughts sucking out all of the oxygen if we let them.

Colossians 3:2 says for us to, “Set your minds on things above”.  For me in the waterfall, I noticed the bugs but chose to not let them take away from my awesome time in His creation.  I still put my head in the waterfall knowing I may get some in my hair.  I still jumped in the pool below knowing there were probably worse things in there.  I still had a blast and took a good shower when I got home, which in effect lived out Colossians 3:5, putting all those bugs to death.

I loved exploring that waterfall, it was for me a time of worship, little bugs included.  When I kept my mind on why I was there, “on things above”, the fun of the falls was so great I hardly noticed those little oxygen suckers.

Spirit Fire Ch. 4: More Family Time in God’s Word

We finished reading through Revelation, wow what a time that was!  We read about the end of the world and the salvation of God’s children.  We read how Jesus will come again to bring an end to suffering and pain.   We even took a look around in the heavenly courts and saw some strange creatures.  Each night we reviewed the major points we found along the way, an example is the 7 churches.  We would name them and a word about what was written to them.  If you think of Revelation as a painting, the first three chapters create a great background for the rest of the book.

After we finished Revelation we went into Mark.  So far in the past years, we’ve gone through Acts exploring the power we’ve been given, Revelation for the victory, Proverbs (which we are still in) for the Wisdom, and now Mark for Jesus.  Honestly, there’s no rhyme or reason to the order that I know of, but I do know paths converged for a moment when about halfway through Acts, Pastor Kevin from my church began taking us through it on Sundays.  That was cool.  Then Bill Johnson, another leader I respect, mentioned wisdom and power being for the believer when we were in both Proverbs and Acts.  Both emboldened me for our Spirit Fires and what I wanted for my kids.

The intro for Mark is easy.

Leader:  “Who wants Jesus to be in their treasure room?”

All:  “Meeeee!!!  I dooooo!!!”

Leader:  “Good, I have a book here called _____”

Kids:  “Mark!”

Leader:  “Written by _____”

Kids:  “Mark!!”

Leader:  “To teach us about ______”

Kids:  “Jesus!!!”

We review by calling out one thing that we’ve already read, we’re at the end of chapter 4, and by each of us naming one of the disciples.  Then I read all their names from Mark 3:16-19.

We are still making our way through the book of Proverbs on the alternate nights.  We’ve added a few more things to the intro as we’ve come across new types of Proverbs, two of which are the “Coin” and the “This and more” proverbs.  My kids’ favorite is the “Coin” proverb.  We call them “Coin” because they have two sides saying the same thing but from different viewpoints often in reference to comparing the wicked and the righteous.  My kids like the word that reveals the other side, “but”.

So we say:

Me:  “Some proverbs are like a _____.”  And then I hold my hand out flat.

Kids:  “Coin!”

Me:  “One side talks about the _______.”

Kids:  “Righteous!”

Me:  “The other side talks about the _______.”

Kids:  “Wicked!”

Me:  “And what word flips it?”

Kids:  “But!” Their favorite part.  Then I flip my hand over making a spank sound to emphasize it.

For example:

15:29 “The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”.

The LORD’s proximity toward the wicked means the same thing as His toward the righteous.  For one side to go up, like a teeter-totter, the other has to come down.  If God is near one then that means He is far from the other.  He isn’t near them both in regards to His favor.

Another type of Proverb is “This and more”.  Basically, this type of Proverb adds to its point by increasing it, not contrasting it like the “coin”; hence the different conjunctions “but” vs. “and”.

For this one we say:

Me:  “Other proverbs are a ‘This and ____.”

Kids:  “More!”

For example:

14:26 “He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.”

The “this” is “He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress”.   A quick explanation of this is that we who fear the LORD obey Him, and we who obey Him receive strength and power to accomplish what He is calling us to do.  Side note:  This reminds me of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:24-27.  The “and more” is the second half of the proverb furthering the original point to providing for the children.  So basically our “fear” of God is not just for us, but it’s for those under our care, namely, our kids.  My children liked hearing the good things that are coming their way, especially when I explain refuge means a huge castle.

I try to make the names for the proverbs easy so we can grasp the form which lends itself to opening the door to explore the meaning.  So that’s why she swallowed the fly.  🙂

-Brian

Color It In

I learn so much about the Father’s love for me from my kids!

The other day, my husband drew a picture for my daughter to color in.  She eagerly skipped off to her crayons and filled it with pretty colors.  When her masterpiece was complete, she ran to him yelling, “Daddy, Daddy!  Look what I made!” He gushed praises over her wonderful picture, noting each detail of beautiful color.  He gave her full credit for the picture, never taking personal credit for being the original artist – his joy was in sharing her happiness.

Why am I not more like that with my Heavenly Father?  He gives me opportunities to do wonderful things for Him and for some reason, my usual response is pretty dorky.  “Thank you, Oh Father, for giving me the honor of serving You…” which isn’t a bad response but it isn’t one that a normal kid would say to their loving Dad.  My daughter didn’t timidly bow before my husband to present him with her picture – she ran to him, proudly shoving the paper in his face in expectation of his highest compliments.  I know that God loves me more than my husband loves our daughter, so I need to start acting like it!

In Matthew 18:1-5, Jesus instructs us to become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  When kids are in a home that is filled with love, they are confident of their parent’s feelings for them.  They don’t know any better than to expect full affection and praise from their mom and dad.  They aren’t ashamed to parade their accomplishments in front of their parents because they know that no matter what, their parents will love their attempts.  Their scribbles are always brilliant.  The Kingdom of Heaven is our true home, and we are so greatly loved that Jesus gave His life for us to live there.

I know that God is responsible for everything good that happens in my life.  I know that He sets up opportunities for me to glorify Him and the Holy Spirit is the One Who fills me with the ability to accomplish them.  He did all the work, but He’s my loving Dad Who wants to celebrate with me, gushing love over me, noting each detail of my attempts at coloring in His picture.

Let’s get our crayons out because our Father has something great for us to color in today!