Has your world shattered and left you with no hope for your marriage?  Talk to us.

“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5).

I witnessed a meaningful baptism of a teenager at church where the grandfather stepped into the baptistery with his grandson to baptize him. “It’s a pleasure to baptize my grandson,” the grandfather began. Then speaking directly to his grandson he said, “Jonathan, I’ve known you since you were a little twerp, and I’ve watched you grow into a fine young man.” Then he asked his grandson, “How long do you plan to let Jesus control your life?”

Without hesitation, his grandson replied with a strong voice, “The rest of my life.”

With that the grandfather baptized his grandson. Then putting his arm around his wet grandson, the grandfather prayed, “Lord, help Jonathan to keep his eyes on You. Help him serve You and live with integrity and faithfulness to You. I commit him to You to be a servant of the gospel the rest of his days. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

As the grandfather said amen, I wiped my eyes. I pictured each of my four grandchildren and asked God that they too would want to serve Him the rest of their days and would make a public commitment to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.

The congregation clapped for joy to celebrate a life dedicated to God. And in my mind, I thought I heard applause in heaven as well.

Heavenly Father, may others see my sincere faith and want to obey You. As David prayed for his son Solomon, so I pray my grandchildren and others I love will want to follow You with wholehearted devotion the rest of their lives (1 Chronicles 29:19).

Questions: Who is in control of your life? How do we continue to follow Jesus wholeheartedly?

One of the prerequisites for being a servant of God is to think like a servant. This would be fine if it wasn’t so impossible. We are all naturally wired to think only of ourselves.

Learning to give preference to others is one of the true marks of a Christian because it is so contrary to human nature. That’s why desiring it comes from God, and doing it comes through the Holy Spirit.

Paul said of Timothy: “I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares for your welfare. All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:20-21, NLT).

Hidden in these verses is the secret to making an attitude of servanthood become a part of your thinking. It starts with Jesus. When you fall in love with Jesus, you focus on Him and worship Him. As you do this, you find out about Him—you get to know Him as you would a friend—and soon you come to know what matters to Him, until finally, you start to realize that what matters to Him, matters to you. This is not just a factor of familiarity, either. There is a supernatural element at work here as well. What matters to Jesus connects with the Holy Spirit in you, and the Spirit answers from deep inside you to the call of truth.

Other people mattered deeply to Jesus. He could read their hurt and pain. Scripture says He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Well where did that grief and sorrow come from if it didn’t come from the suffering of people around Him? In other words, He was carrying their grief. He was empathizing with their sorrow. Once a woman touched him in a desperate need to be healed, and He could feel the compassionate power go from Him even though He didn’t see who touched Him in the press of the crowd. He was that sensitive to the needs of those around Him.

Now truly, thinking like a servant doesn’t automatically make you one, but it goes a long way toward getting you there. If you are thinking like a servant, you are noticing others; and the more you are aware of others, the more the Holy Spirit can use you in reaching out to them. All this increases the opportunity for the gospel. People are simply not used to being served.

Take it from me, a guy who is not by any stretch servant material, it’s actually a relief to get off my most popular subject—me—and on to someone else. Ask God to help you think like a servant today, and I’m certain you’ll get a chance to be one.

Question: Where are there opportunities in your life (at home, work, church, or elsewhere) to “think like a servant”?

“Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now.” Proverbs 3:28 (TEV)

Real servants pay attention to needs. Servants are always on the lookout for ways to help others. When they see a need, they seize the moment to meet it, just as the Bible commands us: “Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10, GWT).

When God puts someone in need right in front of you, he is giving you the opportunity to grow in servanthood. Notice that God says the needs of your church family are to be given preference, not put at the bottom of your “things to do” list.

We miss many occasions for serving because we lack sensitivity and spontaneity. Great opportunities to serve never last long. They pass quickly, sometimes never to return again. You may only get one chance to serve that person, so take advantage of the moment.

“Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now” (Proverbs 3:28 TEV).

John Wesley was an incredible servant of God. His motto was: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.”

That is greatness. You can begin by looking for small tasks that no one else wants to do. Do these little things as if they were great things, because God is watching.

Question: What opportunities has God put into your life to serve your fellow brothers and sisters?

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EST.

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!” (Philippians 1:21-22)

For many years I have enjoyed good health. I guess that’s why I was so surprised to learn recently that I have cancer and might only have six months to live. And not just any cancer–oh, no! My cancer is a rare aggressive cancer called “inflammatory breast cancer” and doctors and mammograms don’t discover it until it is too late to do much about it!

When it spreads through the entire chest of a person, it finally shows itself in a dramatic way. One day when I was changing my clothes, I got the big surprise. A big, ugly rash appeared. That’s when I went to the doctor–and after a cat scan, got the verdict.

I have lived in the love, peace, and joy of the Lord for many years, no matter what happened. And it didn’t fail me then. When my doctor sadly told me that I only had six months to live, my Lord’s peace and joy filled me, and I wasn’t upset at all.

During the following month I went around to various hospitals and their departments to get scans and tests, and everywhere I went I was able to witness to doctors, nurses, office workers, and other patients about the peace and joy the Lord gives. I don’t imagine they see many cancer patients with a big smile on their face!

But I had one big concern. About 10 years ago Power to Change, (which was called Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada back then) asked me to become the e-mail counselor for their Christian Women Today site. I had published many advice articles on their site and was delighted to take on this new expanded role. That’s how I became “Dr. Muriel” (for I do have a doctorate and am a certified counselor).

I have had the amazing privilege of helping troubled people all over the world by e-mail, and pointing them to Jesus Christ, who can help us with every problem. Since then I have given advice to thousands of troubled people. TruthMedia now has over 600 mentors to handle all the requests they get. But because of my training and doctorate, tough problems are often assigned to me–as well as a number of the easier ones when they are swamped with requests for mentors.

I earnestly desired the blessing of continuing to do this ministry for I know from experience that Jesus Christ can change lives. So I adopted the same attitude the Apostle Paul had when he wrote, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Yet if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Phil. 1:21-24). Knowing my Lord will do what is best, I have lived in His love, peace, and joy. And now I know I will be with my Lord perhaps very soon!

Editor’s note: Today as I edit this Dr. Muriel is in intensive care. Things have progressed faster than anyone could have expected.  We are surprised, but God is not and I take comfort knowing that he has a place prepared for Muriel. Perhaps it’s just about ready.

As you read this devo please pray for Dr. Muriel’s two daughters as they walk this hard road with their Mom. Pray that they would know and feel the goodness of God in this time, the strength of His love and the depth of His provision.

Dr. Muriel has written countless articles over the years and has answered a mountain of mentoring emails.  Whenever we got a really hard question you’d hear someone say “I’m sending this to Dr. Muriel”. She never backed down from the challenge.  It didn’t matter how serious the situation was, how deep someone’s confusion, how much they doubted God, Dr. Muriel always patiently and carefully responded to them.

Last year I got an email from a former soldier who wondered if the Dr. Muriel on our site was the same one who had given him a Bible more than 20 years previously. He told a story of a dark time in his life and this lady who listened to him and handed him a Bible that changed his life. I sent the email to Dr. Muriel and sure enough, that was her address the soldier remembered and she remembered him. I do not doubt that when she gets to Heaven this will turn out to be just one of a host of similar stories.  She has been the definition of a good and faithful servant and I know that we will miss her very much.

About the Author:  Muriel Larson

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:21

I read a book one time about how to figure out what your life’s legacy should be. It told you to imagine yourself going to your own funeral, sitting in the back of the church and listening to what everyone there had to say about you. The book encouraged you to think of what you’d like people to say about you after you die; that becomes your legacy and you should spend the rest of your life living so that becomes true.

Taking that approach is better than nothing, but honestly, it doesn’t matter what other people think of you. In the final analysis, when you die, the only thing that’s going to matter is what God says about you.

That is my ultimate goal for you as you prepare for your Decade of Destiny. The point of living your life to the fullest in every aspect is not to increase your reputation; it’s to make your life count for God, to invest it in what God says is going to make a difference.

I believe that God put you here on Earth for a purpose. God has given you a special SHAPE – Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences – that he wants you to use for his glory. And when we stand before him at the end of time, all that matters is what he’s going to say about how you used your SHAPE.

Just like the servant in Matthew 25:23, I hope God says to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

That’s what you want said about you, and you want it said by God, not by other people.

Questions: What would your friends say about you at your funeral? Your enemies? God?

About the Author: Rick Warren

Please open your Bible and read: Philippians 2:1-7

Jesus defied the world’s expectations of a divine being. Many Jewish people of that time were looking for a powerful king who would liberate them by conquering the Romans. They were prepared to serve and worship that kind of messiah. Instead, the Savior was a humble man who didn’t think twice about washing dirty feet. While Jesus Christ could have banished the Roman presence from the region and then been glorified as an earthly ruler, He was very clear about His reason for being here: He came to serve, not to be served. (Matthew 20:28)

In fact, Paul refers to Jesus as the lowest form of worker – a bondservant. This type of laborer was responsible for the menial household tasks, including foot washings. Christ came into the world prepared to do whatever work was necessary to move men toward a saving knowledge of Himself. He values every soul. Zacchaeus, the despised tax collector, received His attention and love just as the Pharisee Nicodemus and the rich young ruler did. (Luke 19:1 – 10; 18:18 – 25; John 3:1 – 8) Jesus also spent time with people on the lowest rung of the social ladder, healing the sick and afflicted, and speaking with children.

A servant’s life is not self – centered but rather is focused on God and His work. The Bible calls us to serve the Father by following in the Son’s footsteps. Believers would never call Jesus weak, but those who chase after the world’s version of success probably would. Are you prepared to challenge our culture’s idea of power by accepting the humble position of servant?

Question: Can you think of other ways that Jesus demonstrated a servant’s attitude other than those mentioned by this devotional? What might those instances tell us about we should likewise serve?

About the Author: Dr. Charles Stanley

Feeling pressure to be perfect? Take this study.

“Then Samuel said speak for your servant is listening” (1Samuel 3:10).

Have you taken time today to do just that with God’s Word?

Or let me back up a bit and ask the first question that comes to mind.

As you meet with the Lord, do you pray and ask Him to speak to you through His Word, to teach you, to reveal to you what it is He wants you to understand?
Do you come with an open heart and listening ears?

You see, we often come bounding into our devotional time with the text or chapters at hand and read through them, check off that we’ve completed our “to do” list, and we’re done with our scripture reading and “quiet time” for the day.  Then we continue on our merry way without benefit of having that Word, that truth, poured into our beings.

So, may I offer these suggestions?

Open the Word and your journal. Read a portion of scripture, perchance it will be only a verse or two.  My greatest times of understanding have come in chewing over tiny morsels of God’s truth in my thinking time. Take some time to be still as you consider the Word, ponder its truth, mull over its meaning and reflect on its application in your life.  Ask God to reveal to you all He would have you understand. Use one of these as a heading to your journal:

God, what to you want me to know today?

What are You saying today?

What are You speaking to me?

What things have I learned?

Lord, what do you want to reveal to me today?

In what way should I apply this to my life today?

Then, write out the verses in your journal as you continue to inquire of God His help in your comprehension.

Consider, ponder, mull over, reflect….write back to Him what He shares with you.

May the gems of God’s truth shine in your hearts and reflect who the Lord is as you bring them to mind and apply them to your lives.

Lord, unstop our ears to hear You. Open our eyes to see You more clearly today.  Help our mind be keen and clear to drink in the Truth of who You are and what You would have us know and understand.  We give you our hearts today, open willing vessels to take in what You teach and use it for Your glory.

Questions: Tell us about how you spend your time with the Lord. What is a pre requisite for a successful quiet time?

About the Author Nancy O’Bosky

What do you think the Bible means by hospitality?

In Biblical times, bread was thinner and crisper than our bread today, which brought about the term “breaking bread.” It signified sharing fellowship at a meal, or as it was called, the bread of fellowship.
It was a one’s sacred duty of hospitality (called the sacred law of hospitality) to offer bread, give lodging, and protect any traveler that came to one’s door, treating him as a guest.

If the homeowner and the guest broke bread together, this bound them together by the strongest ties of friendship.  It was a covenant and was confirmed occasionally by the giving of gifts. This was a pledge of reconciliation and peace and would descend to their heirs, for it was in perpetuity.  If the guest declined the offer, it meant, in essence, that the host’s bread was unfit for use, which violated the sacred law of hospitality and contained severe penalties.

The disciples depended on hospitality

When Jesus sent out the disciples, He commanded them to take no bread or money with them so that they would depend solely on the hospitality and acts of kindness of others and make covenant friends.
If the disciples had rejected the hospitality offered them by others, it would have been considered rude or an offense, hindering their efforts to spread the gospel.

Also, Jesus gave them instructions on how to respond to the cities that did not receive them in hospitality, “When you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” (Matt. 10:14-15, NKJV)  If people refused the disciples who were in partnership with Jesus, consequently, they refused Jesus. This was serious stuff!

Jesus spoke about hospitality

Concerning this same sense of hospitality, Jesus spoke to the disciples of that future day of separating the sheep from the goats:

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matt. 25:34-40, NKJV)
(‘Stranger’ also means a guest-friend, bound by ties of hospitality. ‘Took’ or ‘take in’ means among other things, to entertain hospitably, to bring one into your house for hospitality.)

Jesus continued, “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” (Matt. 25: 42-43 NIV) You received Me not; you did not receive me in hospitality.

This should be a wake-up call for us. Hospitality is more than having a potluck supper for our Bible study group.  Paul urges us, “When God’s children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night.” (Rom. 12:13, TLB)  May you receive others to break bread in the spirit of hospitality.

Has your world shattered and left you with no hope for your marriage?  Talk to us.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5).

I witnessed a meaningful baptism of a teenager at church where the grandfather stepped into the baptistery with his grandson to baptize him. “It’s a pleasure to baptize my grandson,” the grandfather began. Then speaking directly to his grandson he said, “Jonathan, I’ve known you since you were a little twerp, and I’ve watched you grow into a fine young man.” Then he asked his grandson, “How long do you plan to let Jesus control your life?”

Without hesitation, his grandson replied with a strong voice, “The rest of my life.”

With that the grandfather baptized his grandson. Then putting his arm around his wet grandson, the grandfather prayed, “Lord, help Jonathan to keep his eyes on You. Help him serve You and live with integrity and faithfulness to You. I commit him to You to be a servant of the gospel the rest of his days. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

As the grandfather said amen, I wiped my eyes. I pictured each of my four grandchildren and asked God that they too would want to serve Him the rest of their days and would make a public commitment to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.

The congregation clapped for joy to celebrate a life dedicated to God. And in my mind, I thought I heard applause in heaven as well.

Heavenly Father, may others see my sincere faith and want to obey You. As David prayed for his son Solomon, so I pray my grandchildren and others I love will want to follow You with wholehearted devotion the rest of their lives (1 Chronicles 29:19).

Questions: Who is in control of your life? How do we continue to follow Jesus wholeheartedly?

About the Author Lydia Harris

Success is not getting a lot of stuff. Success is not being especially gifted at something. Success is simply allowing God to use what He has already given you.

A few days ago, I was talking to my daughter who was upset because she hadn’t lived up to her expectations in terms of marks in a certain subject. As teens, we tend to define ourselves and take pride in ourselves in the areas that we believe set us apart from others–we’re prettier, we’re smarter, we’re more athletic, we’re very social. Whatever it is, we like to have something to point to and say, “that is who I am.”

Hopefully as adults we become more mature, and realize that our worth is not in our accomplishments. Realistically, though, that rarely happens. We still tend to judge ourselves by our successes. Have I landed a good job? Do I have a bunch of kids? Do I have a nice house? Are my kids in a good school? Am I in charge of a ministry at church? Do we make enough money? We judge ourselves by the standards that our society has set, which is completely counterproductive, let alone wrong.

Identifying our idols

Have you ever looked at the Israelites in the Old Testament and thought, “boy, were they ever stupid”? Look at them! God tells them to do something, they do it, and everything goes right. Then they start doing the opposite, and things go badly. So they pray, God rescues them, and then the whole cycle repeats. And one of the things that God was so adamant about was that they not worship idols. They had to keep all those wooden idols out of their homes.  I often think, “You saw God part the Red Sea. Why would you go back to wooden idols?”

Yet I’m not sure they always realized what they were doing. The idols were all around them, in the cultures that they lived in. They were everywhere. And so they mixed worshiping idols with worshiping God. We may not have wooden idols in our homes, but our culture has idols, too, and we let those idols infiltrate our homes. We let those idols influence us, without realizing it, because they are all around us.

Our idols come from our consumer culture, which says things like, “You deserve to be happy.  You should be successful.  You should be wealthy and have lots of stuff.” And we start to define our worth that way, even though we know that’s not how God sees us. We start to judge our ministries by numbers, rather than remembering that God sees the heart, and may be doing something important just for the sake of 1. We judge our families by our retirement savings, or the size of our house. And it’s one of the things that makes us work so hard, so that we can buy more stuff, rather than work less so that we can be with our families more.

A long time ago, when I was reading a bunch of entrepreneurial books in my twenties, I made a pledge to myself. I said, “By age 40, I will make $X a year.” I had a goal.

In two weeks I’m going to be 40, and I’m nowhere near that figure. And for a while, a few years ago, when I saw that I wasn’t going to make it, I felt badly, as if I had let down my dreams.

Yet since I made that pledge, I also decided to home school. I decided to write and speak as a ministry. I decided to spend a lot of time raising money for an orphanage in Kenya. It’s pretty hard to start a new business and make the kind of money I wanted to make while you’re doing all those other things.

God changed my dreams

And so I am approaching my birthday with peace. I haven’t lived up to my dreams because God has put new dreams in me. We must stop judging ourselves by the wrong things. Your status doesn’t matter. I know so many families where both parents work and make good money and they’re still always worried about money. I know other families who live in large homes that are gorgeous, but their kids aren’t really following Jesus because somehow or other, even though the parents believe, they stopped making their children’s faith a priority, and their jobs and sports became the priority.

Success, you see, is not in what we have. It’s not in how much money we make. As I said at the opening, success is letting God use what He has already given you. It’s taking the gifts and the things that God has given you, and leaving them open for Him. It’s saying, “my time today is yours, Lord. Show me how I should use it.” It’s saying, “I want to raise these kids for you, Lord, so show me how to be a good mother.” It’s not being worried about whether there is enough money to give them the best; it’s being able to put your kids as one of your main priorities (behind your marriage) in terms of love and attention and time. That’s what leads to real success.

I am often saddened when I look at the women in the church that I know who are tired. They’re running around, trying to reach some goal that God never set for them, so that they can have what they’re “supposed” to have in this culture. We buy into our culture’s consumerism and we don’t even see it. But the size of your wardrobe isn’t important. The size of your house isn’t important. It’s whether you’re taking the time to talk to God, to listen to God, and to let Him use what He has given you.

What you have doesn’t belong to you

Everything you have is His. It doesn’t belong to you. It comes from Him. If we honestly understood that, we’d worry less about money. We’d have less fear about our children. We’d stop trying to compulsively plan everything and we’d start praying more. We’d stop hoarding our time and hoarding our home and we’d have more people in for dinner, or more people in just to talk.

Those who may not have beautiful homes, and may not have huge incomes, but who love people and love their kids are very successful. Mother Theresa was successful, because she simply said, “Here I am, Lord. Use me.” And God did. She had no money, but God multiplied her ministry.

If you’re feeling aimless today, and tired, why not stop, take a deep breath, pull up a cup of hot chocolate, and just talk to God about your life? Ask Him to show you what He has already given you. Ask Him to help you make fewer “success” goals and more prayers. Ask Him to help you see the immense worth that you are to Him, and that your children are to Him, and that your husband is to Him. You are His success story. And you will make that story even better if you keep focused on sharing what God has already given you–in terms of grace, and love, and time, and even money–rather than on accumulating even more for yourself.

This blog was originally posted on tolovehonorandvacuum.blogspot.com . Used with permission.