SUNDAY MORNING CHRISTIAN

1 John 1:6

So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.

How many people do you know that attend church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night and yet live as the world?  These people say that they love the Lord and have fellowship with Him, and yet they gossip, back bite and talk of watching hideous prime time shows that fill their minds with filth.  These people look down their noses at those less fortunate than they, and they have as their primary objective to work harder to acquire more, to have the biggest and the best, often times at the expense of relationships with spouse and children.  There are so many people in this world that go to church because it’s the socially acceptable thing to do, and yet they don’t have a close relationship with our Lord. In fact they are hindering others from having a relationship with Him.  There are hurting people in this world. People who are looking to fill that “God-shaped” hole on the inside of them, but when they look to the church and see the “Christians", they see pain, tremendous debt, selfishness, back-biting, bitterness, resentment, gossip stirrers, “holier than thou stares”, and they don’t want that.  The church should be our Lord’s hands, feet, words, eyes, etc., going out living an example of agape love, reaching out and allowing our Lord to touch lives through their every member.  Imagine the amazing difference that Christians could make in the world around them if they’d arise daily and determine to pray, read their Bible, fellowship with our Lord and become closer to Him.  If only they’d pray to have more and more of Him and less and less of “me, me, me."  I grew up in the church, and for years I was a Sunday morning Christian.  I was pulled to and fro like a rubber band stretched to the limit to break at any moment.  On one side I was pulled by the world and by my Lord on the other.  Saved at twelve, I could feel His pull through the years, but it was so much easier to live as a Sunday morning Christian.  Then one day, I determined that I would get up early each morning and spend time with my Lord, watching an evangelist on television, writing in a prayer journal, reading a devotional, and reading my Bible.  I now crave that time with my Lord.  He wants to have a close personal relationship with each one of us.  He has led me through very dark times within my life: labor and delivery of my stillborn daughter, taking care of a mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s, living through bouts of infidelity in a former marriage, emotional abuse, very tough decisions that I’ve encountered as Superintendent of Education where I had to take a stand for what I felt was right but had so many against me.  My Lord has never left me in the wilderness, He has carried me up every mountain from every valley, all the while holding me and protecting me from the enemy.  Often times, I’ve witnessed my Lord take what the enemy meant for my harm and instead cause it to be a blessing to me just like His word promises.  If you’ve been as this devotional describes, you’ve attended church all your life, but you don’t have a close fellowship with our Lord, and in fact your life would cause your brother to stumble, you can repent and follow our Lord.  Determine to set aside special time each day to spend in fellowship with our Lord, seeking His face, seeking to know Him more.  As you determine to do that, you’ll become closer and closer to our Lord, and you’ll more and more shun the things of the world.  You’ll grow to want more and more of Him, and you’ll see and feel His hand of guidance and protection more and more on your life and your children’s lives.

 Dear Lord, I pray You would daily use my every member to Your service.  Lord, may Your Light always shine through me for all the world to see.  May I be as a puppet with You, Lord Jesus, the puppeteer and the ventriloquist, ever using me and speaking only positive words of edification through me.  May You convict any “Sunday morning Christians”, and may they begin to turn to You every day and seek a close personal relationship with You daily.  All these things I ask in Jesus’ most precious holy name.  Amen.

Written by Donna Shea

THROUGH HIS EYES

Psalms 41:1

Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor!

The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble.

Our Lord especially desires to see his children esteem others above “self”.  The world’s mentality tells us to esteem those who have things, those who have high positions of authority, those who are “somebody”, but heaven’s mentality is “what you do for the least of these, you do for me” Matthew 25:40.  According to our Lord and Savior, we are to love our brothers so much that we are willing to lay down our lives for our brother (1 John 3:16).  When we have regard for the weak, for the poor, for those who can not help us, then our Lord is pleased, and I believe Psalm 41:1 which says that He will poor out His blessings and deliver us in the times of trouble.  Some people go through life with no regard for any person that they regard as “less than themselves” whether it is due to their skin color or socioeconomic status, but our Lord values every person with equal value.  Our Lord loves every person no matter skin color, socioeconomic status, or past sins.  Our Lord desires to have a relationship with every one, and He desires for His children to allow Him to pour out His love on all through them. Now Matthew 6:3 tells us that we should not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing.  This just means that when our Lord uses us to help the weak, the poor, or the needy that it should be done in secret and not to be known of men.  The very next scripture, Matthew 6:4 promises that when it is done in secret with only our Heavenly Father knowing that He will reward us.  We should all strive to come to a point where we are able to look past behaviors and see the person on the inside.  We should ask our Heavenly Father to pour out His agape love through us and help us to love our brother or sister as we should.  When we will ask Him daily to help us to love one another even as He has loved us (John 15:12), we will have a peace and joy unspeakable, and the world will become a better place.  So I challenge you! The next time you encounter someone that normally you would turn the other cheek to, try to remember that God loves them just as much as He loves you, and He values them and desires to have a relationship with them just as much as he values and desires a relationship with you.  Your Lord wants you to smile at that person showing them His agape love.  He wants you to let them know how much He loves them and desires a relationship with them.  When you begin to go through your day truly asking God to help you to see all people through His eyes, seeing them as He sees them, then you will be able to exercise all of the scriptures that I have mentioned in the passages above.

Lord, help me to see others through Your eyes.  Help me to allow You to pour out Your agape love for all.  Show me today and every day how I can be a blessing to others and how I can hold my hands open so that you can channel Your blessings through my hands.  Lord, help me to go through the day with a smile on my face to every person that I encounter and help all to see Your Light shining brightly through me.  Show me who I can help today, and help me to always do so in secret with only You knowing.  Help me Lord to love my brother and sisters even as You have loved me.  All these things I ask in Jesus’ most precious holy name. Amen

Written by Donna Shea

THE ULTIMATE ACT OF SERVICE

Mark 9:35

He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

According to the world’s view, people who want to be great, who want to be first, or want to have more have a constant battle for that place of first, for that place of “greatness”, and a battle for more and more.  When they trust in themselves for all of that, it is a miserable life. However, Jesus told His disciples something totally different.  He said if you want to be first, let others go ahead of you.  If you want to be great, serve others, and esteem others more highly than yourself.  Greatness is not found at the front of the line, it is found at the back of the line.  Many people are so self-centered and feel that the world owes them everything.  I know that it must be a miserable place, one with no real happiness, peace, or joy when people are in a daily battle to have more and to get ahead.  It is such a better place to keep your eyes on God living by His principles.  When you leave the “rat race” of the world and truly trust God to promote you and trust Him for your every need, you can then live as Jesus told His disciples in Mark 9:35 and live to be a servant of all.    You should begin to look at all others as better than yourself. Mark 10:45 says,“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  The one God of the Universe chose to come to this world and to be a servant, so what better reason to serve others than to model our lives after Him.  A pastor once said in a sermon that the basic problem in the world today is that men wish to do as little as possible to get as much as possible.  It is only when they are filled with the desire to put more into life than they take out of that life for themselves that they will be happy and prosperous.  I believe that it is only when you begin to live by the Kingdom principles and choose to serve others, to esteem others more highly than yourself, to let others go before you, that we will truly be happy.  By doing this we should put our full trust in God to promote us and take the pressure off of ourselves to have to fight for everything on our own.  The pastor also said, “the world says if you want to become great, become a star. God says if you want to become great, become a servant.  The world says if you want to become great, see how many people you can get to serve you. God says if you want to become great, see how many people you can serve.”  I know that by worldly views and standards all of this seems “upside down,” but I’ve lived both ways, and I tell you that by living by God’s principles and fully trusting Him and serving Him, it is a peace and joy beyond understanding.  Jesus performed the ultimate act of service by dying on the cross for sins that He didn’t even commit. Can’t we purpose to model after Him and serve others?

Lord Jesus, I love You.  Thank You that I do not have to try to promote myself.  Thank You that I don’t have to live as I once did in the rat race of worldly mindset trying to get more and more for myself.  Thank You, Lord, for helping me to always be servant minded, to always esteem anyone that I come in contact with as more highly than myself.  Thank You, Lord, that as I have witnessed Your faithfulness to Your word as I let others go ahead of me and as I trust in You to promote me as I serve others.  Thank You, dear Lord, for Your many blessings.  All I ask in Jesus’ most precious holy name.  Amen.  

Written by Donna Shea

JOY UNSPEAKABLE

Philippians 2:3

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others.

Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

Who can we rely on in today's society to help us get ahead? Only ourselves, right!  Wrong!! It is only when we get our mind off of ourselves that we will be happy, and our life will truly be able to glorify God.  Most people in the world today do all that they do in order to be promoted, often times at the expense of family, friends, others.  People are like hamsters on a wheel, running faster and faster to keep up with the world but never in control of their lives. Today’s society has the mindset of me, me, me, what else can I get for myself.  Many people work and toil from sun up to sun down to promote themselves and to get more, more, more.  I have been there, and trust me, it is a miserable place to be.  Thankfully, I finally realized that it is only when my “who” shifts from worldly possessions and rests firmly in my Lord and Savior that I truly find peace. Ask yourself what you can do for your fellow man instead of being concerned about what others think of you, what car you drive or home you live in, what “toys” you have, or name brand clothes that you wear.  I am here to tell you that when you finally lay down all burdens at the foot of His cross and then take up your cross and follow Him, you will find happiness in all you have, and you will quit searching for more!! There is no more than being happy in the blessings you already have. When we place our “who” in Christ and turn to Him to work through us to fulfill His purpose for our life, it is then that He will open doors for us.  It may not be through any worldly possessions we desire or any promotions that we want, but He will promote you for His glory. I promise, it is a much more peaceful place to be than trying to do it all on your own.  It is a peace and a joy unspeakable, even in the valleys of life that are inevitable.  There is a tremendous peace in knowing that if it is happening to me, He allowed it to be, and He has a purpose and a blessing for me as a result of it.

Lord, thank You that I have been able to get off of the “hamster wheel” that I had been on once upon a time.  Thank You, Lord, that I finally realize that my “who” needs to be in You.  Thank You for helping me realize that all things belong to You, that You can see all, You know all, and that when I arise daily and place my trust fully in You that You will never leave me nor forsake me.  Lord, help me to always be led by You, and that the glory never be for me, but always for You.  Thank you, Lord, for leading me day by day in humility and to esteem others better than myself and in doing so, You my Lord will forever promote me to a closer and closer relationship with You and in blessings unspeakable.  All I ask in Jesus’ most precious holy name. Amen

Written by Donna Shea

I WILL PRAY

Psalms 61:1-2

O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer!

From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety.

I had a conversation with someone the other day who was going through a particularly hard year.  They spoke of issues within their marriage, health, and with their children.  They listed all of the things that they had done in all of the areas and said that none of it had worked.  They then said, "Now, I guess I will pray."  I just looked at them in utter confusion.  Would it not occur to people to stop and first before anything else to go to the creator of the entire Universe and ask for His assistance?  Do people not understand that they can go to Him just like a toddler who is hurting, uncomfortable, hungry, or scared can run to their earthly father and he will take care of their every need?  As much as an earthly father loves his child, our minds can not comprehend the fact that our Heavenly Father loves us so much more.  He wants to protect us, lead and guide us, meet our every need, but we must go to Him in prayer.  I am sure that He sometimes feels like an earthly father of a teenager or young adult who only goes to them when they need money or help getting out of trouble.  Just as that earthly father desires to spend quality time with the child, our Heavenly Father desires for His children to give Him time daily and not just when they need His help.  James 5:15 tells us that “the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.”  We can go to our Father anytime about anything and when we go in faith believing that He will attend to our need, He will never fail us.  He knows everything, He can see the future, and He will answer our prayer.  It may not be the answer that we were expecting, but when we go to Him in faith, many times we will be able to look back and see that it was the best thing for us.  Even if He didn’t give us the answer that we wanted, we will be able to see how He worked His answer in some way to bless us.  If we go to our Lord daily in prayer, seeking to bathe in His love and in His presence, He will lead us to the towering Rock of safety, and we can then rest in knowing that the One Who is in control of the Universe has our best interest at heart even when our heart grows faint. Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness. 

Lord, thank You that as I draw near to You daily that You draw near to me.  Thank You that as I pray to have more and more of You and less and less of me that You will help me to be more like You.  Forgive me where I have failed You, Lord, and may all good that is done through me always be to Your glory and Your praise.  May all always know that it’s only through You living through me that anything good could be done.  Help me to spend time with You daily, and help me to turn to You in faith.  Thank You for answering my every prayer according to Your will and purpose for my life.  All I ask in Jesus’ most precious holy name.  Amen.

Written by Donna Shea

GUIDE ME EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY

Jeremiah 29:12-13

In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

I find such comfort in knowing that the One Who created the Universe not only loves me with a love that is so pure and so deep that I can’t even comprehend it’s depth, but that He is ever present, waiting to guide me every second of every day.  He is truly concerned about every aspect of my life and yours.  When we fully submit everything to Him and ask that His will be done and not ours, there is a peace that passeth all understanding.  The Creator of ALL loves YOU and desires a close personal relationship with YOU.  He wants to walk through every second of every day with you, guiding you along the way.  He wants to be the first thing on your mind each morning as you awake to prepare for your day.  He wants to be the last thing on your mind as you fall asleep at night.  He wants to be with you every second of the day.  I’ve witnessed His faithfulness.  I’ve realized that as I awake each morning and first turn to Him through prayer and bible study, as I fully commit my every member to Him and ask that He lead me second by second all day, that He gives me the wisdom and guidance that I need.  He has always faithfully been there.  I’ve observed His Hand working things out before me, and I’ve witnessed His picking up pieces of messes that I’ve made as I tried to do my will, driven by my impatient flesh.  I stand on the scripture in Romans 8:28 that says God will work ALL THINGS to be a blessing for me because I love Him and I am called according to His purpose.  The enemy does not like anyone who turns to God daily and who asks that God use them to touch lives for His kingdom.  I know that I do not have the strength, courage, wisdom, intelligence, leadership skills, or personality to do the job that He has placed me to do without Him.  However, I do know that as I turn to Him daily and ask that He live entirely through me, that He lead entirely through me, that He show me what to do second by second daily; that He will be faithful to do so.  He knows all, sees all, is everywhere, knows others’ hearts, and He will never cease to lead me and the school district down the right path as long as I allow Him my every member to lead through daily.  Many people say, “I wouldn’t have your job”, “how do you deal with it all”?  I often say, if not for His living through me, I could not.  I have to trust my Savior day to day to work all things out and to lead through me.  I have to cast any worry or any problems that arise on Him and ask that He show me how to deal with them.  When I do that, I can then have a peace in knowing that God has the district, my family, and me in His hands, and He will show Himself mighty with many blessings in all areas.  I’ll always say that any good thing that is done is certainly not of my will or my ability but as a result of my daily yielding to His guidance and it is His hand through me.  He wants to do the same for all.  He desires a very close personal relationship with all.  He is always there waiting for his children to turn to Him.  He loves to have fellowship with us.  The amazing thing is He stands waiting and ready to hear from you.  All you have to do is invite Him into your heart to be Your Savior, the Lord of your life and believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and arose on the third day.  As a result, the Holy Spirit awaits your invitation to enter, inhabit, the “God shaped” space within your being that the world tries to fill with so many material things that just can’t quench the longing.  Then, read your Bible and pray daily.  Pray without ceasing.  Think of the God of the Universe as a kind, loving, and gentle friend that you carry with you every second of every day.  Talk to him about anything and everything.  Pour out your heart to Him and ask that He cleanse you of all impurities and ask Him to fill you with His Spirit.  I promise when you allow Him to come into your life and you invite Him into every area of your life, allowing Him to guide you day by day, you will experience a peace, joy, and happiness that no one can take from you.

Written by Donna Shea

FOR HIS PURPOSE

Ephesians 3:20

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

I find it absolutely amazing that at the moment we surrender our life to Jesus Christ and ask Him to be our Savior that He, Lord of all, inhabits our earthly body to dwell within us for the rest of our lives.  When we are saved, we have the Holy Spirit within us every second of every day wanting to be in constant communion with us.  If we will turn to Him daily, second by second, submitting our every member to His leadership and guidance, He will forever lead us on the path to fulfilling the purpose for which we were created.  He will lead us to make the right decisions. He will lead us to let His Light shine through us for the entire world to see.  There have been many times in my life where I have come to a “fork in the road”, and I did not know which way to go. God has never failed in leading me in the right decisions and the right direction that aligns with His will for me.  If ten years ago anyone would have told me that I would be Superintendent of Education, I would have thought they had lost their mind, but here I am ten years later right on the path that God has for me.  You might ask if I was the smartest, the strongest, the wisest, and the most experienced one in the race of five who were running for the office.  I would very quickly answer, no, none of the above.  However, I believe that I was the “chosen one.” I was the one who He had in mind for the job, for a purpose, and I can look back and with confidence see how He placed me where I am today.  He, Lord of all, can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us," when our will aligns with His will and when we lay down our will at the foot of His cross. When we ask that He completely fill us, lead us, guide us, and direct our every thought, deed, and word, it is then and only then that He will be able to do amazing things through us.  I have lived it, and I continue to live it.  This scripture is absolutely true! When you are in His will and you daily arise and say, “Lord, not my will, but Thy will for my life, take my every member today, every second and use me to fulfill Your purpose for my life, use me to touch countless lives and to bring glory to Your Name,” then, as this scripture promises, He will accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think!

Lord, thank You for your many blessings.  I love You so much!  Thank You for leading me each and every day to arise and say, “Lord, not my will, but Thy will, take my every member and use to Your service."  Lord, lead me to have more and more of You and less and less of me.  Lead me, Lord, second by second of every day to fully submit to You and Your will that You may do great things through me.  Lord, I realize that as the old southern gospel song says, “I can’t even walk without You holding my hand," Lord, I need you.  I am not the smartest, the wisest, the strongest, or the most courageous, but, Lord, You are all of those things and more through me.  If You are for me then who can be against me! Thank You, Lord, for daily living through me.  In Jesus’ most precious holy name, Amen.

Written by Donna Shea