Category Archives: Humility

Dec29

Day 363 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…God Taking My Heart of Stone

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Day 363 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…God Taking My Heart of Stone

Yesterday at church, I read a verse that I am sure I have read many times before, but it felt like the first time I had truly seen it. The verse is from Mark 6:52. However, before I write the verse, let me give some backstory: Jesus had just finished feeding over 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. He then told his disciples to get in the boat and go ahead of him, while he spent some time in prayer. As the disciples continue their journey, a storm begins, and they struggle to keep control of the boat. Jesus sees this and comes to meet them by walking on the water. But upon seeing this, the disciples are afraid, mistaking Jesus for a ghost. We will pick up in verse 50b as we make our way to verse 52. “Immediately, He spoke to them and said, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ Then He climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for THEY HAD NOT UNDERSTOOD ABOUT THE LOAVES; THEIR HEARTS WERE HARDENED.”

You see it too, right? “They didn’t understand about the loaves, their hearts were hardened.” I have read the book of Mark more than once, and I have never noticed this verse before. The disciples lived with Jesus, ate with Jesus, journeyed with Jesus, and witnessed every single miracle FIRSTHAND and STILL DID NOT UNDERSTAND. It made me think about my life, about all the ways I see God move in my life and in my world daily, and how, despite all He’s done, I still struggle to trust Him with 100% of my heart. It can feel discouraging, can’t it? Like a hamster on a wheel, only the hamster knows where the food is, has all the tools needed to get off the wheel, yet speeds up its pace of going nowhere. We complain about the disciples and declare that we’d have done it differently, yet here we are doing the exact same thing in real time.

Here’s the hope, friends, Jesus didn’t leave the disciples; He continued with them because He knew that one day He would lead them to understanding, one day their eyes would see fully, and when that day came, they would change the world in His name. Here’s a promise to hold on to when you feel like your heart is hardened: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Today, I am thankful that God will take away my heart of stone.

Dec23

Day 357 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Grace That Covers Disobedience

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Day 357 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Grace That Covers Disobedience

Recently, I was asked a question that I want to pose to you. If you were to give God a Christmas gift, what would it be? I had many answers: my heart, my soul, my love, and my praise. All good answers, all things that God deserves, because, well, He is God. However, as I have been going through my devotions in the Old Testament (currently in 2 Kings). I realized that what God wants above all things is our obedience. In 2 Samuel 15, God commanded Saul to completely wipe out the Amalekites, and by wipe out He meant everything, complete annihilation. But Saul did not obey, and in verse 22, Samuel, God’s prophet, says this to Saul, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

As I think about what I would give God for Christmas, my answer is obedience. Not robotic, or fearful obedience, but obedience that comes from a heart that desires to give God my very best at all times. Does that mean I’ll never disobey? No. Will God forgive me when I fall and fail? Absolutely, that’s why Jesus came. Here’s a reminder, friend: “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace“ (Romans 6:14). God desires obedience, but understands our weakness and gives us grace through Jesus, who fulfills the law so that we can live in grace.

Today, I am thankful for the grace that covers my disobedience.

Dec20

Day 354 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Tiredness

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Day 354 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Tiredness

Have you ever been tired–sick and tired of everything? Where you just want to give up and not even try. Life can be tiring, making us expend all our energy with little to no return, as we run into roadblocks and complications at every turn. You wonder if God hears, sees, or even cares. Then you feel guilty for doubting God’s love. It’s a cruel and, yes, tiring cycle. But here’s some good news: none of this is surprising to God. He is not shocked or dismayed by our breakdown. He sees, hears, and (believe it or not) understands. No, I mean it. Check this out in 2 Kings 19, we find Elijah running for his life, after the Lord displayed His tremendous power against the prophets of Baal. In verse four, Elijah is so overwhelmed by it all that he cries out to God and asks Him to end it all, “I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life, I am no better than my ancestors.” For some of us, this moment in Elijah’s life may feel very relatable. But what God does in response to Elijah’s cries is hope that we can stand on.

“All at once, an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God” 1 Kings 19:5-8.

God sent an angel to give Elijah exactly what he needed: strength for the journey. Here’s a truth you can bank on: God sees our tiredness and has exactly what we need and WILL SUPPLY IT. So cry out to God, friends, He hears, sees, and will answer.

Today I am thankful for (a God who understands) tiredness.

Dec18

Day 352 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…(NOT) Failure

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Day 352 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…(NOT) Failure

This year has been a year. We have been dealing with the pain of loss and the repercussions of bad decisions made. Making the year feel like one failure after another. If you are anything like me, that feeling of disappointing God and your loved ones is the most horrible in the world, and wallowing in that devastation becomes a playground for the accuser of our faith to remind us of our failures, faults, and flaws. But God has been teaching me that our struggles and shortcomings do not equal failure. Not to God. Where we see the bad we’ve done, our limitations, and mishaps, God sees opportunity.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NIV)

Let me say it again (for those in the back): struggling and falling flat on our faces does NOT mean we are failing. It means we are being refined and molded into the image of Him whose thoughts toward us are good. Struggles suck (yeah, I did use that word), they are painful and uncomfortable, and they make us feel like horrible humans. But, praise be to God, who tells us our struggles are momentary and working in us to achieve eternal glory. Don’t despise the struggle, friends, it’s a sign that God loves us.

Today I am thankful for (NOT) failure.

Dec11

Day 345 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Mess and Filth

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Day 345 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Mess and Filth

Feeling like you need to clean yourself up, be less ungodly, or make better choices for God to hear your prayers, love you, or accept you? Well, check this out. King David killed a man and took his wife. Abraham lied and said his wife was his sister and sent her off to another man. Moses killed a man, then ran away. Peter denied Christ, not once, twice, but three times. Paul persecuted and put to death followers of Christ without remorse or guilt. Yet, God calls David a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), praises Abraham for his faith in Him (Hebrews 11:17-19), and allows Moses to glimpse His glory (Exodus 33:18-23). He makes Peter the rock upon which His church is built (Matthew 16:18), and Paul the doorway by which Gentiles find Him (Acts 9:15). Killers, liars, and deniers, these are the people God uses. Seems crazy, right? It’s not. You see, in God’s economy, our mess and filth don’t define us. Christ is not afraid of our dirt. In fact, it’s the reason He came.

Mark 2:17 (ESV) “And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.'”

Take heart, friends, you can be a mess, the messiest mess to ever mess. But you can NEVER mess up God’s plan for you.

Today, I am thankful for my mess and filth because God isn’t afraid of dirt.

Dec5

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought…Today I Am Thankful For…Sight (Day 389 of 2025).

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Random (hopefully inspired) Thought…Today I Am Thankful For…Sight (Day 389 of 2025).

Today has felt dark, as though I am walking around with a rain cloud following me everywhere. It feels heavy, uncomfortable, and if I allow it, it will blind me to the good and excellent things around me. In John 1:46b, Philip said to Nathanael, “Come and SEE.” In verse 29 of that same chapter, we read, “The next day John SAW Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘LOOK, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.'” In Revelation 1:17, John writes, “When I SAW Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said, ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One. I was dead, and now LOOK, I am alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Philip called his friend to come and SEE the Messiah. John the Baptist SAW the Messiah and testified to what he SAW. In Revelation, John SAW Jesus and fell at His feet, but Jesus told him to LOOK. Without sight, we wander around blindly, bumping into doubt, worry, trouble, guilt, and shame. The world and its webs keep us tangled in our darkness, hiding the light of sight from our view. But Jesus said, ” LOOK, I am alive forever and ever.” But more than that, He came to be our light and give us sight. John 1:4-5. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has NOT overcome it.” Today I am thankful for the sight that comes from the light of Christ.

Dec4

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought…Today I Am Thankful For… STRUGGLES (DAY 388 of 2025)

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Random (hopefully inspired) Thought…Today I Am Thankful For… STRUGGLES (DAY 388 of 2025)

Do you struggle? I do. Every second of every day (in my humble opinion) is a struggle to do what’s right, to choose humility, forgiveness, understanding, patience, kindness, and love. We want vengeance on those who mislead us, lie to us, or hurt us. We want vindication of the movie variety, where the bad guy gets what’s coming to him, in all its Technicolor, high-definition glory. But life isn’t a movie, and God allows us to struggle not for the fun, but to build in us things that will not be shaken. Don’t believe me? Check out Hebrews 12:11-13, “No discipline/trial/struggle seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”

I am learning (very slowly) that my struggles make me stronger, build in me the attributes and character that God wants to instill in me; that even when I can’t see it (with my limited human sight), God has a purpose, a reason, a lesson for me to learn and then use to encourage others. The author of Hebrews is right: it is not comfortable, not pleasant; it is painful. If we’re looking at the waters around us instead of the God and Father who loves us, we can feel like we’re sinking and failing. And guess what? That’s OK. It’s OK to fail, it’s OK to struggle, it’s OK to cry out to God, and yes, even to whine. God can take it. BUT, He won’t leave us (you or me) there; instead, He will pick us up, dust us off, and make our feet like deer feet and enable us to tread on high places (Habakkuk 3:19). Don’t be discouraged as you struggle, be thankful that God is working in you. He loves you, and His thoughts towards you are good.

Sep12

DAY 255 (2015)

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Fill in the blank...

Fill in the blank…

Mmmm, been a while, huh? Sorry about that. Life has gotten busy, but that is not an excuse. But if there is one thing I have learned it is that when it comes to being thankful it is better late than never. So, here goes.

Since we last interacted many things have changed. For one I have relocated both state and job. The change has been good in many ways. My mom is happy, we are closer to my brother. Life on a whole has improved. My job is fun and offers a lot of opportunity for growth.

However, there still are struggles. Such as once again I still bear most of the financial burden, and the worst one, I work on Sundays (no church). Wait, no that’s not the worst the worst is that due to lack of time, and an inability to not interact with people of like minds and hearts. I have for the better part of this entire year found myself in a spiritual funk to say the least.

Not backslidden per say, but not moving forward either. I feel that for a Christian, this is the most horrible state to be. It is the place where God has said, “I will spew you from my mouth.” Let’s be honest no one ever has aspired to be spewed from anything much less God’s mouth. But that is where I found myself in the land of the lukewarm, not hot, not cold, and not just right.

Two days ago I took a hit, a bad one. My first reaction whine and complain and inevitably ask the, “Why’s it always me,” question. But then I realized the hit wasn’t meant to hurt me, it was meant to wake me up.

Yesterday was the first in a long time that I took time in my devotion. Not just skimming the words so I could say I spent time, but reading and taking to heart what was being said. Reading to see what God was teaching. I prayed that morning for a better financial situation and to not have to work on Sundays.

Almost at the end of my work day I receive an email from my supervisor it read, “you qualify for this you should apply.” I finished up what I was doing and on my break read the email. It was a job posting in the company one that would give me my Sundays back and raise my pay exponentially. What floored me is that I hadn’t mentioned this to anyone, not the need for more money nor the desire to not work on Sundays.

God heard. God answered.

What’s my point? God hears. No matter how far you stray, no matter how hard you fall– God hears. ALWAYS.

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you”  (Isaiah 54:10).

The lesson: With God you can always go back home, it’s never too late, and our Father is waiting at the gate with open arms.

So what am I thankful for today, repentance and a God, who hears, always.

Jan13

DAY 13 (2014)

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God is the DIRECTOR of my path.

God is the DIRECTOR of my path.

So yesterday I found out I had pink eye. I had to laugh, because I associate that infection with children. On Saturday I woke up with my eye swollen, red, and itchy. But let me tell you about how God used it for good. The company I work for, for the first 6 months has a 100% dependability policy. What that means is no absences. I started in the winter, in Buffalo it snows every day (okay this may be a slight exaggeration), I come from Florida. See where I am going with this? On Sunday the swelling had not gone away, and on Monday when I woke up my eyes was pink, watery, and throbbing. I had a bad, bad case of pink eye. But what that earned was a day off with no negative repercussion, which was awesome because on Monday it literally (not an exaggeration) snowed ALL day. God had once again stepped in and taken care of my worry even before I had a chance to worry about it. Today I woke up with a little bit of swelling, but no pink, and no throbbing and today the road were clear. God truly went before me to clear my path. His grace blows me away every single day.

“But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12).

So what am I thankful for today? Clear roads and a God that knows my needs before I even ask.

 

Jan11

DAY 11 (2015)

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Only God can truly answer this question...

Only God can truly answer this question…

Have you just ever had a time of worship, were you felt every song, sung, was somehow a message solely meant for you? Today’s praise and worship was like that for me… it came when we sang this chorus: “Lead me to cross where your love poured out, bring to me to my knees Lord I lay me down. Rid me of myself I belong to you. Lord lead me. Lead me to the cross.” It was one of those moments were the words felt so real it was almost difficult to say them, because they brought tears to my eyes and repentance to my heart as I realized, this wasn’t just words in a song. No, this was my heart laying prostrate before God, and giving Him the parts of myself that I have been unsuccessfully trying to hide from Him. I  felt refreshed and renewed after the experience. Then I was gently reminded of the fact that, that is the purpose of worship. We mistakenly believe worship is just a time for us to sing, when really it is a time for us to fellowship and communicate with our heavenly Father. Worship is our way of telling God how much we love Him, and opening the door for Him to reply to this message, Today my relationship with God was brought a little bit closer through worship, today parts of my heart were changed and made new in the light of His grace. Today I learned (or was reminded) that worship was a time to pour our love out to God.

“Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth” (Psalm 96:9).

So what am I thankful for today? Worship that leads me to the cross.