Christian Devotions SPEAK UP!
May 21

6:00 p.m. EST

 ApologetiX Lead Singer, J. Jackson &

Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference

Join us this week on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! with the crazy BRMCWC mystery interviews followed by J. Jackson of the parody band ApologetiX.

Influenced by a steady diet of Mad Magazine, Wacky Packages, novelty records, and comic books, ApologetiX lead singer and lyricist J. Jackson started writing parodies as a kid. He became a born-again Christian in January 1988, and his newfound interest in the Bible had a profound influence on his parodies.

A journalism major in college, J. worked in the public relations field before going full-time with ApologetiX. He started getting together with some other like-minded Christian musicians in 1990, and this loose-knit group eventually played its first concert as ApologetiX on March 27, 1992.

Like many other rock and rollers, J. is surrounded by beautiful women—his wife, Lisa, and four daughters, Janna, Heather, Kelly, and Natalie. They also have a dog (Skippy), three mice (Gracie, Cookie, and Chocolate), and a fish (Diamond). They make their home in Pittsburgh, PA.

If you know someone who would be a great guest on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! contact Scott@christiandevotions.us.

2013 Schedule 

May 28 – Cleo Lampos &

Barbara Warren, Author

June 4 – Former MLB player Mickey Weston and his wife Lisa

June 11 – Homeschool Pioneer and Author Skeet Savage

June 18 – Rosemary Hines, Author 

Every Tuesday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern

He will guide you to the end

For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death. Psalm 48:14 NKJV

My father-in-law was dying of esophageal cancer. We heard the news at our grandfather’s funeral.

While we grieved the loss of one well-loved man, we were simultaneously projected ahead to the loss of another. It was in one of those moments when our feelings get all mixed up with facts and everything blurs together.

During the final five months of his life, my father-in-law, a man who had struggled with depression his entire adult life, fought the good fight—physically—emotionally—spiritually. He underwent every chemo and radiation process with more courage than I can imagine enduring. There was never a complaint.

I marveled at how well he accepted his terminal diagnosis and the grueling treatment plan that only promised to add a few brief months to his life. For a man so given to long bouts of emotional despair, I feared the worst for him. But I was never more wrong.

Beyond explanation, he seemed to thrive during those precious last weeks and months on earth. I was able to spend considerable time with my father-in-law, driving him back and forth to radiation treatments, to doctor’s appointments, or just to run errands.

Even now, I shake my head in amazement that this man whom I had known for over twenty-five years could (and would) endure certain death with such poise and peace. Rather than us comforting him, he comforted us.

Scripture tells us God Himself will be our guide even to death. He’ll walk us through every moment. There was such grace—the kind only God can supply—during those terrible hours of suffering. Every day he died a bit more, but the memory of these precious moments and conversations can still stop me in my tracks when something reminds me how much I gained personally from our talks.

Somehow his patience with the horrifying painful process, and his courage to face death itself, was remarkable. So much so that I remember with far greater fondness how he died than how he lived. My father-in-law walked with God as his guide and God led him with grace.

When life-ending days face a loved one, reach out to the God who promises to guide us…even into death. Remember, God promised to be with you until your last day on earth. Let this good ending keep you going when you want to give up.

The Gift of a Good Death is an excerpt from Michele’s new book, One Size Fits All, published by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. It is now available at www.amazon.com.

Michele Howe is the author of twelve books for women and has published over 1600 articles, reviews, and curriculum for more than 100 different publications. Her single-parenting titles include, Going It Alone and Still Going It Alone. After six shoulder surgeries, Michele co-authored, Burdens Do a Body Good: Meeting Life’s Challenges with Strength (and Soul), and Prescription for Life. Faith, Friends, and Other Floatation Devices will be published in 2013 by ACTA Publications. To learn more, visit http://michelehowe.wordpress.com or contact Michele at: jhowe@toast.net.

Read Michele’s devotions.

Receive a daily devotion on your Kindle!

Print version $5.36

Michele Howe is the author of twelve books for women and has published over 1600 articles, reviews, and curriculum for more than 100 different publications. Her single-parenting titles include, Going It Alone and Still Going It Alone. After six shoulder surgeries, Michele co-authored, Burdens Do a Body Good: Meeting Life’s Challenges with Strength (and Soul), and Prescription for Life. Faith, Friends, and Other Floatation Devices will be published in 2013 by ACTA Publications. To learn more, visit http://michelehowe.wordpress.com or contact Michele at: jhowe@toast.net.

Read Michele’s devotions.

Receive a daily devotion on your Kindle!

Print version $5.36

Not Perfect, But Okay

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  1 Peter 5:6

“Come on, Mr. Eddie, let’s go.”

Go?

I glanced up at the rocky crag towering above us. Christopher referred to our hike as climbing a foothill, but at 12,183 feet above sea level the mountain felt like Mt. NeverRest. Before I could stop him – before I could counter with “let’s go … back down” — Christopher scaled the cliff and left me panting.

Problem with keeping up with a young boy Christopher’s age (eight) is that he is new. His joints are lubricated, lungs pliable, and heart unburdened by the cares of life. For me, each step produced wheezing and wobbling, and confirmed my deepest fear – I’d grown old.

Peter writes that if we let God have his way with us, in time, he may lift us up. Call it burn out, “drowned out” (swamped with life’s problems), or flat-out fatigue, but lately I’ve felt God’s mighty hand leaving me wrung out. God sentenced Moses to a desert, Joseph to a prison, and Jesus to a Cross. But in due time – at the right time – God brought them up and out.

Long after Christopher reached the rocky crag, I clambered over the last boulder and sat. While my new best friend posed on the peak for his picture (fearless and confident), I whispered, “God, if he wants to go further, you’ll have to carry me the rest of the way. I cannot climb your mountain.”

While I hunched forward to catch my breath, Christopher slid next to me and spoke God’s words into my tired heart.

“You may not be perfect, Mr. Eddie, but you’re okay.”

You’re pretty okay, too, Christopher.

Not Perfect, But Okay

Not Perfect, But Okay – He Said

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  1 Peter 5:6 NIV

“Come on, Mr. Eddie, let’s go.”

Go?

I glanced up at the rocky crag towering above us. Christopher referred to our hike as climbing a foothill, but at 12,183 feet above sea level the mountain felt like Mt. NeverRest. Before I could stop him – before I could counter with “let’s go … back down” — Christopher scaled the cliff and left me panting.

Problem with keeping up with a young boy Christopher’s age (eight) is that he is new. His joints are lubricated, lungs pliable, and heart unburdened by the cares of life. For me, each step produced wheezing and wobbling, and confirmed my deepest fear – I’d grown old.

Peter writes that if we let God have his way with us, in time, he may lift us up. Call it burn out, “drowned out” (swamped with life’s problems), or flat-out fatigue, but lately I’ve felt God’s mighty hand leaving me wrung out. God sentenced Moses to a desert, Joseph to a prison, and Jesus to a Cross. But in due time – at the right time – God brought them up and out.

Long after Christopher reached the rocky crag, I clambered over the last boulder and sat. While my new best friend posed on the peak for his picture (fearless and confident), I whispered, “God, if he wants to go further, you’ll have to carry me the rest of the way. I cannot climb your mountain.”

While I hunched forward to catch my breath, Christopher slid next to me and spoke God’s words into my tired heart.

“You may not be perfect, Mr. Eddie, but you’re okay.”

You’re pretty okay, too, Christopher.

__________________

The hand of God

Pride and Prejudice – She Said
So don’t be proud. Put yourselves under God’s mighty hand. Then he will honor you at the right time. Turn all your worries over to him. He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 NIV

I put the suitcase in the car and returned to my room. Empty. Hummm, where’d they go? I opened the door and wandered the hallways looking for my group. They were nowhere to be found, so I meandered out to the car and waited another fifteen minutes. By this time it was obvious my group had left me.

Oh well. I headed to the cafeteria to grab breakfast. There they were. My morning shower must have been short lived or I wasn’t meant to be included. I would have preferred the first … at least it was good cause to be left out.

I waded through the breakfast crowd, grabbed my meal, and headed toward my friend’s … gone. Now I’m feeling a little shunned.

Shortly after breakfast one of my friends asked if I’d head into town to run some errands. So I did. It was an opportunity to check out a unique little town in the Rockies, so me and my bruised ego headed out.

As I stood in the grocery line, a man and his wife whispered among themselves. Awkward, again. The automatic response was, “they’re talking about me.” I shifted from foot to foot wishing the cashier would hurry so I could leave.

Sometimes our pride trumps reality. We assume everything should center around us. The incidents become personal. I must have done or said something that made folks treat me this way, when truthfully that’s a lie we tell ourselves.

God’s hand is mighty and despite how I look at myself, He sees me through eyes of purity and grace. He understands my insecurities and sometimes even lets me wallow in them. When the time is right, He lifts me up…shows me just how special I am. Then God, in His loving and tender way, reminds me I am loved – especially by Him.

Just as I laid my items on the counter to pay, the man behind me tapped me on the shoulder. “Aren’t you a writer?”

I was dumbfounded. I’m 1500 miles away from home, in an obscure little store in the Rockies and this man asks if I’m a writer. “Yes, I am. How did you know?”

His wife pulled a wadded sheet of paper from her purse and straightened the wrinkles. It was a devotion printed from our website. One I’d written about our prodigal son.

“I knew it was you.” She said. “I read this every day. I see your picture every day. We have a prodigal son too.” For the next few minutes we shared a very intimate discussion.

I was honored…touched, this woman across the country, had kept the words I’d written as her encouragement.

God works to admonish us when the time is right. His plans are wonderfully woven together for us. I was feeling a little left out and I assumed they didn’t want to include me. God let me crawl around awhile before He touched my heart with the reason He wanted me in that town, in that store, at that time.

When you feel discouraged and left out, wait on God. His hand is mighty and His plans are perfect. He will honor you when He sees the time is right.

Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles are friends and cofounders of ChristianDevotions.us. They cowrite the popular He Said, She Said devotions and host Blog Talk Radio’s Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! along with Scott McCausey. Eddie and Cindy travel and speak at conferences across the country and they are available to speak at your church or conference. Contact them at cindy@christiandevotions.us.

Receive He Said, She Said on your Kindle!

Do you sense something vital missing from you relationship with your spouse, children, and God? Try He Said, She Said: A Devotional Guide to Cultivating a Life of Passion. This compilation of 54 devotions includes scripture verses, space for journaling, individual prayers and words of wisdom from two of today’s funniest and insightful Christian authors. This heart-warming collection of stories will inspire you to reach for the true source of joy: a life lived for and through God. These deeply personal devotions offer biblical insights and spiritual truths from the perspective of one man and one woman.
________________________________
Print version 

Kindle eBook 

Receive He Said, She Said on your Kindle!

The hand of God

So don’t be proud. Put yourselves under God’s mighty hand. Then he will honor you at the right time. Turn all your worries over to him. He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 NIV

I put the suitcase in the car and returned to my room. Empty. Hummm, where’d they go? I opened the door and wandered the hallways looking for my group. They were nowhere to be found, so I meandered out to the car and waited another fifteen minutes. By this time it was obvious my group had left me.

Oh well. I headed to the cafeteria to grab breakfast. There they were. My morning shower must have been short lived or I wasn’t meant to be included. I would have preferred the first … at least it was good cause to be left out.

I waded through the breakfast crowd, grabbed my meal, and headed toward my friend’s … gone. Now I’m feeling a little shunned.

Shortly after breakfast one of my friends asked if I’d head into town to run some errands. So I did. It was an opportunity to check out a unique little town in the Rockies, so me and my bruised ego headed out.

As I stood in the grocery line, a man and his wife whispered among themselves. Awkward, again. The automatic response was, “they’re talking about me.” I shifted from foot to foot wishing the cashier would hurry so I could leave.

Sometimes our pride trumps reality. We assume everything should center around us. The incidents become personal. I must have done or said something that made folks treat me this way, when truthfully that’s a lie we tell ourselves.

God’s hand is mighty and despite how I look at myself, He sees me through eyes of purity and grace. He understands my insecurities and sometimes even lets me wallow in them. When the time is right, He lifts me up…shows me just how special I am. Then God, in His loving and tender way, reminds me I am loved – especially by Him.

Just as I laid my items on the counter to pay, the man behind me tapped me on the shoulder. “Aren’t you a writer?”

I was dumbfounded. I’m 1500 miles away from home, in an obscure little store in the Rockies and this man asks if I’m a writer. “Yes, I am. How did you know?”

His wife pulled a wadded sheet of paper from her purse and straightened the wrinkles. It was a devotion printed from our website. One I’d written about our prodigal son.

“I knew it was you.” She said. “I read this every day. I see your picture every day. We have a prodigal son too.” For the next few minutes we shared a very intimate discussion.

I was honored…touched, this woman across the country, had kept the words I’d written as her encouragement.

God works to admonish us when the time is right. His plans are wonderfully woven together for us. I was feeling a little left out and I assumed they didn’t want to include me. God let me crawl around awhile before He touched my heart with the reason He wanted me in that town, in that store, at that time.

When you feel discouraged and left out, wait on God. His hand is mighty and His plans are perfect. He will honor you when He sees the time is right.

Cindy  is the founder of Mountain Breeze Ministries and cofounder of Christian Devotions Ministries. She has contributed  to Novel Journey and Novel Reviews, and Christian Devotions. She has written for PML Programs and contributes to the Times-News.net and CBN.com. Her devotions and articles are published weekly in several newspapers across the country. Cindy is the Executive Editor of ChristianDevotions.us and the Devotional Acquisitions Editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. She cowrites the He Said, She Said devotions with Eddie Jones and is the coauthor of He Said, She Said: A Devotional Guide to Cultivating a Life of Passion and the author of New Sheets: Thirty Days to Refine You Into the Woman You Can Be.

She attended Johnson Bible College and graduated with a BA in Business from the University of Phoenix.  She is a speaker who teaches and speaks at ladies’ conferences, special events and writers conferences across the country.  Cindy directs Writers ADVANCE! Boot Camp. You can visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com.

Read Cindy’s devotions

* Money from New Sheets is donated to Hope House to help young, pregnant moms choose “life.”

Need to change your husband? Change your sheets. Want to change jobs? Change your sheets. Long for a new life? Just change your sheets. God uses our life experiences to shape us. When the friction of frustration chaffs the skin, God offers us respite and rest. For author Cindy Sproles, sleeping on worn-out sheets meant holding on to the past, but new sheets…new sheets marked a fresh start. The slate wiped clean. Crisp. Fresh. New. With each monumental event in her life, she tossed out the old and ushered in the new with a set of fresh new sheets. From the cheapest muslin to the most expensive Egyptian cotton, she saw how God was shaping her into the woman she needed to be. When the road is tough, veer off and step onto a path that is tried and true. One already walked, already blazed, and already prepared just for you. New Sheets – Thirty Days to Refine You into the Woman You Can Be, is a series of thirty transparent devotions and inspirational thoughts that welcome you, wrap you tight, and snuggle you in encouragement. The next time you long for a change…go for new sheets.

Print version  $5.50    

Kindle version  $3.00 

Put on the new self

And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God, has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:24 NASB

Insecure in my relationship with God, I understood He loved me, but my understanding of His love was inadequate. My youth and adult years were plagued by times of excruciating emotional and spiritual pain. I struggled with oppressive condemnation for nebulous sins and terrifying doubts about God’s existence, fearing if I messed up one too many times, I was toast—unworthy of heaven and salvation. That’s if I didn’t die first and go to hell for my doubts.

Sounds sad, eh?

I was familiar with the prophet Isaiah who declared our own righteousness is like filthy rags. The filthy rags refer to the cloths women wore during their menstrual cycles—rags that were washed and reused. The picture gave me a pretty good idea of God’s opinion of our self-righteousness.

Even though this verse refers to our own efforts to earn salvation and gain God’s approval while rejecting Christ’s shed blood, I looked at good works performed after salvation as just more spiritual brownie points. Even now, I  find myself approaching my daily prayer and Bible reading times with a mindset that says, “If I pray for at least a half-hour and read at least one chapter in the Bible, God will chalk one more up for me.”

Several years ago, God said, “Cheryl, your personal righteousness is still like filthy rags.” I could contribute nothing to my salvation but unfettered trust in the righteousness of Christ.

Paul talked about putting on the new self and he reminded us that “new self was in the likeness of God.” What an amazing truth. My righteousness is created through Him.

​Regardless of what I do, I can never score enough points, but through Christ … by putting on my new self … I am righteous in Him. I attempted to climb the ladder of salvation by being good enough apart from Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. No amount of good deeds can balance out the bad.

When I yielded my life to Christ, forsook my sins, and let Him wash me in His blood, I exchanged my status as a subject of God’s wrath for the status of righteousness in Christ Jesus alone. He gave me a new, transformed self to “put on.” Though I still often struggle, I am becoming more secure in His unconditional love for me.

Put on the new self and let God dress you in His righteousness.

Photo courtesy freedigitalphotos.net.

Cheryl Weber is a freelance author who resides in Lancaster County, PA. Besides writing, she has a passion for ministry to hurting people through the fine and performing arts.

Read Cheryl’s devotions.

Receive a daily devotion on your Kindle!

Cheryl Weber is a freelance author who resides in Lancaster County, PA. Besides writing, she has a passion for ministry to hurting people through the fine and performing arts.

Read Cheryl’s devotions.

Receive a daily devotion on your Kindle!

The doors of freedom are open, walk on through.

You can walk with your heads held high. Leviticus 26:13 (NLT)

A line of inmates shuffled into the courtroom. Their shackled hands hung by their sides as their leg-chained feet moved in sync. The chains rattled as the men followed a custody officer into a holding room. Not one of the prisoners clothed in orange coveralls raised his head as they passed by the judge’s bench. These men were truly bound. Bound not only by the devices attached to their limbs, but by whatever was inside them as well.

​Free people look free. They walk with purpose. They hold their heads high and look people in the eye. There is a sparkle in their gaze rather than the dullness that comes from a life with no hope. Shame doesn’t temper their gait or shadow their demeanor. The difference freedom makes is obvious.

​When we’ve accepted the gift of salvation, we experience a special kind of freedom. The weight of sin doesn’t burden us any longer. The shame of our past is replaced by the joy of our future. Life takes on new meaning as we seek ways to share God’s law of liberty with others. There are misconceptions that God places burdensome restrictions on His children to keep us down, but the exact opposite is true. Leviticus tells us He is the Lord who saved His people from slavery so they could walk with their heads held high.

​Although this verse directly refers to the time God delivered the Hebrew people from slavery to the Egyptians, throughout time He has provided a way for us to be free from whatever “Egypt” enslaves us. He sent Jesus to break the bonds that hold us down. When those bonds broke, we not only gained freedom but also full access to the Almighty Judge. Because Jesus made full restitution for all of our wrongs, we are free to boldly approach the Almighty’s throne at any time. We don’t need to be on a specific docket. He is ready to hear our petitions at any time.

Reach out to Him and be free!

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net and Arvind Balaraman.

Lynn Karlsen is a wife and mother of four. As her children have moved on to shine in other parts of the world, Lynn has found more time to indulge her love for writing from her covered deck in the Pacific Northwest. Her experiences as a mother and kindergarten teacher have provided a multitude of ideas for stories she writes for children. Lynn is a member of both ACFW and their subgroup for children’s fiction writers.

Read Lynn’s devotions.

Receive a daily devotion on your Kindle!

Count your blessings.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. I Timothy 6:17

Being rich isn’t something I have to worry about. I’ve never had a ton of money and probably never will. I have enough to live on but not much more. Is that enough?

I don’t even know very many rich people. The closest I’ve come to knowing a wealthy person is by association. There’s a high-paid major league baseball player living in my town, but not in my neighborhood. I’ve never seen him at the grocery store or anywhere else, so I can’t claim him as a friend or even an acquaintance.

A man I know checks the stock report several times a day to see how his minimal investments are doing. He can’t do anything to change it, and he probably won’t sell or buy, but he does put a lot of “stock” in the market, even though he’ll never get rich from it.

God doesn’t have a problem with his children being rich. In the parable of the talents (or bags of gold), Jesus describes a king going on a journey and entrusting his wealth to others. He gave three men bags of gold in amounts matching their abilities.

When the king returned from his trip, he found that the men with five bags and two bags each had doubled the amounts. He was pleased, but the one who was given only one bag of gold hid it for fear of losing it. The king rewarded those with the most, but took the gold from the man who did nothing and gave it to one of the others.

Jesus started this parable with, “The kingdom of God will be like a king.” It seems he wants those of us in his kingdom to have money, but only if we are wise in handling it. He gives us money or the ability to earn it, but it’s up to us how we handle and protect it.

There are two ways we can have more money: earn more or spend less. The first requires more work; the second takes wisdom and self-control. Increase your net worth just by spending less of each paycheck. You’ll feel and be richer in the end.

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net and Michael Elliot.

Debbie Hardy is the author of Stepping Through Cancer, A Guide for the Journey, a step-by-step guide for cancer caregivers, and the accompanying Caregiver’s Handbook. A Colorado resident, author, widow, and grandmother, Debbie’s positive outlook and joy in Christ have helped her transition from corporate America to writing and speaking. Check out her blog at SteppingThruLife.blogspot.com and her website at www.SteppingThroughCancer.com.
Read Debbie’s devotions.

Receive a daily devotion on your Kindle!