Daily Devotional

Scripture: 3 John 11: 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

Observation: I try to imitate good all the times, but I fall so short a most of the time. I know what I want to do, but my thoughts and judgment lead me to do what is wrong. The word tells me to imitate good as if it’s a deliberate action, but lately my default is to do what is wrong.

Application: I must make the effort to imitate good, God has but it on my heart so I have no excuse of not knowing what is good and what is evil. Always think of God first and what He desires of me and then do it.

Prayer: Dear Lord put on my heart to do and think what is good and the desire to always do it. Show me this day what will please you and form me into the vessel that will glorify and honor you.

Scripture: 2 John 1: [8] Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.

Observation: My work is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and to live a life worthy of him that others may see his love through me. It’s so easy to lose that witness, people are watching to see if I slip into the world so they may have an excuse not to believe. It is so easy for me to slip, my thoughts are still of this world at times and I still have a selfish nature.

Application: I need to depend on God to keep me strong. I have no strength in myself but need to be dependent on God’s grace to keep me. Each day I must be in prayer and in study to assure that I know what to do.

Prayer: Dear Father take charge of your servant’s thoughts and actions. Use me to honor you and to touch the lives of others in your name.

Scripture: 1 John 5:[3] This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

Observation: I don’t seem to be very good at obeying commands of God lately. He calls me to be patient, loving, caring and trusting, I don’t think a day has gone by lately that I can say I obeyed even one of those. So does this mean I don’t love God, it breaks my heart to think that way, but I know I don’t love him the way I’m supposed to because I’m not obedient.

Application: Remember love is not just a feeling but a commitment, a deliberate action. I need to be obedient to my Father, he deserves it and without it I can’t show my true love for him. This life is not about me, it’s about God and he deserves my very best, not my leftovers.

Prayer: Dear Father you are worthy of all my love, praise and obedience. Forgive me for giving you anything less.

Scripture: 1 John 4: [20] If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

Observation: This scripture really hit my heart today. I have been harboring very ill feeling towards my brother and sister-in-law. They are treating my wife poorly and they don’t care and because of the way they handled Teri’s father trust it looks we will lose our house. I have been consumed with hate for both of them for some time and have a hard time thinking of anything else. I know this hurts God yet I don’t stop.

Application: I need to do what God did for me, forgive and forget. Allow God to work and put it in his hands, that HIs will be done. Pray for them more often and don’t think of them in any other way but in love.

Prayer: Dear Father I can’t do this is my power, it will take the filling of the Holy Spirit and your love to accomplish loving those I don’t. May my focus be on you and what you’ve done in my life and how you love me. You deserve the best from me so please help and guide me through this.

Scripture: 1 John 3: [18] Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Observation: That’s me all mouth at times. I talk a good game but when it comes to putting my faith into action I fall short. It’s so much easier to have pity on someone than to actually help them. I value my own comfort to highly to jeopardize it for someone else. How sad this must make God, since I only have what I have because of him and he only asks me to share what he has given me.

Application: To realize whatever I have is a gift from God and the reason He gave it to me is to give it to someone else. He asks me to test him in my giving and trust in him that he will always take care of me, as he has done. Go beyond my comfort zone and give from the spirit he has given me, to make a difference in someone else’s life.

Prayer: Dear Lord take this selfishness away from me and give me a giving heart. May your love show through by what I give and do for others. You are worthy of all my love, praise and obedience.

Scripture: 1 John 2: [17] The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Observation: I do not want the world and desires to mean anything to me. Unfortunately I think more about them then I do of God most of the time. My heart’s desire is to do the will of the Father, but my everyday thoughts are so grounded in what is around me instead of what is in me.

Application: If I’m going to do the will of the Father that must be in the forefront of every thought. I need to be living for eternity and not just for now. I need to look at my surroundings and know they are going to pass away and are only temporary. I need to live for God and God only now.

Prayer: Dear Father open my eyes to your desires, make them mine. Give me the heart of Jesus and show me each day how to do your will. I know I will live with you for all eternity, may I start now.

Scripture: 1 John 1: [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Observation: There is always a condition to God’s blessing and this one is that we need to walk in the light. Make a decision we will do what is right, as Jesus does we are purified from our sins and I know in my case that takes a lot of purification. The other part of the verse is that we will have fellowship with each other and since I’ve been saved a desire that, where before I wanted to be left alone to my own devices.

Application: I need to make a decision to walk in the light of Christ. I know when I’m in the light and out of it God makes a definite distinction and it’s a decision I must make. Spend more time with my brothers and sisters in Christ helping them and being part of their ministries.

Prayer: Dear Lord guide me each day in the path you have chosen for me and make it clear to your servant the direction you want me to go. May I fulfill the purpose you have created me for in glory and honor to your name.