Weekday Devotionals
Devotional by Pastor Eric
Verse: When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills,[a] the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. Deuteronomy 1:6-7 NLT
(Warning: If you read the first official sentence of this devotional you will be reading a very obvious statement. You will probably feel like you have wasted time, but I have already spent 2 sentences preparing you for it, so I suppose you've come this far why not keep going...you have been warned!)
I prefer good days to bad days.
Wow. Mind. Blown.
I know it's super obvious to say this, but the reality is if I could choose to stay in my best days forever, I probably would. The days where I feel like I am "on", days when I had a major victory or just an amazing day. Yes, these are the moments I could drive a stake in the ground and plant myself, staying in the moment forever.
Here is the problem, I would be in the middle of planting myself in 'Perfectionville' and I would hit my thumb with a hammer while putting my stake in the ground there. I would then jump back in pain and bump my head on a tree, fall to the ground and someone would see the whole thing, start laughing and next thing I know they would be adding insult to my injury. Just like that 'Perfectionville' is now 'Grumpyville' and I am outta here!
Life happens! The best days when we are on top of the world, living our most faithful Jesus life all of a sudden crossroads with the reality of the broken world we live in. The harsh truth is I cannot stay in the mountaintop moments, because we live in a fallen world and we are broken people. Bad days are just going to happen no matter who you are.
Ok, you might be saying: 'thanks, now I'm depressed!'
Don't be! In our toughest days when the world has turned against us and our own dog runs away and hides from us, even on those days God is in the middle of our lives calling us deeper into who He is! If every day was perfect we would NEVER appreciate them, and we would grow lazy and apathetic to a world in desperate need of hope and help.
Right now, God is on the move in America and within His Church in a powerful way. He is calling you and I to step out of 'Perfectionville' and Go into the darkest nights and toughest days and be the light and peace He longs to give everyone. The children of Israel had been in the middle of some high days at Sinai as they had been there with the very presence of God in their midst. But, now it was time to Go!
Maybe they had grown comfortable with their new surroundings in the desert but God was calling them to the Promised land. The story of their deliverance was only half written. It was time to move on from the mountain top experiences and get back to the journey of pursuing God on their way to the fulfillment of His promise.
It would have been amazing to just stay on the mountain in the presence of God, but the road ahead was beckoning them to Go and encounter God in ways they never could have if they stayed. The time in Sinai was needed, but the only way to get to their true destination and experience all God had for their lives was to step out and start walking.
For you and I, we can grow very comfortable very quickly if we are not careful. Remember the super obvious opener: we prefer good days to bad days. New surroundings, new beginnings, new obstacles, new challenges, new, new, new...no thanks, I want the old! I want to stay in 'Perfectionville' please just one more day, and then maybe I will venture out into something new...maybe. Then we blink and another year passes while we are still in the same place, doing the same thing and the pathway leading to our destiny grows colder and colder.
God is stirring in hearts right now to step out and Go! It doesn't mean your location has to necessarily change, maybe your heart needs to change toward someone or something. Maybe it's time to stop focusing so much on yourself that you grow apathetic to those around you. Maybe it means your silence and comfortable ignorance is no longer an excuse for not telling some person or family about Jesus. See our mountains are all different. We all grow comfortable differently and it means something different to each one. I'll be the first to admit the views from the mountaintops are beautiful and majestic, but the roads getting down can be treacherous and flat out terrifying, so I'd rather stay put. But the road calls to me and says to press on. I believe the loudest sound is the shortest of words: Go!
It makes me think of the words of Jesus in the Great Commission:
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:18-19, NLT
It's right there: Go! I love the good days so much, but if the road ahead leads me through treacherous times and lonely nights, yet I get a deeper understanding and more intimate moments with my Savior then lead on! It's time to Go.
What has God been calling you to move on from? Where can you see in your life you have grown comfortable? What will your answer be to His call? Will you Go?
I gotta Go, but I love you all,
E
Verse: When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills,[a] the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. Deuteronomy 1:6-7 NLT
(Warning: If you read the first official sentence of this devotional you will be reading a very obvious statement. You will probably feel like you have wasted time, but I have already spent 2 sentences preparing you for it, so I suppose you've come this far why not keep going...you have been warned!)
I prefer good days to bad days.
Wow. Mind. Blown.
I know it's super obvious to say this, but the reality is if I could choose to stay in my best days forever, I probably would. The days where I feel like I am "on", days when I had a major victory or just an amazing day. Yes, these are the moments I could drive a stake in the ground and plant myself, staying in the moment forever.
Here is the problem, I would be in the middle of planting myself in 'Perfectionville' and I would hit my thumb with a hammer while putting my stake in the ground there. I would then jump back in pain and bump my head on a tree, fall to the ground and someone would see the whole thing, start laughing and next thing I know they would be adding insult to my injury. Just like that 'Perfectionville' is now 'Grumpyville' and I am outta here!
Life happens! The best days when we are on top of the world, living our most faithful Jesus life all of a sudden crossroads with the reality of the broken world we live in. The harsh truth is I cannot stay in the mountaintop moments, because we live in a fallen world and we are broken people. Bad days are just going to happen no matter who you are.
Ok, you might be saying: 'thanks, now I'm depressed!'
Don't be! In our toughest days when the world has turned against us and our own dog runs away and hides from us, even on those days God is in the middle of our lives calling us deeper into who He is! If every day was perfect we would NEVER appreciate them, and we would grow lazy and apathetic to a world in desperate need of hope and help.
Right now, God is on the move in America and within His Church in a powerful way. He is calling you and I to step out of 'Perfectionville' and Go into the darkest nights and toughest days and be the light and peace He longs to give everyone. The children of Israel had been in the middle of some high days at Sinai as they had been there with the very presence of God in their midst. But, now it was time to Go!
Maybe they had grown comfortable with their new surroundings in the desert but God was calling them to the Promised land. The story of their deliverance was only half written. It was time to move on from the mountain top experiences and get back to the journey of pursuing God on their way to the fulfillment of His promise.
It would have been amazing to just stay on the mountain in the presence of God, but the road ahead was beckoning them to Go and encounter God in ways they never could have if they stayed. The time in Sinai was needed, but the only way to get to their true destination and experience all God had for their lives was to step out and start walking.
For you and I, we can grow very comfortable very quickly if we are not careful. Remember the super obvious opener: we prefer good days to bad days. New surroundings, new beginnings, new obstacles, new challenges, new, new, new...no thanks, I want the old! I want to stay in 'Perfectionville' please just one more day, and then maybe I will venture out into something new...maybe. Then we blink and another year passes while we are still in the same place, doing the same thing and the pathway leading to our destiny grows colder and colder.
God is stirring in hearts right now to step out and Go! It doesn't mean your location has to necessarily change, maybe your heart needs to change toward someone or something. Maybe it's time to stop focusing so much on yourself that you grow apathetic to those around you. Maybe it means your silence and comfortable ignorance is no longer an excuse for not telling some person or family about Jesus. See our mountains are all different. We all grow comfortable differently and it means something different to each one. I'll be the first to admit the views from the mountaintops are beautiful and majestic, but the roads getting down can be treacherous and flat out terrifying, so I'd rather stay put. But the road calls to me and says to press on. I believe the loudest sound is the shortest of words: Go!
It makes me think of the words of Jesus in the Great Commission:
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:18-19, NLT
It's right there: Go! I love the good days so much, but if the road ahead leads me through treacherous times and lonely nights, yet I get a deeper understanding and more intimate moments with my Savior then lead on! It's time to Go.
What has God been calling you to move on from? Where can you see in your life you have grown comfortable? What will your answer be to His call? Will you Go?
I gotta Go, but I love you all,
E
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