Devotion to Jesus makes people come alive inside. Devotion to Jesus shatters the mainstream. Devotion to Jesus causes people to be real change agents in this world. Devotion to Jesus is the salt that enhances and preserves the world, and it is the light that illuminates the darkness. Devotion to Jesus creates peace and joy in your heart and provides contentment in the midst of a crazy economy and a lousy job market. Devotion to Jesus is the foundation to build your life upon.
#LightTheTriad

We are to live like citizens of a future world, guarding each step to make sure it matches the step of God. Not out of fear, but out of love. Not because man observes and keeps score, but because God watches, and we want to please Him. "Obey God because you are His children. Don't slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn't know any better then" (1 Peter 1:14). We cannot come to Christ and continue to respond to the world in the same way. If we have an encounter with the living God, our behavior will radically change; along with our perspective, our standards, our motives – everything. As Paul says, we become "a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). This holy discipline sounds like an impossible and overwhelming command. It is - outside the power of God.
#LightTheTriad

You're going to miss what God is doing in your life if you remain focused on the here-and-now and not what God wants to do in your life long term. When you're thinking about comfort rather than character, when you're thinking about your happiness and not your holiness, when you're thinking about enjoying now instead of preparing for eternity, you're caught up in short-term thinking, and it will keep you from seeing life clearly.

You cannot live without the spiritual nourishment of God's Word. You will never survive the harsh desert winds of doubt, fear, materialism, gluttony, lust, and pride if you are not reaching out every day and gathering the food that God has offered you. You simply cannot live without physical food... how do you expect to live without spiritual food? You can't.

There must be complete confidence in the Lord to take care of us because this complete confidence will lead to constant compliance. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us we are to trust with all our heart (not just part of it), and we're to acknowledge Him in all our ways (not just some of our ways).

God won't take part of it. You can't say, "�Lord, I want Your will in my social life, but I don't want Your will in my business life." Or, "I want Your will in my church life, but I don't want Your will in my relationships." You just can't do that. If He'�s worth part of it He's worth all of it.

An old man from the mountains of North Carolina, who was known for his extraordinary wooden carvings of dogs, was once asked, "How do you take a block of wood and create such beauty?" The old mountain man replied, "Well, I just take my knife and carve away everything that doesn't look like a dog." Learning to see your self through the eyes of God is like "carving away" everything that is not part of the original design - God's plan -� and then learning how to accept what remains.

We will never be empowered to walk in purity without the foundation of affection for Jesus. External disciplines and commitments to high standards of holiness without a living devotion for Jesus have little real power or life in them. A person named Jesus—not regulations and rules—guards our souls. As affection for Jesus is increased in our hearts, we find a new empowering to resist temptation. When passion for Jesus is built into your spiritual foundation, it repels the sensual communications that others may send your way. It returns the message, "No, I'm not available." That strong, clear message rises from within your spirit.

Hey,

I just wanted to tell you again that you're my bff. I can't hide my love for you. What you're searching for can always be found in my arms. I can promise you this, if you will put me first above everyone else, you will see that I am all you need to be safe and secure. My deepest desire is to be close to you, but I will not force my way into your heart. I will wait patiently for you to invite me in and whenever you're ready, we will walk together every day for the rest of your life--until the day I see your beautiful face here in heaven. For now, just smile knowing you are my treasure.

Love,
God

Christian families are under attack. Your home is a battleground for Satan. He does not bother with the crack houses or bars because there is no struggle there - he has won those fronts. He wants to infiltrate Christian homes and cause strife and division. He wants to subvert and destroy what God has ordained. This is why it is so important that we look to God for help in raising and disciplining our children. It is time for men to take a stand and be spiritual leaders in their homes. Satan likes nothing more than to find a Christian home with a weak spiritual leader. Father or Mother, that means that if you have slacked off in attending church or neglected your prayer and devotional time, you have placed your family in the line of fire. But wait, you may ask. If I do these things, does that mean that we are safe from attack? Absolutely not! It does mean, however, that you and your family's foundation are strong for when the attack does come. Take a moment to pray. Are you being the strong spiritual leader in your children's lives? Are you attentive to what they are doing and who they are friends with? Are you paying attention to what the Holy Spirit is telling you about your children?

The world puts the emphasis on condition—God puts the emphasis on character. Someone has well said you can’t purify the water by painting the pump. And yet that’s what we try to do. We think that if we can change the exterior or make conditions such that we never have any hurts, then we’re going to be okay. But, Jesus put the emphasis upon character. Upon what you are, not what you have.

Our viewpoint of God has become shamefully low. When we hear truth from God's Word, we are convicted but not changed; we are challenged but not converted. It naturally follows that an inferior view of God will birth a shallow view of His Word. Today, the Bible is not only being questioned and debated, but it is being disobeyed. Why? The fear of the Lord is no longer before our eyes. Christ has become an after-thought, rather than an all-consuming thought. Reverence for the things of God takes a back seat today in the public arena. The crowd who claim the name of Christ but float downstream in the current of popular culture find their lives swirling in the eddy of religious pluralism, inclusivism, and universalism— spiraling rapidly downward—moving farther and farther away from distinctiveness and purity. This crowd becomes the rule. You must choose to be . . . the exception.

If we are to experience true, lasting wholeness and healing in the places of our wounding, we must encounter the Healer Himself and be encouraged to build a relationship of intimacy with Him. How are the inner wounds of the heart healed? We must give everything back to God, including all bitterness, self-pity, and desire for revenge. Our grief, anger, shame, and pride—even our hopes, ambitions, and dreams—must be laid on God's altar, along with our personal rights and the desire to run our own lives. Jesus must become the focus of our hearts—not our tragedies, our past, or all that might have been. Only Jesus can transform self-pity into victory or tears into triumph.

God has created you for a destiny. But how do you know what it is?

Start by aligning your life toward things that endure. You will live only a certain amount of time here on earth. What will you do that will continue to live on after you die? We spend much of our time on things that seem urgent but that have no eternal impact. Ask yourself, “What can I do that will live forever?” Often this means investing in people.

Accept partners who share your dream. We will not fulfill our destinies alone. God designed us to need each other. As you identify the gifts in your life, ask, “Where will I find people who share the same calling but have different gifts?”

Along the way, the goal isn’t just to produce as much as you can. Our destiny is not fulfilled by running around producing like crazy for our own glory. It’s better to produce less and bless that which is produced. Commit to bless that which you have created so that it, in turn, will be fruitful and multiply.

Make a commitment today to multiply your blessing on the earth for the purpose of God’s glory. For every one of us, this will be different in its expression. God has put unique spiritual DNA into your life that only you can share and multiply and divide. When you get hold of that, forsake everything else, keeping your eyes on the One who promises to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

God has called us to honor women – not just our wives and our daughters, but all women. They are precious roses, lovely and fragrant, beautiful to behold, never meant to be consumed or cast thoughtlessly to the side. But as sin grips our hearts and wounds go unhealed in our souls, in the moment of temptation, we men – even Christian men – have lacked courage and been passive. When we have felt shame and the deep anxiety that is within us, we have used women and objectified them as a temporary means to soften the weight of our shame. It’s a pattern that has been repeated through the millennia. The cycle of shame can only be broken when repentance replaces bitterness. Shame can only be healed when honor replaces dishonor.

Addiction might be the best word to explain the lostness that so deeply permeates society. Our addiction make us cling to what the world proclaims as the keys to self-fulfillment: accumulation of wealth and power; attainment of status and admiration; lavish consumption of food and drink, and sexual gratification without distinguishing between lust and love. These addictions create expectations that cannot but fail to satisfy our deepest needs. As long as we live within the world's delusions, our addictions condemn us to futile quests in "the distant country," leaving us to face an endless series of disillusionments while our sense of self remains unfulfilled. In these days of increasing addictions, we have wandered far away from our Father's home. The addicted life can aptly be designated a life lived in "a distant country." It is from there that our cry for deliverance rises up. -Henri J.M. Nouwen

Let God transform your thinking. Stop relying on your feelings and start trusting His Word and His will for your life. You may feel defeated, but Christ has already won your victory at the Cross. You may feel sick, but Christ has already healed you by His stripes. You may feel impoverished, but Christ has already laid up an eternal inheritance for you in heaven. Don't trust your feelings—trust Jesus.

The choices we make today will shape who we are forever. Let's follow God and play a part in restoring and redeeming a fallen, broken and hurting world. Let's live to be all that God intended us to be. Let's live to see the changes that we want to see in the world. Go for it. Live for God and God will take care of the details. Trust Him to do what He said He would do. May we live to be what He created us to be, messengers of His mercy, His grace, His Truth and His love.

God wired us to need each other. You need a friend who's going to love you unconditionally and won't think less of you when you share your guilt with them. You need to find one person you can share your heart with.

To stand courageously, you have to know what God says is the truth and what the world believes. This is called a worldview - what you base your beliefs on. Every person uses a different filter through which they see and understand the world. We may all be looking at the same event, but we will see it differently because of our conflicting worldviews. Your worldview includes how you see God, yourself, others, the past, present, and future, money, time, good and evil. It influences everything in your life. Every time you make a decision, you access the worldview database in your mind and decide that, because you believe this, this is what you're going to do. Your worldview influences every choice you make. Here's the problem: You are profoundly influenced by the worldviews of others. Every time you have a conversation, a worldview is being communicated. You are influenced by the worldviews of your parents, friends, an advertisement, or a newspaper article. Nothing is fair and balanced, because everyone has a worldview. It is absolutely crucial, then, that you base your worldview on God's Word, which is the only truth.

There is a dying world that doesn't care how well you sing or how eloquent your word of wisdom is. They are dying, seeking New Age gurus, sticking needles in their arms and drowning in a cesspool of pornography, because they need someone to love them! God desires that you reach out to them with His love. They don't need your judgments, accusations, or criticisms. They need Christ. Only He can set them free from their bondages, diseases, or sin. Love them the way God loves you.