Mike Fisk & Built with Grace

You Have Reached Your Limit

December 8, 2023 in Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, blessings, Built with Grace, Christmas, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, forgiveness, God, God's love, grace, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Mike Fisk | 1 comment

O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows. Psalms‬ ‭130‬:‭7‬

It’s Christmas! For us as parents and grandparents it’s a ‘most wonderful time of the year.’ We look forward to seeing our children. We look forward to visits and hugs from the grandchildren. We anticipate the joy of the opening of brightly colored, wrapped packages.

But for many of us there is dark side to the picture, especially in our current economic situation. While we want to give our loved ones everything their hearts desire, there are limits to our ability to give.

I remember a couple of years growing up when my dad, a pastor at the time, would go to the Christmas tree stand on Christmas Eve to get our tree because they were either free or at a greatly reduced cost. He did the best he could with the limitations he had as an underpaid pastor with a family of five boys to feed and get gifts for.

Limits are hard. That’s why we dream of winning the lottery. Wouldn’t it be nice to be unlimited in what we could buy or do?

Human hope is limited. Not Godly hope. Human hope is dependent on the ability of others or ourselves to meet our dreams. Not Godly hope.

When we put our hope on the creator/sustainer of the universe the sky is the limit. It just keeps going. Need peace. He’s got more than you can imagine. Need forgiveness? You’ll never be able to use it up. Need some love? His love is higher that the highest mountain and deeper than the deepest sea.

This Christmas season, put your hope in the one who has unlimited resources available to you through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Love Letters

December 7, 2023 in Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, Built with Grace, Christmas devotional, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, forgiveness, God, God's love, God's promises, God's Word, grace, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Mike Fisk, strength | Leave a comment

You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope. Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭114‬

Do you have trouble throwing away those ‘love letters’ from long ago? Perhaps a card, or a note scribbled on paper from someone you love. Perhaps you even take them out from time to time when you are feeling hopeless because they remind you that even though life around you seems to be falling apart, you have this one gentle reminder that life will be okay, that the things that are troubling you are a blip on the screen of life.

Some look at the Bible as a confusing book that’s hard to understand. I look at it as a love letter. A friend of mine told me of a time her husband was deployed overseas. She was home with the kids. This was before internet and instantaneous, global communication.

When a letter arrived from her husband, the world stopped. She would sit and read it carefully. It was almost as if he were there. It was a reminder of hope. It was a reminder that this struggle was temporary. It was a reminder that she was making it and soon he would rejoin them.

The Psalmist paints that kind of picture of God’s word. Oh, the Bible is full of deep theological truths to be sure, but the overriding theme is a love story of a God who earnestly wants you to enjoy his company. Immanuel, God with us.

Some day, he’ll return in physical presence. Until then we have a love letter of hope. May His Word fill you with hope this Advent season and beyond.

Hope Shines Through Darkness

December 6, 2023 in Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, Built with Grace, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, God, grace, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus Christ, Mike Fisk, peace | 1 comment

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬

When we enter mindset of hopelessness, it’s hard to see things clearly. It can be like a dark cloud surrounds us. We tend to see the problems, not possibilities. We see obstacles, not opportunities.

Hopelessness can be physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausting. When we get tired it’s easy t to forget who we are or more importantly, whose we are. Feelings of hopelessness are not only be exhausting, they can be debilitating. We not only forget whose we are, we forget the resources available to us.

In one of Paul’s prayers for the Ephesians (and us) he prays that we, in the midst of our darkness, will see the light of hope we have through Jesus. Hope is future looking, not tied to the past. Hope is revealing. It shows that as bad as things may be now, we have a bright future.

Hope is vertical looking, not horizontal. It looks above your situation. Hope is eternal and thus, not affected by current circumstances. The God of hope has called you to a life of hope based on His riches in glory.

Don’t allow the darkness of hopelessness keep you from seeing the light of Jesus this Christmas.

This Anchor Holds

December 5, 2023 in Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, Advent Hope, Built with Grace, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, God, God's love, grace, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus Christ, Mike Fisk | 3 comments

So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord! Psalms‬ ‭31‬:‭24‬

What we anchor our hope in determines the level of strength and courage we can draw from. Some place their hope in relationships, but relationships are fickle and can change with time. No one walks the wedding aisle with the idea that they will give this marriage thing a few months and if it doesn’t work out, we’ll move on. Of course not! One walks the aisle and vows to love until death. Yet, over 50% of the time, divorce happens.

Others may put their hope in money and career. But when recession hits, or your company downsizes, you find out quickly that hope in money and things isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Some put their hope in physical health. They eat right, exercise regularly, and do all the right things to be healthy. But we all know very healthy people who succumb to terminal illness, accidents and the like.

Courage and strength come when we put our hope in something that lasts. The Psalmist tells us courage and strength come when our hope is put in God through Jesus Christ. He’s never failed and he never will.

This holiday season, what is your hope anchored in?

Get Ready for Christmas!

November 30, 2023 in Uncategorized | Tags: Advent, Built with Grace, Christmas, Christmas giving, Christmas Worship, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, God, God's love, God's promises, grace, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Mike Fisk | 5 comments

Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭3

It’s the holiday season and many of us have been busy getting ready for parties, family get-togethers and perhaps even travel. Maybe you’ve decorated the yard with lights and decorations tied to the season. The tree is up and decorated, waiting for brightly wrapped packages. The interior of your house may have decorations to celebrate the season as well.

After all, it’s Christmas! We spend millions of dollars every year with decorations, food and gifts. Some neighborhood’s have contests (official or unspoken) to see who has the best light display. I love Christmas! All the work we put into decorating for a few short weeks is well worth it in my book.

While preparing all the external things for Christmas is important, of more importance is preparing our hearts. No doubt Mary and Joseph prepared for the coming of the infant Jesus as much as they could. But they could never have been ready for what God had prepared for them. I’m sure if they’d known everything they’d have done things differently.

What about us? We have the privilege of looking back. Can we prepare spiritually for celebrating Messiah? Among the lights and decorations can we find time to focus on the light of the world? While we enjoy all the holiday treats, can we remember to celebrate the eternal blessings of the babe in the manger?

Isaiah reminds us to prepare the way for Lord. He calls us to search our hearts for what we feel is important. He calls us to remove the idols of worry, doubt, desire and bitterness so we can experience the Hope of Ages, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Whether your tradition celebrates Advent or not, while you are hanging the lights and cooking all those Christmas goodies, don’t forget that Jesus is the reason for the season!