All People, not just some

“First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”

1 Timothy 2:1-2 NET

It is so easy to pray for people we like, to pray for those we don't know but who we know are struggling, to pray for that child over in Africa that is starving. But how easy is it for you to pray for someone you don't like, or even better...a leader who you don't agree with or like? I know I am going to step on a few toes on this one, but regardless of whether we like someone or not, or whether we like their politics or not, or whether we like their sermon or not, we are instructed to pray for ALL people. ALL people doesn't mean only those you like, or those whose views you agree with. It also doesn't mean only those bosses that treat you well. ALL people means just that...ALL people, church leaders, friends, neighbors, co-workers, politicians...and yes even the president of the United States. It is so easy to complain about people, our bosses, our church leaders, our politicians, our president, but why is it so difficult to pray for them? God never did say complain about your neighbor or complain about your leaders. God DID say pray for them, and that's what we as children of God need to do!

Take Away: the next time you feel the urge to complain about someone, stop yourself and make the decision to pray for them instead.

Your Answer or God's?

“He prayed to the LORD and said, “Oh, LORD, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish! – because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment.”

Jonah 4:2 NET

This is the story of Jonah, a man who God wanted to go to Nineveh and prophecy. This scripture occured after Jonah was spit up by the fish and he had just finished prophesying at Nineveh. The people, upon hearing God's word, repented and God spared them. Unfortunately Jonah didn't like the outcome, in fact he was quite furious and got angry with God because he didn't get the result he was expecting.  We read this and shake our heads....but don't we do the same thing? Don't we pray for God to help us, or help that person, or help our situation, and when we get a result that is different than the one we were expecting, we get angry with God? God sees the big picture, we only see what is right around us, probably not more than the few feet we can see. We've got to realize that when we pray about something, God is going to answer in the way He is going to answer, with an answer that has the best result. When we pray, we have got to take our self-centered life and perspective out of the equation, and we've got to open our hearts and our minds to whatever and however God is going to answer...KNOWING that He is going to give us the best answer possible!

Take Away: when you go to God in prayer, don't go already having an outcome you can picture in your mind...but open your heart and mind to however God is going to answer!

Prevention, not Rejection

“Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.”

Acts 16:6 NLT

I used to think that everytime I got resistance from someone or even a group of people or perhaps a potential job, I would think that a) I was being rejected...and coming from a life of co-dependencies and insecurites...that was what I mostly thought, or b) the devil was keeping me from what God wanted (yeah, like the devil can stop God?). The reality is that while I was being rejected, it was really God keeping me from something He didn't want me to be a part of. For example, when I was a kid, I hung around some neighbor kids like one would normally do. But there came a time when I was with them and they flat out rejected me, told me to go away. As a kid, yes I felt hurt and rejected. When I asked God about it, He said He didn't want me around them. That was a good thing because later I found out as they got older, they got into drugs, some ended up in jail. What I took as rejection, God was actually protecting me! As a Christian, we are God's possession, we belong to Him, Jesus PAID for us to be His. We have got to remember that there is always a reason why things happen they way they do, and if you are being prevented from doing something (like the Apostle Paul in today's verse), don't look at it as a hurdle, look at it as God's intervention and He is keeping you from something you don't need to be involved in.

Take Away: When you are being prevented from something, rejoice in the fact that God is protecting you from something. Remember God is in control!

Through the Valley

“who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

2 Corinthians 1:4 NET

Ever wonder why you go through so many troubles, why you have so many issues? Ever wonder why God just doesn't snap His fingers and take them away? As a counselor I can easily say most of our troubles are brought on by ourselves. Yep, we are our own cause of problems. But still, why doesn't God just take them away? When we are going through that "valley" when we are dealing with issues in our life, and we listen to God and work with Him in healing those issues, we learn a lot. We learn about ourselves, we learn about God and what He can do. We learn about how to trust Him to help us with our issues. And during that time that you are in the valley, God is not only teaching you, but He is also comforting you, giving you what you need to make it through the valley. So again, why do we have to go through the valley? Simple...to comfort those we see going through that same valley with the same comfort God gave us. We help those so that hopefully they wont have to go through what we went through to get through the valley.  I've seen this happen time and time again in my life where God crosses my path with someone who is going through what I had gone through, and I was able to teach them what God taught me. 

Take Away: Allow God to work in you and take you through the valley, and then be ready to help someone who is going through the same thing.

Elijah was a human

“Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!”

James 5:17 NET

Have you ever thought that God couldn't use you because you thought "I have so many problems, and I have done some really stupid things that there is no way God could use me or answer my prayers." Look at what James said in chapter 5, verse 17. He said Elijah was a human being like us. In another translation it says Elijah had a nature just like ours. What James is trying to point out is that Elijah was an ordinary human, and that means with being human, problems come along. Yes, Elijah was a prophet...BUT he was also human which meant he wasn't perfect. It meant he flew off the handle at times, it meant he said some bad things at times, it meant he hurt people at times, it meant a lot of things...yet God still worked through him. I used to think God would not answer my prayers because I got angry, or I said or did some stupid things, or I lied about something to get my way. But when I realized that God already knew that about me and yet still chose me to be His, I started praying to God with surety that He heard me and was going to answer me. Now this doesn't give me license to do bad things, I want to make that clear. We should always strive to do better and correct our bad behavior. However, what it does mean is that God answering my prayers and working through me is not dependent on my nature, its all dependent on Him!

Take Away: the next time you feel like you can't pray to God because of something you do, remember the Elijah was just like us, and God worked through him...then go in prayer!

Don't Forget God

“Seven times a day I praise you because of your just regulations.”

Psalms 119:164 NET

One of the problems I have through the day is getting so focused on my tasks, or on my job at work is that I forget about God. Yes, you heard me, I forget about God until something goes wrong, or I have my "coffee" with Him in the mornings.  The writer of Psalms knew how he could keep God in the forefront of His daily life, and that was to acknowledge Him by praising God 7 times a day. Wow! Can you image what your life would be like if you took time out of your daily schedule seven times a day to praise God? I think we would see a HUGE change in our daily life. Now I'm not talking about spending an hour worshipping God each time. What I am talking about is as simple as just saying "God, I love You, I adore You, You are my everything!" This would take just a few seconds, but imagine how your daily life would change if you did this seven times a day, every day! Now I don't think we need to get legalistic about this where you come down on yourself if you miss a day, or do it 5 times a day instead of 7. I think what is important is that we make a point to acknowledge God several times throughout our day by praising Him...and that we do it on a consistent basis. 

Take Away: make a point, set a reminder on your phone, do whatever it takes to praise God several times a day, each day...and watch how your daily life changes! As you develop the habit, you will no longer need reminders...it will come naturally!

The Potter and the Clay

“Yet, LORD, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the product of your labor.”

Isaiah 64:8 NET

We have all heard it before, God is the potter and we are the clay. Yes, if we allow God to mold us and make us into what He wants us to be, then He can continue to work through us. But how many of us stick around long enough after He molds us? I'm sure some of you are like me that when we get our "marching orders" we take off, we don't look back, we just start running...and then when things don't work out, we say "what happened, God? You molded me to do this, why isn't it working out? You told me to start this ministry, or you told me that I was going to do this, why didn't it happen?" What we, myself included, failed to do was to stay in His hands. When a potter molds a cup, the cup is only useful when the potter holds it. Same with us and God, we are only useful when we stay in His hands. But noooo, we think we know all about what we are to do, who needs God, I know how to do this...and off we are running. When we realize what God wants to do in our lives and what He is molding us into, we need to stay in His hands and not run. We can't do anything on our own, we absolutely need Him to accomplish through us what He is molding us to do!

Take Away: if you have been running and not including God, it is never too late. Run back to Him and stay in His hands as He works through you!

Day by Day

“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you.”

Genesis 12:1 NET

I am a planner. When I have something to do, I need to know exactly what it is I need to do, by how much time I need to do it in, what I need to do it with, what tools do I need to accomplish the task, when I need to start, etc...I need to know every detail I need to accomplish the task at hand. I find it rather interesting that when God tells me to do something, I will ask those same questions, but I will not get an answer. In fact, I get silence from Him. Why? Because if I knew everything I needed to know at one time, I would no longer be lead by God, but lead by my own plan. From todays scripture it is clear that God wanted to lead Abram and have Abram's dependence on God. What was true then is true for us today. God wants to lead us and He wants us to depend on Him. I've noticed that when I allow myself to be lead by God from day to day, my day usually works out very well, the tasks get accomplished and I am able to walk in peace. However when I try to plan out EVERYTHING and set deadlines, anxiety starts to build when things don't go according to MY plan, I start getting upset at those that hinder MY plan...and, well, you get the picture. We need to chill out and be lead by God from day to day, and if there is something we need to know, then like He said to Abram, He will show us!

Take Away: Instead of planning everything...allow yourself to be lead by God from day to day. Make this statement of faith..."God, I will no longer plan every detail, but I will listen to You from day to day, and I know that You will show me what I need to know and do when I need to know and do it.

Big Plans, Big God

“Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the LORD is finished correctly.”

1 Chronicles 28:20 NLT

King David was talking to Solomon as they were getting ready to build the Temple of the Lord. Now what I am about to say is a Kent-ism (meaning my personal view of the situation), I can only imagine that Solomon was feeling a bit overwhelmed, perhaps to the point of thinking he couldn't do it because it was a huge project, or perhaps he didn't have the skills, and thats why David had to encourage him. But for whatever the reason David spoke this, he spoke it to encourage not only Solomon, but all of us. God is a big God, and sometimes He will put huge plans in us. Then when we start thinking about the plan, we sometimes overthink it and we start thinking about how we can't do it. We come up with all the reasons, such as "I'm too old" or "I don't have enough money" or "I'm too weak" or "I don't have the skills." Here is a big news flash...God didn't put the plan in you just so you could wimp out, He put it in you because He is going to supply whatever you need to accomplish the plan, all you have to say is "Yes God." If there is something He needs you to do, then you do it, and if the job seems overwhelming, remember He will give you what you need when you need it.

Take Away: when God puts a plan in you, make it a habit of saying, "yes, God, yes!" And when He tells you to do something, don't ask why, just do!

Who Do You Run To?

“So when the Aramean chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat in his royal robes, they went after him. “There is the king of Israel!” they shouted. But Jehoshaphat called out, and the LORD saved him. God helped him by turning the attackers away from him.”

2 Chronicles 18:31 NLT

I find it interesting that when King Jehoshaphat saw the attack coming, his first instinct was to cry out to God. He didn't say to his army "attack," he didn't get scared and turn and run, he didn't surrender to the attacker, nor did he wonder what he was going to do. He called on God for help! What is your first instinct when trouble comes your way, what is the first thing you do when you are faced with a problem? For many years my first instinct was to go to my friends for advice or I would try to figure it out myself, and then if none of that work, THEN I would call on God. I learned over the years that didn't always work out for me all the time, and if I am being truely honest, it didn't work most of the time. I started realizing that God wants me to come to Him at the first sign of trouble. He wants to be the One to be there for me, He wants to be my problem-solver. When I started going to Him first, I got answers, I got solutions, and really, who better to give you the solutions to the problem than the Creator?! I'm not telling you to stop going to your friends, what I am saying is that we need to go to God first!

Take Away: the next time you are faced with a problem or dilema, instead of running to your friends, or even running away, stop what you are doing and cry out to God for help, and then watch and listen!

The "I Wills" of David

The "I Wills" of David - Psal 101:1-7

Over the past several days I have been going over Psalm 101, or what I like to call the "I Wills" of David. These are confessions that King David made. I could be presumptuos in saying that King David spoke these every day when he woke in the morning, but I would probably not be too far off from it. These are GREAT confessions that we can speak daily, out loud, when we wake in the mornings. They confess how we are going to live our lives. Now you may not feel like your living what you are confessing, but as you continue to speak these each day, you will find that your belief system is slowly being renewed to what God had intended in the first place. There are many studies that say if you do something for a minimum of 21 days, it becomes a habit. Well, I don't know about that, but I do know that if you consistently do something day after day after day, it will become a habit. The key word is CONSISTENT. If you are wanting to change your life, your thoughts, your words that come out of your mouth, they way you view things to become more of what God had intended, then this is a good place to start. I challenge each of you to print these verses out (see below) and read these "I Wills" of David each day when you wake up for 30 days. If you do, you will beging to see changes in your thinking. 

I will sing of your love and justice, LORD. 

I will praise you with songs. 

I will be careful to live a blameless life— when will you come to help me? 

I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. 

I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them. 

I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil. 

I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors. 

I will not endure conceit and pride. 

I will search for faithful people to be my companions. Only those who are above reproach will be allowed to serve me. 

I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence.”

Psalms 101:1-7 NLT

Best Friends

“I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence.”

Psalms 101:7 NLT

Today, my best friend is getting married. Why, you ask, am I writing this in a devotional blog? Well, I'm gonna tell you, and yes, today's scripture applies to this. I got to know Dan back in 2009 when he rented a room from me in my house. Of course, you really never know who you are going to get when you rent a room to a stranger, but Dan was no stranger to my friend, and I got know that if my friends thought he was a good guy, then he must be a good guy. Dan, was not only a good guy, he was a man of integrity, a man true to his word, a man who was not afraid of confronting me when I needed it and vice versa...and in no way was he ever a deceiver or liar. Because of those traits he and I grew as best friends. When you have people around you who walk in integrity, who are not habitual liars, who don't go around looking who they can deceive, but who have your best interest in mind, that's when you can say, yes God, you brought this person into my life. We, as Christians, need to be picky about who we spend our time with. We need to have people around us who walk in integrity, who are after God's heart, who want the best for us, who will confront us when we need confronting and who are not afraid to do so. I can say with surety that God brought Dan into my life as a man who sharpens me. I pray the very best for my best friend and his future wife!

Take Away: Be picky in choosing those who you are around. If that means you will be lonely for a season, God will sustain you and He will be the One who brings that special friend into your life!

We Need Each Other

“I will search for faithful people to be my companions. Only those who are above reproach will be allowed to serve me.”

Psalms 101:6 NLT

As our society falls further and further away from biblical principals, it is becoming more and and more important to get Godly people in our lives. We need people who will be in our face when we are doing things wrong...AND we need to be in their face when they do things wrong. Its really a 2-way street, but God intended for that to happen. We need each other! There is no place in scripture where God says it is better to be alone, with no one around us. However there are many scriptures that talk about us having people around us. Jesus was the perfect example, He had 12 people close to Him. The apostle Paul encouraged us to be around each other. It is very clear that we need each other to grow and to help grow others. Yes, it is sometimes difficult to get close to someone or find someone who is faithful, especially after you have been hurt by others in the past. Don't let that stop you! Keep searching for faithful people to be around. I used to be one of those that got hurt by others to the point where I was alone, but on the inside I was crying out to God to bring someone around me. At that point I was my own worse enemy because when He would bring someone to me, I would put the walls up and not allow that person to get close. Eventually they walked away. Finally I took the risk and it paid off. Yes, you still may get hurt, but you need to take the risk to get Godly people around you. Ask God, He will do it!

Take Away...search for Godly people to be around. Allow them to speak into your life and also don't be afraid to speak into their life. If you are lonely and have been hurt in the past, put down the walls, take the risk and ask God to bring His people into your life.

Stand Up For Your Friends

“I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors. I will not endure conceit and pride.”

Psalms 101:5 NLT

It is so easy to just sit by and watch evil be done. We see people talking badly about another person, we see people treat people badly, but our western culture has now said "I don't want to get involved" or "its none of my business." We can make up so many excuses as to why we won't stand up for what is right. How many times has someone you know talked badly about a friend of yours and you just stood there and said nothing? I used to do it. And my reason, "well what if they start talking bad about me?" I finally realized that if they are talking bad about a friend of mine to me, they are most likely talking bad about me to someone else. And even if that is not true, just the fact that they are slandering a friend of yours is enough to stand up and say, "you know, that might be true, but let me tell you what is good about this person!" When I started doing that, the other person shut up! Now they may not always shut up. They may continue to talk bad about your friend, and if that is the case, then either change the subject or walk away. Its about time we start standing up for each other, especially our friends and neighbors. Scripture says we are to think the best of each other, so lets do it and stop tolerating people who berate another!

Take Away: whenever someone you know starts talking bad about someone, be the one who stops the slander and talk about whats good about the other person. 

Rejecting and Staying Away

“I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil.”

Psalms 101:4 NLT

There's a saying that goes "if you play with fire, you're going to get burned." What that means in connection with today's scripture is just playing with a little bit of evil will harm you, and King David knew this. He knew that when he even considered playing with evil, it was too tempting and, if carried out, would cause him to mess up. We, as Christians, have got to be careful of everything we think of and everything we do. That means we've got to make some tough choices. We've got to first make the decision that when a bad idea comes along in our brains, we've got to confront that idea and line it up with the word of God. It means that if one of our friends says lets do this or lets do that...and you know it is wrong, you plant your feet and say "no, I'm not going to do that." The enemy has very subtly crept into our society where he has made just about everything seem ok to do. Nancy Reagan, President Reagan's wife back in the 1980s, had a saying, "just say no!" That's what we need to say whenever we are confronted with doing evil...just say no!

Take Away: when you have a choice to do something that you know is wrong, or when a bad idea enters your mind....just say no, I will reject perverse ideas and I will stay away from every evil!

Images

“I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar...”

Psalms 101:3a NLT

We need to be careful of what we are looking at, and King David knew this. He knew what the human mind does with images that we see. It all happens very subtly, but it happens to ALL of us. First we see an image, whether in a magazine, newspaper, tv, facebook, etc. We can't help seeing images, good and bad, through our day. But it is what we do with those images in the next few seconds following that will decide on what happens in our brain. If we quickly turn away or if we quickly shut down any thoughts pertaining to those images, then it becomes harmless and we go on our way. However, if we continue to look and not shut down the image...not turn the page or not scroll down on facebook, then that will start producing thoughts in our minds, which emerge when we lay down to go to sleep, in our daydreaming, etc. As thoughts continue to grow, eventually we start thinking on what we can do to make those thoughts reality. If we continue to think on how to make it happen, it will eventually happen...and thus sin occurs. We need to be careful what we look at, or should I say, what we continue to look at.  We need to walk in integrity which includes deciding on what we are going to look at, and what we are not going to look at.

Take Away: whenever a unGodly image gets in your sight, shut it down  and say "I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar!"

Looking At Your Routine

“I will be careful to live a blameless life— when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home.”

Psalms 101:2 NLT

I probably speak for most of us when I say that we all, from day to day, just kind of roll with the flow. We go through each day, knowing that we will wake up, go to work, do our job, come home, do our normal routine after work, then go to bed. Through all of this, do we ever make an effort to do something purposely? I challenge each of us, myself included, to go through today, taking special note on how we do our "routine." Are we being careful to live a blameless life...and are we making a purpose to lead a life of integrity in our homes...AND I will add outside the homes (but this is another Coffee In the Cave at a future date), or are we doing things in our normal routine just because thats how we have always done them without giving regard to whether we have integrity in doing whatever it is that we are doing? If you find that you are not being careful living blameless life, make changes to do so. If you find that you are not leading a life of integrity in your home, make changes to do so. One way to start is to write this scripture down and put it "on the doorsposts" of your home, or somewhere where you will see it multiple times a day. When you see it, stop and speak it out loud. As you do this, your attention will be given more to the things that are out of line with scripture.

Take Away: make a purpose today to start looking at your daily life and see if you are being careful on how you live your life and see if you are leading a life of integrity in your home. If you are not, then start making the changes.

First Praise

“I will sing of your love and justice, LORD. I will praise you with songs.”

Psalms 101:1 NLT

Psalm 101 is a psalm of confession, or what I call the "I Wills of David." Throughout this Psalm David is speaking a confession of what he will do. I find it very interesting that the very first thing he wrote in his "I wills" is that he is going to praise the Lord. We need to take note of this because King David was a man after God's own heart and he had his priorities right. He knew the most important thing above anything else, above asking God for help, above asking God for advice, the very first thing he knew to do was to acknowledge that God is God, the Creator, the Almighty. He did this by praising God. David was a musician and so his way of praising God was with music. You say, "well Kent, I can't sing or I don't know what to say to praise God." My answer to that is open your mouth and "make a joyful noise!" God doesn't care if you are in key or not, He doesn't care if you sing a melody line that doesn't make sense. God loves you and any noise of praise that comes from your mouth, He is going to LOVE!  And if you don't know what to say, there is one thing that you DO know what to say..."thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for me and rising again. Thank you Jesus for saving my life. Jesus, if you never did anything else, your death on the cross was enough!" 

Take Away: when you wake up in the morning, start singing your praises to God. Before you ask Him for anything, sing a praise to God.

Doorposts and Mirrors

“Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,”

Deuteronomy 11:20 NLT

Many years ago if you had asked me to say a Bible verse without looking at the Bible, I could not. And as I think back about why I couldn't, I realize that its because I never used any scripture to guide my life. Since my "wilderness walk" I learned that scripture is there as a guide for our lives, but the only way to use it is to do it, and the only way to do it is to know it and apply it to our lives. This scripture is one of those "benchmark" scriptures in my life because it taught me how to use it. In fact if you read the verses preceeding it, Moses is talking about how we need to meditate on God's word day and night and how we are to teach it to our children. In this verse, we are given clear instruction to write His word on the doorposts of our house and gates. Well, at the time I didn't have a gate or a house that was mine, but what I did have was a mirror in my bathroom. The doorpost was something you would pass several times a day, well so was my bathroom. So when I was struggling with a problem, I would find a scripture that dealt with that problem, then I would write it out and tape it to my bathroom mirror. Then every time I would walk by that mirror, I would stop and read it. After a couple weeks, I realized that I no longer had to look at the scripture because I knew it. I had read it so many times that it got engrained in my mind and I was able to apply it to my problem.

Take Away: if you are struggling with a problem, find the scripture that deals with that problem, then write it down on a piece of paper and put it some place where you will see it multiple times a day. Then every time you pass by it, stop, and read it out loud.