Wednesday Morning Devotional

But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself.  – Ezekiel 33:9

This has been a rough week.  I’ve watched many people that I’ve had conversations with about God enter prison and some have even entered eternity.  I’ve also had conversations with people whose lives have been transformed dramatically by the Lord.  I realize I’m focusing more on the negative than the positive, but the fact remains . . . one out of one will experience an appointment with the Lord. 

 It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, face judgment.  (Hebrews 9:27)  

As I was falling more and more into despair and doing the whole “Am I really making a difference?” thing, I got a pretty sweet “rude awakening.”  I was reminded of when I was a kid in school.  We had a music teacher who would allow us on Fridays to bring our own music and play it for the whole class.  At the time, I couldn’t wait for it to be my turn.  I was going to introduce the class to “Rock and Roll All Night, and Party Every Day” by the hottest band in the world!  I’d sit there and make fun and laugh at pretty much any other music that wasn’t what I liked.

Well, this one girl would bring in Christian music.  She would attempt at her young age to honor the Lord and play something that would bring His message.  Of course, I’d make fun of it and make sure she knew “it sucked!”  I’d learn over the course of time that she was going through stuff that no kid should ever have to go through.  Looking back, I’d bet that music was some of the only stuff that brought her true comfort . . . and she was just a kid.  

When I’m talking to someone about the Lord today, I’m not going to worry so much about the response that they give to me.  They can laugh at me, or they can ignore me . . . I’m not responsible for the results.  I imagine those Christian cassettes being played all those years ago planted something in my heart that ultimately caught on . . . and I’m eternally grateful for it.

Lord, at the end of the day . . . I can’t save anyone.  I can introduce people to You, who can and does save . . . but I can’t do it.  A person being saved is an absolute miracle.  A person’s spirit, which is completely dead, comes to life!  You did it for me and my spirit still grows today.  Where would I be, Lord?  Thank You for reminding me where I came from!  Thank You for reminding me of what I’d be had You never come into my life!  Help me be able to take the same ridicule the girl took 37 years ago in chorus class from me.  I pray that today You will bless her like crazy.  I pray that just maybe she will read this and know that I sure do appreciate her.  I also pray that Your people will be stirred to tell others about You . . . regardless of the cost.  Amen

This past week, I read/listened to two biographies. Both were fascinating. One was from the lead singer of a rock band I used to love, and the other was from missionary David Brainerd. The reason they impacted me so much is because when I was 16, I thought I wanted to be a rock-n-roll guitarist. Yet, in the same year . . . I got saved.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. — Matthew 7:26

When this lead singer went to his first KISS concert in Canada, he called it “Being baptized by fire into rock-n-roll.” He knew that being a rock star was what he wanted to do with his life. The book was pretty much clean until he stated that line. Afterwards, it is a written account of pure debauchery. Every vile and evil thing that he did was laughingly justified by, “hey, it was the 80’s . . . it was a different time.”

I could not help but think about how my life could have been drastically different. The more concerts he went to, it propelled him further and further into that world. After being saved, the more concerts I went to, I’d feel more and more convicted that I didn’t belong in that world. I always felt God telling me, “This is not what I want for you, Adam.” What if I had gained the entire rock-n-roll world, but lost my soul?

Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. – Matthew 7:24

In stark contrast is the diary that David Brainerd kept in the 1700’s. Here is a man who struggled with knowing God and constantly fought sin and worldliness. So many things he said made me question my own relationship with the Lord and how lightly I too often esteem Him. David only lived 29 years, yet here I am 300 years later reading about him, learning from him, and desiring to hear the same words I’m sure he heard when he entered eternity.

All I can say is that the Lord is unbelievably good. The fact that He would rescue a teenager like He did me is nothing short of a miracle. I’m so thankful for the gospel message. I’m so thankful for forgiveness. I’m so thankful for men who truly gave their lives for Him and still motivate me to keep on keeping on.

Lord, I’m so grateful this morning. I’m also feeling that it just isn’t fair. It’s not fair that You change my life so much for the better . . . yet so many don’t get to experience living for You. Do what You did for me, Lord! Convict the hearts and souls of men and women! Save them! There is no salvation apart from You! Send your conviction and save many of the rock stars now in the twilight of their lives! Answer the prayers I pray when I get the chance to attend the concerts now. Let them know that there is mercy, grace, and forgiveness at the cross. Use them to lead more people to You in a year than people they have led away from You in decades. You are the author of salvation, nothing is too hard for You. There is and never will be another like You, Lord! I love You! Make my life count. Please make my life count.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  – Romans 3:23

You have sinned!  You have done things that have absolutely offended the Creator of the Universe.  No, that is not me judging you, for I fall under the same condemnation.  Suppose every moment of our lives was streamed on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu.  If no details were left out, we’d be mortified because you and I have hidden sins that we’d never want brought to the light.  As soon as Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, they hid themselves from God (Genesis 3:8).  Why?  Because it is an uncomfortable thing to stand before the Lord with sin all over you.

He that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  – John 3:18

All that must be done for you and I to be condemned to hell is nothing.  Just keep living your life the way you want and living by what you feel instead of what the Bible says is true.  Just keep following your heart like the world constantly tells you to do.  But know what the Bible says about the heart:  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). 

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:  While we were sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

God knew that we’d all live a life unworthy of heaven.  He knew it was impossible, so He made a way.  He lived the perfect life that you and I couldn’t live.  When Christ gave His perfect life willingly on the cross, it opened the door for sinners such as you and I to be forgiven.  It made a way for the sin that was leading us to destruction to be reversed.  We were no longer drifting downstream to certain death.  We have been placed on a true and narrow path to which many saints have traveled before us.  It is a sure path to heaven.  It doesn’t seem very sure because, so few men and women travel it.  The crowd still likes the speed of the crowded inter-states.  Jesus makes a simple and clear path that we must walk.  Walk with Him, allow Him to hold your hand along the way, for He will never let go.

All who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved. — Romans 10:13

What in the world are you waiting for?  What in this world is worth waiting for?  What sinful thing in this world is worth going to hell for?  There is nothing that you won’t have to give up for the Lord in this life that you won’t eventually have to give up when you enter into hell.  Everything this world offers is temporary.  God, Jesus, the Lord . . . they are eternal.  They last forever!  The moment we draw our last breath, we will know exactly how we should have lived.  

Call out to Jesus.  Give Him your life.

Lord, I lay down my life.  I’ve made countless decisions that go against You and against the Holy Scriptures.  I call on Your Name . . . the Name of Jesus, who gave His life that I might live.  Wash me and make me alive spiritually.  Give me a love for You and Your Word.  Help me get a firm grasp on the Holy Bible so that it may strengthen me, nourish me, and lead me to do what is right along with the Holy Spirit guiding me.  I don’t want to hold on to You, for I will let go.  Hold on to me, Lord, for You will never let go.  

My prayer is that someone reads this today and makes the best decision they will ever make in this life . . . to follow You, the Living God.  I’m going to print three physical copies of this, Lord, and hand it to three people.  Use it for Your glory!

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;” – Hebrews 12:5

One of the best books I’ve read was Jim Bakker’s “I Was Wrong.”  It chronicles the whole Praise the Lord debacle where he raked in tons of money selling time shares for Heritage Ranch and all that happened with Jessica Hahn.  If you know what I’m talking about, you will love the book.  If you have no clue, then you might want to skip it.  Either way, Jim tells the truth about everything and admits at the end of most of the chapters, “I was wrong.”  But the coolest part is at the very end (spoiler alert) when he writes, “I thought God was done with me because of all that I had done . . . I was wrong.”  I ended up reading the book twice.

Anyway, I tell you this because I was listening to a church service the other day that I could not believe was a church service.  As I listened, the preacher justified the actions of the church by saying, “It’s just all you religious people who have a problem with this.”  Immediately, I was so convicted in my heart.  I have been calling people “religious” who have been critical of me and the way that I live my life for the Lord.  I told the Lord that I was sorry, and I was not about to be about all that anymore.  I thanked Him for how He used “those people” in my life to make me more like Himself.  Just like Jim Bakker, I had to admit . . . I was wrong.

Later, I watched another church service.  I was being crazy critical of the songs and being some version of a grumpy old man saying in my heart, “Back in my day, they could write worship songs with a pure heart.”  Well, at the end of the service, they played one of the songs that meant a lot to me back in my day.  It was like the Lord saying, “You like this better?”

Immediately, I saw my heart for how corrupt it was.  You see, my health hasn’t been the best lately and my time with the Lord has suffered.  When that time suffers, it takes almost no time for your heart, mind, and spirit to start rotting . . . at least that is the case with me.  I saw in my heart how hungry people do not complain about the food when it is offered to them, they simply just enjoy it with a thankful heart.  I asked God to make me hungry once more, because once again . . . I was wrong.

Lord, it is crazy how fast I deteriorate apart from You.  I’m so sorry that I can’t take a little bit of criticism.  I’m so sorry that I still want to fire back.  I’m sorry that I turn around and do the very things I hate being done to me.  I don’t want to be like that anymore.  I just want to please You and know You.  Wash me and cleanse me as only You can.  I’m so thankful that there is always mercy, grace, and forgiveness on Your table.  I devour them freely this morning.  Help me extend the same offering to others.  Amen!

And sware by Him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer.  – Revelation 10:6

God has been doing something amazing for me lately.  Sometimes it happens when I’m preaching at church.  Other times it happens when I’m simply spending time alone with Him.  What happens is I get this incredible sense of being near to the Lord.   Along with that sense, I get this feeling of time standing still.  Time, of course, still marches on, but I become very aware that one day sooner than I realize, I will be with Jesus forever and ever and time will be no more.

Hasten the day when my faith becomes sight! Hasten the day when the cares of this world no longer remove me from the thick, wonderful presence of my Lord.  Over the years, I have gotten better about keeping Him with me throughout my day, but I am more than still a work in progress on this one.  The thing I’ve come to look forward to the most is the feeling of being in His presence and knowing that the feeling will never go away.  There will be no more sin fighting to remove me.  There will be no more deception . . . no more temptation.  Just me and Jesus with nowhere else to be.

As I write and simply soak in His presence, the minutes on the clock are ticking by so fast.  I know that at 6:30 I’ve got to leave so I can be on my bus at 6:40 and leave by 6:43. I know all these times in my head where things need to happen.  I know they don’t have to take me away from my nearness to God, they just do.  I’m not where Brother Laurence and Frank Laubach were when they learned to practice the Presence of God.  Practicing His Presence was and is one of the most influential books to this day on my walk with the Lord.  If keeping God with me like that all the time is possible . . . man, do I want it.   

Lord, I say things like, “I want You more than anything,” yet I waste so much time.  Despite my poor efforts, You still are molding this hunk of clay into something useful.  Help me not fight You, Lord.  Help me to be conformed to Your image and not to the patterns of this world.  Thank You so much for these moments where You are right here with me in the quiet coolness of the morning.  I truly don’t want it to end.  You have become the love of my life.  You are always faithful to me, yet I can’t imagine how many times I’ve turned from You, the eternal God, to give my attention and affection to something temporary.  Here is my heart, my mind, and my life . . . use it this day, Lord.  I look so forward to the day when my faith becomes sight, and the sense of Your presence will never go away.  Until then, mold me and make me after Thy will.  Have Thine own way, Lord.  Amen.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.  – Revelation 21:8

I was driving to Subway after church this past Sunday.  When I was about a mile away, a car flashed its headlights at me . . . I didn’t really think anything of it.  Immediately afterwards, another car flashed its headlights at me . . . I checked my speed and fortunately didn’t need to adjust.  Sure enough, there was the cop on the left side of the road with his radar. 

I told my son, “You know, there is a sermon in what just happened, could you imagine getting caught speeding after having two warnings within a mile?  In the same way, many people know they need Jesus in their lives to go to heaven.  I wonder how many warnings have they rejected?”  

I’m here writing once more with a John the Baptist anointing, “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  You nor I know the day or hour that we have our Hebrews 9:27 appointment with God, but it is coming.  One statistic that has remained steady is that one out of every one person dies.  There is only one way to heaven . . . He who has the Son has life, but he who has not the Son has not life (1 John 5:12).  Sometimes I feel like I’m apologetically writing that Jesus is the only way to heaven.  I know many people hate hearing it.  But the truth is . . . it is not my truth.  This truth was written long before I entered this sin-cursed world that constantly attempts to drag my soul to hell.  

Lord, You do not say to a lost soul about to meet their eternal fate, “Depart from me, you never went to church,” or “Depart from me, you were a bad person.”  You say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”  Left on our own, we will do wicked and vile things.  Everyone needs You to go to heaven.  Everyone needs a new heart that wants to follow Your will.  Everyone needs to be born again to see Your kingdom in all its glory.  Please, Lord, use this little devotional to convict hearts.  Please, Lord, help those convicted hearts cry out to You, “Jesus, save me!  I give my heart, my mind, and my life to You!  Forgive me and cleanse me, for I now place my trust in the work You did for me at the cross.  Cover my sins with Your blood, Lord!  I believe.”  May all who read this devotional hear the words we should all long to hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”  Amen.

Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” – Matthew 22:37

I’ve really been thinking a lot about the first and greatest commandment given by our Lord and Savior.  I’ve realized that sometimes I get out of balance with the three components of loving my Lord.  When I’m out of balance, I’m just not quite right.  Yesterday was a terrible day . . . I’m reflecting on what, if anything, went wrong.  I certainly don’t want to repeat it if I don’t have to.

The first way I’m to love God is with my heart.  I’m sure you guys have seen Rudy.  The coach wished a thousand times over that he could put Rudy’s heart into his other more talented and physically gifted players.  I see that, yesterday, I was really tired and did not put the same amount of heart into my work.  I rushed through my day, the very thing I wrote about two weeks ago.  I want to know at the end of each day that my heart was in my marriage, my work, my family, my parenting, my pursuit of God, and every other component of my life.  I don’t have to be great, but I do have to put my heart into it.

The second way I’m to love God is with my soul.  I used to love the moments when God would just fill my soul with His Holy Spirit.  I know He is always there in the omnipresent sense, but then there are those moments when His presence is manifest.  I used to chase it relentlessly. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled on a choir version of “Take the Name of Jesus with You.”  I don’t know why it happened in that particular moment, but that song caused the glory of God to just fill my soul, and I was flooded with so much love that I could hardly stand it.  I cried for almost an hour in His presence.  When I am weak and weary like I am now, I should worship the Lord with all my soul.  I should rest in His assurance and in His presence.  At every moment in my life, I have the option to flip that switch and focus my mind on Him.  Too often . . . I just don’t.

Last, but not least, I’m to worship the Lord, my God, with all my mind.  For about a month, I was reading “The Heavenly Man” along with my Bible reading.  Brother Yun’s life was like a living illustration for what I was reading in the Bible.  In the midst of horrible beatings and miserable prison conditions, he could focus his mind on the Lord.  As I read about him doing it, I thought “surely I can do it, too . . . in my much better conditions.”  For the most part, I did.  Then the book ended.  Then I didn’t have my reminder from Brother Yun.  Then I feel like my mind just went kind of numb and it was hard to focus on God and the life He seeks to live through me.  

This morning, it is so nice to sit and just write this WMD and feel like I’m simply hanging out with Him again.  I feel Him so near as I’ve done all three components.  My heart is in this writing.  My spirit was filled simply by singing, “Precious Name, O how sweet, Hope of Earth and Joy of Heav’n.”  For about 40 minutes now, my mind has been on God . . . and it is wonderful.

Lord, You don’t tell me to worship You because You are egotistical and demand adoration.  You tell me to worship You because You know it is how I work best.  You tell me so I will be full of joy and full of purpose.    Thank You for this morning.  I don’t know why I spiritually break off into a sprint that absolutely wears me out mentally, physically, and spiritually.  I leave You behind, get exhausted, then when You catch up with me from the enjoyable walk You’ve always taken, You pick me up, and walk with me.  Oh Lord, help me walk with You today.  I came to you this morning weary and burdened.  You offered me the yoke that will allow me to pull at the same pace as You.  The yoke that allows You to do the overwhelming majority of the pulling.  What a fool I am when I take it off and run ahead!  Thank You for being gentle and humble in heart.  Thank You for granting my soul rest.  There is no one like You in all this Earth.  I love You, Lord.  Help me love You this day with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind. Amen.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  — Colossians 3:17

I am about to hit a difficult stretch of work.  After today, there will be 130 days of school down, and 50 to go.  Right when the weather turns nice, it seems to become “get kicked out of school” season, which means we get a lot of students heading our way at the alternative school.  Let me tell you, right now, we have a lot heading our way.

I don’t tell you this to feel sorry for me, I tell you this because it becomes a fight in my spirit and my mind to give it my best.  At this time of the year, I get crazy tired and sleepy.  I get sinus headaches from the changing weather.  I find myself coming home and crashing for an hour or two, then because of that, I end up having trouble sleeping through the night. All this leads to draggy devotions in the morning which lead me to going to work tired and starting the cycle all over again.  I know all this, and I hate it.

So, what do I do?  

First, I say in my mind as much as possible Colossians 3:17 or Colossians 3:23.  Throughout the day, I must bring this to mind.  Just yesterday, I didn’t do wo well . . . I think I’m going to write it on a note card so that this is brought to my mind much more today.

Second, with these verses in mind, I slow down and try to enjoy what I’m doing.  This is the best tactic I’ve ever used.  Too often, I rush through the day.  I watch the clock while looking so forward to ending my workday.  Unfortunately, when I do this, I don’t stop rushing through the rest of the day.  I find that I’m walking back into work just as quickly as I was walking out the day before.  Time seems to have sped up.  

Even at this moment, I feel like I’m cranking out this WMD.  I’m typing at the speed of my thoughts.  As I take a deep breath, the peace of God floods me.  I’m relaxed.  I feel like He is in perfect control and all things really are working for my good.  If I can break my day apart and enjoy each little part and do each part for His glory, I know I’ll come home full of joy and feeling great about having lived this day for the Lord.  I know I’ll come home with peace in my heart and that He will give me perfect rest.

Lord, I want to walk with You today.  I want to enjoy each and every thing that must get done.  When I feel Your presence and know that You are right there with me, everything is such a pleasure.   I’ve spent so much of my life asking for things that I thought would make me enjoy life.  You wound up giving me eternal life so that I might enjoy all things.  I only get to work here for a little while longer.  Help me bring You maximum glory with the time I have left.  Whether it is the words I speak, or the deeds that I do, help me to bring honor to Your Name!  Amen.

But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it.  This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown. – Matthew 13:23

I want to write about one of the many details I experienced last week in Wilmore, Kentucky.  I had been there for over two hours basking in the Lord’s Presence and Him doing all kinds of work in my heart.  But I remember specifically when it all ended for me.  It ended when I looked at my phone for the time.  As soon as I looked, I thought of the drive home and started calculating when I’d get back home.  As I drove home, I thought of the parable of the sower, “the worries of this life make it unfruitful.” (v. 22)

I believe what has happened over these past couple of weeks is simply God plowing the ground and planting seeds.  We won’t know the real result of this revival until we see a period of seed, time, and harvest.  Thousands of young men and women are repenting and allowing God to plant His Word in their hearts.  What gets produced will depend on the type of ground it lands upon.

I have come to believe that this parable is for us to check the honesty of our own hearts.  The first ground is the hard path in which the seed can never begin the process.  The second ground falls on rocky places where there is no depth of soil.  It springs up for a bit but dies when the sun scorches it.  The third ground falls among thorns, which represents the cares of this life which become more important than God.  The last ground is the productive ground, and even it yields different amounts of crops.  Some ground is more productive than other ground.

Which ground represents you?  I doubt any one of us would say that we are the productive ground producing a hundred-fold.  But I do believe we can be honest about where we are with God and He will break up the fallow ground of our hearts and make it more and more productive.  

I want this revival to last and to spread like wildfire.  But more importantly, I want it to grow on good ground.  It is this growth over the next 5-10 years that will produce changes in human hearts that will produce visible changes in our country. 

Pray that the Word, being preached all over this country, will fall on good soil.

Lord, there are four different types of ground.  Those that don’t want to hear it, those that hear it and change for a little while, those that hear it but just can’t move forward because the cares of this life are crushing them, and then there are those who are producing.  I know where I am.  I pray that many, many others will be made aware of where they are, and will repent.  If even a tithe of the people who said they were a Christian was a thirty-fold Christian, this nation would be so different.  In all honesty, the majority of American Christians are made up of the first three soils.  I pray that You are changing that at this very moment.  May we sow righteousness and reap mercy.  Amen.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

About every 5 years or so, I read/listen to the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.  I’m almost finished with The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I don’t know why, but as I listened to it this time, I had such a dislike for Edmund.  He is anantagonist, though the White Witch is the antagonist.  When Lucy gets in Narnia through the wardrobe for the first time and comes back, of course nobody believes that she went.

Edmund eventually gets in, too.  He even meets Lucy there.  When they get back, Lucy says to everyone, “It is real!  Edmund has now been there, too!”  Unfortunately, for Lucy, Edmund makes fun of her and pretends that they were only playing pretend.  

While in Narnia, Edmund manages to fall under the Witch’s control by eating her food, attempts to bring the others to the Witch, and attempts to lead them away from the very ones who can help them and have their best interests in mind.  

As the story was progressing, I found myself despising Edmund.  When he finally realizes what he’s done, he realizes that he belongs to the White Witch.  The witch reminds Aslan that she is entitled to a kill when anyone commits treachery. Aslan negotiates his own life for the life of Edmund.

I don’t know if you’ve ever read the book, but the depiction of Aslan being killed is very moving when one thinks of Christ on the cross and how all that went down.  I found myself crying out of sheer thankfulness because I realize once again . . . I’m Edmund in the story.

I’ve committed treachery.  Yes, I committed sins before I knew there was a Christ who died for those sins.  But the absolute worst part is that I would go on to commit even worse sins after I gave my life to Him.  I would treat my Lord like He was optional.  I would do so many things that I knew the Bible said not to do.  Genesis 4:7 says “(sin) desires to have you,” and it had me.  

What does a person do who realizes this?

Fall at His feet and receive His mercy, His forgiveness, and His grace.

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were sinners, Christ died for us.

Lord, I could never repay You the tiniest fraction of the price You paid.  I sit here so thankful for what You did for me.  Help me spend the rest of my life teaching people about You.  Use me and the talents You have given me to draw people to You.  I do not want to stand before You and accuse You of being a harsh master and using that as an excuse to hide the talents You have given me.  I do not want to be called a wicked and lazy servant.  Thank You for showing me that I’m Edmund.  Bless me this Day, Lord, with power to live my life and shine my light for You.  Amen!