Mike Fisk & Built with Grace

When Trouble Knocks on Your Door

February 10, 2024 in grace | Tags: anxiety, Built with Grace, Christianity, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, faith, fear, forgiveness, God, God's love, God's promises, grace, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Mike Fisk, prayer, trust, Trusting God | Leave a comment

Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬

When trouble comes, our human tendency is “fight or flight “. When we rely on fight or flight, we are in reality relying on our own power to accomplish a solution to the trouble we are in.

Rather than fight or flight, Paul gives us three better options when trouble comes our way.

First of all, he encourages us to rejoice. Worshiping and praising God is often the best way to counteract fear in our lives.

Secondly, he encourages us to be patient. When we know the outcome does not rely on us it’s easier to be patient and wait for God to work.

Lastly, he encourages us to pray. Praying may not change God‘s mind. Praying may not even change the trouble we’re in! But praying in the midst of trouble Helps us to see God in his character and strength and power.

When God is the center of our life as supreme ruler, our reaction to trouble is patient confidence and joy as a result of persistent prayer.

God Wants Me Happy, Right?

February 9, 2024 in grace | Tags: Built with Grace, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, faith, forgiveness, God, God's love, grace, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, love, Mike Fisk, relationship, Restoration | 2 comments

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬

I was taken back by her response. She’d made some choices that had huge implications for three families. Two had already ended in divorce as a result of her actions. Yet she tried to justify it by saying, “But I’m happy. God wants us happy, right?”

I have to admit I didn’t respond like I should have. I stuttered a, “yes”. Afterwards I wished I’d had the answer I received after I left the conversation.

Does God want us happy? The human logic says yes. After all, He’s a God of love, right? As our father, wouldn’t He want us happy? After all, any loving parent wants their child to be happy. Right?

On the surface the answer may be ‘yes’ until you start to dig deeper. If my child wants something to eat, I’ll certainly want him to be happy and give them food (healthy food that is). But what about if they ask to drink a glass of gasoline? What if they want to play with a loaded gun? What if…well, I think you get the idea.

Before God wants us happy, He wants us holy. Holiness on God’s level is perfection and we will never reach that in this early life. But holiness on the human level is different.

Holiness on the human level means to be set apart, to follow the direction and plan of God. Holiness may not lead to the emotional happiness of the human heart, but it will lead to the joy of realizing God’s peace in our lives.

Human holiness leads to a deeper relationship with God. Happiness on the human plain does not, it hinders our relationship with God. God’s plan has always been for relationship. He knew we would fail but He loved us anyway. A believer’s purpose in life is two fold. First is to be Holy (only possible through the Holy Spirit). God knew we would be enticed by shiny things in our environment, but gave us grace. We are called to live in holiness as a result of the Holy Spirit working through us. God intends our holiness to empower others to partake in the blessings he has for us.

True happiness comes with the Holy Spirit’s working in us to exhibit holiness. Sometimes I think ‘holiness’ is better translated ‘whole-ness’. When we live in God’s holiness we feel complete no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.

Disappointed Again!

February 8, 2024 in grace | Tags: Built with Grace, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, forgiveness, God, God's love, God's promises, grace, Grace Nuggets, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus loves me, love, Mike Fisk, trust, worship | 1 comment

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬

What is the biggest thing you have ever hoped for that ended in disappointment? I remember one Christmas growing up when I hoped for a certain toy to be under the tree. I laid as many hints as a seven-year old could about what I wanted. I even prayed for it to happen. I figured if Santa couldn’t come through, at least God would.

I think you know what happened. I got some really cool gifts that Christmas, but not the one thing I’d hoped for. I was disappointed.

Now, years later and many disappointments later I quite honestly can’t remember what I even wanted that Christmas. I just remember the disappointment.

To be fair, in spite of my not-so-subtle hints, my parents either missed the messages or simply couldn’t afford the gift I wanted more than anything.

We all hope for things. I can’t imagine anyone walking the wedding aisle without hoping this marriage will last ‘til death do us part.’ Yet more than half of all marriages end broken.

No one takes a drink of alcohol with the hope of becoming an addict. Yet addiction to drugs is a rampant scourge on society.

No one drives a new car off the lot hoping it will be repossessed soon. But debt attacks us from all sides with no mercy.

No matter how hard you try, more often than not our hopes end in disappointment. We’ve tried our hardest. We’ve prayed. We’ve looked in the Bible for answers. Still, with all our efforts, many of our hopes end in disappointment.

With all the disappointments we face in life there is one hope we can count on to not disappoint. Simply stated, “Jesus Loves Me This I Know”.

Others will fail you. Some will malign you and reject you. Hopes for ‘things’ will fall empty to the ground. But, ‘Jesus Loves You’ and that’s a hope you can bank on!

Today is the Day!

February 7, 2024 in grace | Tags: Built with Grace, changed lives, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, failure, faith, God, God's love, grace, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, love, Mike Fisk, prayer, relationship, Restoration, second chances, trust, Trusting God | Leave a comment

The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭25‬

One of the hardest times in life, is when people that we trust and rely on, fail us. It happens all the time.

Sometimes people fail us because we have failed to meet their expectations.

Sometimes people leave our relationship with them because we just aren’t that important.

Sometimes, while we rely on them, they are far too involved in their own lives to realize the impact they’ve had in our lives. As a result, they leave us with a huge hole in our hearts.

God isn’t like that. Earlier, Jeremiah says that God’s love and mercy is new every day. He reminds us that when others fail us, God never will.

Sometimes we think God fails us because he doesn’t do what we would like him to do. When that happens, in reality, the god that has failed us has been a god of our own creation, not the God of creation.

In the dark times of life, when it seems everyone else has abandoned us, keep searching for God.

Keep searching for the one who has promised to love us new every day.

Yesterday‘s failures are lessons learned.

Tomorrow’s dreams are hopes yet to come.

But today? Today is the day God has for us to accomplish what he calls us to do.

Building Strong; Building Wise

February 6, 2024 in grace | Tags: Built with Grace, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, fear, Firm Foundation; Relationship, God, God's love, grace, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, love, Mike Fisk, second chances, trust | 2 comments

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever! Psalms‬ ‭111‬:‭10‬

I’m not a builder, but my limited knowledge of knowing the process of building tells me that the foundation is, perhaps the most important part of the building. Without a proper foundation, the rest of the building will not withstand the rigors of the environment in which it exists.

The stronger the foundation, the stronger the building. The deeper the foundation, the taller the building. That’s why builders are very meticulous and making sure the foundation is laid well.

In our spiritual lives, our foundation begins with the growing knowledge of God. When we begin the process of relationships here on earth, we don’t reveal everything about ourselves to the other person. There are things we may want to hold back out of fear, shame, or guilt.

That’s not how God operates. From the very beginning, he reveals himself. Little by little, he shows us his greatness, his power, his love, and his forgiveness. The more we grow our relationship with God, the more he grant us wisdom. The deeper we grow in relationship to God the more we grow to understand his heart.

The more we obey him in the tough times, the more he gives us strength to endure. Everything in a successful life, begins with a foundation built on faith and trust in the power and love of God.