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I Just Need Someone to Understand

August 10, 2023 in Uncategorized | Tags: acceptance, blessings, Built with Grace, compassion, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, God, grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, mercy, Mike Fisk, patience, Restoration, strength, understanding | 2 comments

Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting. Psalms‬ ‭133‬:‭3‬

What do you do during the dry times of life? When the doctor delivers a report that catches you totally off guard and leaves you numb? When you get that horrible call about a loved one’s accident? When you get divorce papers delivered to you without any warning? (You knew things were bad, but not that bad) When your job/business/career suddenly ends?

You pray, but your prayers don’ t make it past the ceiling. You try to read your Bible but the words are just letters on a page. You reach out to those who you thought would support you but find no one that is willing to listen, but plenty of people have all the answers for ‘what you need to do?’

It’s during those times that we just long for a hug, a little understanding, someone who will stand by us whether our struggles are a result of our own poor choices, or factors beyond our control.

The good news is that Jesus has an answer. Way back at creation, when He saw your life and the trials you’d need to endure. He implemented the perfect plan for your life and that plan is the church.

Now, before you stop reading, try to take a look at the church Jesus envisioned. The church isn’t a building with programs and music and those gifted with teaching and Biblical knowledge presenting a well-rehearsed diatribe.

Nope, the church Jesus envisioned was people. People with a common goal of helping each other endure life. People with a knack for being encouragers and intercessors. He tells us that a group of two or three is a church where he dwells. It’s not about numbers!

Hours before Jesus was brutally murdered he prayed in a garden to His Father. He didn’t pray for churches to have strong programs and classy buildings. He prayed for people. He prayed we would be united by a common bond of love. He prayed for unity.

Unity is best exemplified by harmony. If you’ve ever heard an orchestra or choir sing you know how beautiful harmony can be. Look up an A cappella group on YouTube. I love A cappella music. One of the things I try to do is try to figure out who is singing which part. If the group is good, it’s hard to tell because they sound like one voice.

David gives a beautiful picture of harmony in Psalm 133. He likens harmony as refreshing as dew from Mt Hermon. It’s said that while Mount Hermon was very dry, the dew would form so heavily that it poured off the mountain as waterfalls.

Dew forms during the darkness, yet refreshes in the morning. God’s blessings are like dew. They come as a refreshment during the dry times of life and often come to those who live in harmony. Too often we miss harmony because we seek uniformity. We aren’t all the same!

If you are in a dry time seek those who can be like dew in your life. Seek out those who accept you regardless of why you are where you are. If you are living in the blessing of God’s ‘dew’ share it with those who are dry.

We aren’t all the same, but with Jesus’ help we can live in harmony. We can be dew to each other!

Look What I Did!

July 25, 2023 in Uncategorized | Tags: blessings, Built with Grace, Daily Devotional, Daily Encouragement, embarrassment, failure, forgiveness, God, grace, Jesus Christ, Mike Fisk, pride | 2 comments

Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬ ‭

If you’re like me, when you do something stupid like trip or fall, one of the first things you do, is to turn around to look to see if you’ve been seen. Nobody wants to be seen doing something less than graceful, or intelligent! No one really wants others to see our failures.

But when we do something good, that’s another issue! We look around to see who is looking.

We learned this way back in kindergarten or before! If you do something good, you get a sticker! And it doesn’t matter how old you are, all of us like stickers in one form or another!

Social media is famous for that. When we do something good, the “look what I did” mentality runs deep. It’s easy to get sucked into the mentality that your worth and value are dependent on the number of followers you have, the number of likes you have, or the number of shares or re-posts you get.

As with so many things, inGod’s kingdom, it’s the opposite. God rewards what’s done in secret.

Jesus says don’t do things so others will see them and give you praise. Paul says be patient in doing good because someday you will be rewarded. Other Biblical writers encourage us to do good things in private rather that seek public recognition.

Too often we seek the rewards of man rather than the praise of God. What an awesome thought! God, the creator of this universe, the one who created all of this beauty, wants to praise us when we do something good, and even more so when those things are done in private or without human recognition.

What’s done in public for human praise is short-lived and fickle. But God’s praise for you in private glorifies him, builds on eternity and may be preparing you for bigger things in the future that may be seen in public.

You may not feel appreciated for the things that you’re doing for others. But keep doing those secret things. You never know what God is preparing you for in the future.