Tag: Devotionals

From Bob Goff’s “Live In Grace, Walk In Love: A 365-Day Journey”

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 18:2-3).

If you had asked me what I was aiming for when I was in high school, I would have said I wanted to get out of high school. If you asked me the same question after law school, I probably would’ve said something vague like, “to make a difference in the world.” I wanted to get a job at a good law firm and gain the experience I needed to help people. It hadn’t occurred to me to aim for a life where I could have an office on Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland and be a part of a movement that builds schools for students in Uganda, helps refugees in Iraq, and teaches little girls in Afghanistan how to read when the religious leaders say they can’t go to school. I wasn’t aiming for these things when I was younger because I hadn’t imagined them yet, and we can’t long for something we can’t already see in our minds.

I think this is one of the reasons Jesus tells us to have faith like children. Kids have wildly creative imaginations. If you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, they’ll say they want to be Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia or Spiderman so they can rescue people in danger. They plan to live in castles and have superpowers. They aim to be helpers and healers and kind. Kids dream big because the world hasn’t put their imaginations in check yet.

So why did we let the world stifle ours? Sure, we run into the reality of having to pay bills and make it to work on time, but there are endless invitations to join in a life of whimsy if we’ll open our eyeds.

God is not limited by the rules we make up, and He doesn’t want us to be either. Whatever you’re aiming for, God’s better.

What are you aiming for?

From Bob Goff’s “Live In Grace, Walk In Love: A 365-Day Journey”

“As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,” (Colossians 3:12).

Most people don’t know this about me, but I carry a slingshot and a compass with me everywhere I go. They remind me of fun and adventure and also teach a couple of lessons.

When I travel to conferences to speak to a new group of friends, I’ve got my slingshot. We shoot salt water taffy at each other there. When I go to Iraq to check up on our school and find ways to support refugees in the region, I take the compass with me and we guess where north is. I get a couple of leaders together and instead of talking policy, we knock over a few cans together. I’ve learned it’s heard not to become friends with someone you have some fun with. Try it sometime.

When I first set out to learn how to love people more, I wouldn’t have thought just to play with them more. But that’s how love works. We set our hearts on building relationships with people, and then we find a way to live into it. We won’t figure it out through reading a book. There’s no way to chart it out. With a compass in hand, we figure out where true north is and keep heading for that. God doesn’t give us a blueprint. He just tells us to be humble and connect with people who might not have been our first choice.

No map will take us where God wants to lead us, because He created each of us for a different purpose. He made you the way you are so you could bring your flavor of love and creativity to the world, and your expression of love will look a little different than mine. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a great thing.

Put on kindness and humility and let love lead the way. You won’t be disappointed with where it takes you. And wherever you go, bring a slingshot and a compass.

From Billy Graham’s Daily Devotion Archive

“. . . I was hungry, [and] you gave me food…” (Matthew 25:35 NEB).

During the war a church in Strasburg, Germany, was totally destroyed; but a statue of Christ which stood by the altar was almost unharmed. Only the hands of the statue were missing. When the church was rebuilt, a famous sculptor offered to make new hands; but, after considering the matter, the members decided to let it stand as it was—without hands. “For,” they said, “Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work on earth. If we don’t feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, entertain the stranger, visit the imprisoned, and clothe the naked, who will?” Christ is depending on us to do the very things which He did while upon earth. My friend, if the gospel we preach does not have a social application, if it will not work effectively in the work-a-day world, then it is not the Gospel of Christ.

Prayer for the day: I look at my hands, Lord Jesus, and ask You to use them this day. Make me conscious of the needs of those who hurt.