Category: Daily Devotional

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3 [13] Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

Observation: I know I was gifted to serve and I do, but not all of the time I’m called. I pick and choose my service instead of just going with God’s leading. Every time I serve I get blessed and then God blesses all that I do. You would think I would go out of my way to find ways to serve since that is my greatest joy.

Application: I need to overcome my laziness and selfish nature. Satan whispers in my ear and gives me excuses along with my own not to serve. I get to serve this Sunday at the Harvestfest. Teri and I are in charge of the food and we get to be the first impression some might see at church. I know God will bless it and then continue to find others ways to serve

Prayer: Help me Lord be the servant you call me to be. You have given me gifts and strength to do so many things that can help others, so please use me to glorify you. May I serve as your Son did Father and please you as He pleased you.

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2 [4] who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.:

Observation: I really want to do what God desires and I do want to please Him. He has given me one command to spread the gospel, because He doesn’t want anyone to perish. So why am I not doing that? I went last Saturday to help clean the beach and to evangelize. I brought my books and only passed two out and that was to two Christians. Satan makes this more difficult playing with our minds. After all this is what God wants more than anything from us, so why wouldn’t His enemy try to prevent it from happening.

Application: Knowing it is Satan trying to stop me from doing God’s will I need to try even harder. I’m here to honor God and He will protect me, but He wants me to do this for His glory. I need to put forth a better effort in reaching the lost for Jesus and honoring the Father. Out of all my to do list each day this should be on the top and not an item if I have time.

Prayer: Dear Lord I’m weak and scared so much of the time. Give me courage and wisdom to speak to others so they would know you. You’ve given me a unique testimony and talents, may they be used to glorify you.

Scripture: 1 Timothy 1 [5] The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.:

Observation: I do try to love others And Jesus commands, but I have a very difficult time doing it. This scripture sheds some light on why I do. I don’t have a pure heart even though it is purer after Jesus came into my life, I still have problems with my conscience and my faith is less then sincere at times. I know these are things I need to work on and I’ll be working on them till the day I go home to the Lord.

Application: I need to always remember the love my Lord has for me. Even when I was a sinner God loved me and wanted me to draw close to Him. There was nothing about me to love yet God found it in His heart to show me mercy and draw me close to Him. It’s my turn to look at others as God looked at me with a loving heart, no judgments, and a love that can only come from God.

Prayer: Dear Father give me a loving heart and sincere motives to love those you put in my path. Touch my conscience so I know when I stray and not obedient to you. Increase my faith that there will never be a doubt of how much I love you and care for others.

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3 [13] And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

Observation: My problem is I’m tired and make excuses why I don’t need to do anything. There is so much more that I can do but I get so lazy and try to justify it with excuses. I wake up tired and go through each day with so many thoughts on my mind that I tire myself out even more. I know what is right and even yesterday I went with the church to clean up the beach and evangelize. I stayed about 3 hours and went home, but I should have stayed. God places me in situations for a reason and I wonder if I hadn’t left if there was someone He wanted to put in my path.

Application: My day should be full of things to do that are right and honoring to God. I need to be planning to do things like this Sunday we will do a BBQ for the Harvest Fest at church and I should be getting things together to do the Depression Class again this fall. So how much more should I be doing that is right. More than I can imagine. Most of my time should be doing things that honor God and I have a long way to go.

Prayer: My Lord I do want to serve you will all of my heart, but my flesh is always tired or self-centered. Help me accomplish the things of you. Give me the energy and will power to do what is right and that I will never tire of doing good.

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 2:16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,

Observation: My encouragement must not come from the words of others but by my Lord’s grace. There are so many motivational speakers trying to encourage us by this world And hope to get rich, but my hope must lie in the Lord that one day I will be with Him. I continue to hope for things in this world whether security, money or happiness and all of that is futile.

Application: Today I got up and joined some of my church family at the beach to help clean it up. I felt led and I picked up trash and talked to my Lord and even sang, “I Love You Lord” as I went along. I continued to think why I was there and tried to figure it out asking God what He wanted me to do. I grabbed some of the books I wrote and was going to pass them out, but only passed out a couple to people that went to church. I’m not sure I accomplished what I went there for, but at least I obeyed today and did what He asked of me. God is my hope and encouragement and I need to stay focused on that.

Prayer: Dear Lord I thank you for your grace and that I am saved and that you have touched my heart and mind that I don’t think or act the way I use to. Help guide me and give me hope that I will accomplish all that you desire of me and that you would give me strength so that I don’t quit. I love you so much help me run this race that I would please you.

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 1:11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

Observation: I keep thinking I’m doing things by my power and then I realize apart from God I can’t do anything. I don’t know how God can see me worthy, but His mercy goes well beyond what I can understand. I know God has a purpose for me and He has given me so much and I do need His power and guidance to fulfill any purpose He desires of me.

Application: A key factor in this is my faith, which is weak at best. God has proven himself faithful time and time again and I need to trust Him that He will complete this good work He has begun in me. I need to live a life worthy of God I know He knows I’m not perfect, but if I try and put Him first in my life I know that will honor Him.

Prayer: Dear Lord help me be the man you desire. I want to live a life worthy of You and I need your guidance and direction each day. Open doors for me to share what you have done in my life to bring others closer to you.

Scripture: 1Thessolonians 5 [14] And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

Observation: I have no problem telling those who are idle to get busy, I’m not even a bad encourager, I enjoy helping others, but when it comes to patience I really miss the mark. I seem to always think the negative about people and then I dwell on it. Even when I’m serving on the line at work it kills me to wait for someone to make up their mind. I hurry them and will even make a sarcastic comment. I have so little patience even when it comes to my wife, whom I love more than anyone my patience always runs thin and I may say something that will hurt her feelings.

Application: I need to work on being patient and be aware of all the times when I’m not. I need to realize things don’t have to be done instantly and think of some of the instances God has made me wait and how it always turned out for the best. If God wasn’t patient with me I would be burning in hell instead of writing this journal.

Prayer: Dear Lord I’m afraid to ask for patience, because I feel I know what you will do to give me some. Help me not be in such a hurry for everything and give me that loving heart of your Son that I may wait patiently for others and help them wherever I can.