The Great Delegator

We've all heard that a good boss or manager is one who is also a good delegator. Now that does not mean that he or she assigns duties and then simply sits back and does nothing. On the contrary, a good boss only assigns jobs to others that he is willing to do himself. Each member of his staff has strengths and weaknesses, and a good manager will assign duties to them accordingly. By delegating to those best suited for the tasks, the manager is then free to oversee all operations of the business. A company can only be as strong as its manager. And a manager can only be as effective as his employees.

God is an awesome delegator. The Bible says no man has ever seen God, but we all have seen His works. He always works through others. He works through doctors, preachers, teachers, and even kids. In Psalm 91, we learn that God even sends His angles to protect over us. The Scriptures are full of examples of God working through others to reach us. And when you think about it, He used some pretty unlikely workers (a young boy named David and a weakling named Gideon instantly come to mind). I'm reminded about the comical story of the college professor, a true atheist, who yells at the ceiling, "Here I am God. If you are real, then come knock me off this podium. I will give you exactly 15 minutes." After 14 minutes go by, he yelled again, "God, you only have 1 minute remaining to knock me from this podium". About that time, a Marine who had been one of the students in the class got up, walked over to the professor, and popped him in the mouth, knocking him to the floor and rendering him unconscious. After a few minutes, the professor woke up, and while still dazed asked the Marine why the heck he did that. The Marine replied, "God was busy...He sent me!" Since God delegates through anybody and anything, I'm sure He can also use you and me. God, the great manager and delegator, has a perfect job for us. Do you know what your job is? If not, simply spend some time with Him and keep your eyes and ears open. He may just reveal your job through a most unlikely source.

I Peter 4:10 says, "God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of gifts. Use them well to serve one another."

Father, please use me to help others according to Your will. I ask you to also reveal what you would have us all to do. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Second Best Gift From God

What is the absolute greatest gift God has ever given to you or to me? His precious Son Jesus Christ! After all, if it wasn't for that one amazing gift of love, we would all be doomed to an Eternal Life in hell. But today, I want to talk about the second greatest gift He has ever given to us. That is our children! God cared and trusted us enough to give us one, or some, of His precious babies for us to take care of for Him temporarily. I say temporarily because none of us knows how long God will keep them here in our care. But the amazing thing is that out of all the children and parents in the world, He trusted us with the best ones (all parents think their children are the best). So I wanted to take a moment to brag on my daughter Bailey Morgan. Today, she is 13-years old. I just can not believe that this little girl, who used to fit in my hands, is now taller than her Mom...and today she is a teenager!

Bailey is a sweet, warm, and caring young lady. She has brought joy into my life that, unless you are a parent yourself, you just can not understand. She has many friends, and she makes wonderful grades in school. She is always in a good mood and always fun to be around. She started taking music lessons a while back and now plays guitar, piano, flute, and drums. I can barely play the radio! She is much smarter than I ever was at 13. Bailey is happy, and she is healthy. What more could a parent hope for? So Bailey Boo, happy birthday! I want you to know you are so loved by so many people. I hope you enjoy this special day! Daddy loves you sweetheart!

Genesis 18:19 says, "I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord , by doing what is right and just."

Father, thank you for Bailey. I ask that you help her to have an extra special day today. In Jesus name, Amen.

Energy Shot

Have you ever had one of those days in which you just couldn't seem to get going? From the time my alarm went off this morning at 6 until I arrived at work nearly 2 hours later, I could barely keep my eyes open. And then once I got to work, my lack of energy made climbing stairs almost impossible. So I decided to do something drastic. I walked across the street to Rite Aid and got a Red Bull Energy Drink. Just to make sure it worked, I also chased that down with one of those small, 5-hour energy drinks. It is now 11, and I am bouncing off the walls more than my checks bounce down at the bank. But one thing is for sure. I am definitely awake now!

Today's energy rush reminds me of the energy I feel after hearing a dynamic preacher or reading a powerful verse in the Bible. Spiritually speaking, we all suffer from "down" moments. We can find ourselves just barely making it through Church or through our daily Bible devotions. When this happens, we need a powerful jolt from the Holy Spirit! God can quickly transform us from 0 to 100 in a flash! He can "wake" us up spiritually and get us bursting with energy for Him. When we are just barely going through the motions, it is hard to convince a non-believer that the Christian life is a happy one. But when we are absolutely on fire for Jesus, it becomes contagious. And with God's help, we can set everybody else around us on fire for Him too! Have you asked Jesus for your "Red Bull" today?

John 15:11 says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

Father, please set me on fire for You. Help me to spread that fire to everybody around me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Bonus Points

As a teacher, I have noticed something peculiar about my students. They love working for bonus points. Now that in itself isn't so strange. But what is so strange is that they will work much harder for a 5-point bonus question than for a 100-point test. The minute they get their test, many will go straight to the bonus and start working. Because bonus questions are generally more difficult, they will waste valuable time on the bonus question that they need to spend on the actual test. On my website, I have added a bonus quiz for my high school and college students. Just for taking the quiz, they receive 5 bonus points added to their next test. It is amazing how they will jump on the computer and spend 30 minutes working for 5 bonus points, but won't even spend half that amount of time studying for the 100-point chapter exam.

As Christians, are our priorities just as backwards as those of my students? Do we find ourselves working extra hard for things of this world but then barely spending any time at all on things of heaven? When was the last time we put in "overtime" to study our Bible or pray? When was the last time we turned the TV off and went out witnessing for Christ? When was the last time we set our clocks one hour earlier just so we could spend that time with God? There's nothing wrong with working hard at our careers, at our family, or even at our leisure time. But we should never do it at the expense of God's time. Why would we work so hard to get unimportant things in this world but then neglect working for the great things that are truly Eternal?

Matthew 6:19 says, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

Father, please forgive us when we get our priorities mixed up. Teach us to work for heaven, not for earth. In Jesus name, Amen.

Capture The Enemy

It was on this day in 1945 that U.S. marines raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. The 36-day assault saw heavy casualties on both sides. Of the 22,000 Japanese fighting soldiers, just a little over 1000 survived. Although there were many American deaths, over 6800, the battle campaign proved successful, as Iwo Jima was a very strategic location. It was occupied by the U.S. until 1968, when it was returned to Japan. To be successful, the American marines had to become experts at capturing their enemies. The Japanese dug thousands of underground tunnels and trenches. It was hard for the Americans to even find the Japanese soldiers, let alone capture them. But the training and expert command of the Americans proved the difference in the battle.

We are all fighting a spiritual war today. The war is raging on the battle fields of our minds. What is our enemy? Negative thoughts. Have you ever been around somebody who was always negative? It has a way of rubbing off on us. The opposite of that is also true. I just love to be around positive people. For us to remain positive, we must capture all our negative thoughts before they take root. God is our Battle General, and He has trained us well for this war. Today, let's make a true attempt at capturing our negative thoughts. It won't be easy. In fact, sometimes it will be very difficult. But we have a secret weapon....prayer! Are you ready to let God transform your thoughts? Are you ready to win this battle?

Proverbs 16:7 says, "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him."

Father, please help me fight off negative thoughts today. I know that through You, I can do all things. In Jesus name, Amen.

Teach Me To Be Usable

In the 45th chapter of Isaiah, we learn a little bit about Cyrus. He did not know God, but God decided to bless him anyway. The Lord empowered Cyrus and caused mighty kings to become paralyzed with fear in Cyrus' presence. God told him, "I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness-secret riches." God further said, "I have equipped you for battle, though you don't even know me." If God is willing to do this for someone who doesn't know Him, just imagine what God will do for those of us who do know Him.

As a child of God, we are so incredibly blessed! Every single one of us has a job to do for Christ. He has equipped us to help further His kingdom. For years, I struggled with what I was going to do with my life. I would pray and ask God to reveal his will to me. I was constantly asking Him to use me. He wanted to use me, but at the time I was not usable. He finally called me to become a teacher, but I had to first go through 6 years of college. And let me tell you, it was not easy. But when God calls us to do something, He also equips us with everything we need to be successful. He held my hand all through school and even helped me to get my dream job teaching at my Alma Mater, Dothan High School. By following his leading, He was able to make me usable. Do you know what your calling is? Ask God to reveal it to you and to prepare you for the job. Who knows, maybe your dream job is just around the corner!

Ezra 8:22 says, "The hand of our lord is upon all them for good that seek Him."

Father, thank you for teaching me how to be a teacher. I thank you for my dream job. I pray that You will help lead somebody else to their dream job soon. In Jesus name, Amen.

Where Am I?

I am planning a trip to New Orleans in the near-future, so I decided to get a GPS receiver. What a cool gadget! I am amazed at the accuracy of the information that it displays on the screen. It will allow you to type in any address, and then the system guides you right to the front door! Amazing! It even talks and tells you where to turn so you can keep your eyes on the road. There are over 6 million points of interest programmed in the system. Just for fun, I typed in Walmart. It gave me street-by-street directions to the nearest location. I will never be lost again!

God is like a GPS receiver. No matter how lost you may be or how far off the beaten path you may go, God can instantly guide you back to Him. Sometimes we feel like we are just too lost for Him to find us. Impossible! Sometimes we feel like we have gone so far out of the way that He doesn't even want to find us. Nonsense! God loves us and wants us to be in complete fellowship with Him. No matter where we are, God can track us down and guide us back "home". If you are lost today or if you have strayed far from Jesus, there is no reason to worry about it any longer. Call on Him! He will find you, and He will save you. GPS...God Personally Saves!

Chronicles 15:2 says, "The Lord is with you; If you seek Him, you will find Him."

Father, thank you for saving us. Thank you for loving us enough to always bring us back when we get lost. We praise Your Holy name! In Jesus name, Amen.

There's One Missing

It never fails. On Easter Sunday our family gets together to hide eggs for the kids. It is always so much fun to get out in the yard and help them find those eggs, especially the little kids. But for some reason, maybe Murphy's Law, there is always one egg that we never find. We can hide 100 eggs or only 10 eggs, but either way, we will find all of them except one. Of course we do find the "missing" egg about a week later...all we have to do is "follow our nose".

How many times when we are confessing our sins to God do we try to hide one from Him? If you are like me, I have no problem revealing each one of my sins to the Lord and asking Him to forgive me. When I am praying, I feel a certain closeness to Him while confessing my sins that I don't feel any other time. But there seems to always be one sin that I try to "hide" from Him because I am so ashamed of it. Maybe you can relate to that. It is so easy to reason that if we ignore it, it will go away. But we know it won't simply go away by itself. We know we can't hide anything from our precious Lord. The best thing for us to do is just admit all of our sins and ask Him to give us a fresh, new start. Is there some un-confessed sin "hiding" deep inside your heart? Perhaps we should ask God to help us "find" it before it starts stinking up our whole life.

I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (emphasis added)

Father, please forgive us for ALL our sins. Help us to face even the worst sin and to confess it to You. Remind us that there is NO sin too big for You to forgive. In Jesus name, Amen.

What A Trade!

New York Yankee Superstar Alex Rodriguez, better known as A-Rod, has found himself in hot water. He has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, which are banned by Major League Baseball. He admitted to taking the drugs, using the excuse that it was necessary for him to keep up his level of being the highest paid baseball player in history. By the way, he "earns" about 28 million dollars per year! That comes out to more than $19,000 per inning of baseball. When he was traded a few years ago, it made major headlines! Now, he makes more money than the entire Seattle Mariner team combined. Can you imagine how great it would feel to be wanted by a team that bad? Money aside, it would be an awesome feeling to know somebody thinks that highly of you.

But somebody did think that highly of you. God "traded" His Superstar Son Jesus for you and for me. He gave us an Eternal Lifetime contract which is worth far-more than 28 million dollars, or any other amount of dollars! The incredible thing is, we do not even have the skills to be on His team. Every single one of us is so bad that no other "coach" would even consider signing us to their team. But God sees something special in each one of us. No matter how bad our skills are, He will train us for the perfect position in heaven! And we don't have to worry about performance anxiety because with God coaching us in heaven, we will be perfect through Him! I can just hear it over the heavenly P.A. system: "Now batting for Jesus and His Redeemed, Allen Skipper." Are you in His lineup?

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace are ye saved by faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God, not of works."

Father, thank you for loving me enough to trade Your only Son Jesus for me. I will follow You all the days of my life. In Jesus name, Amen.

True Love

Today is the Eve of St. Valentine's Day. Can you imagine just how busy flower and gift shops are right about now? Everybody wants to get a Valentine. Being loved, and being shown that you are loved, are awesome feelings. The Bible tells us volumes of information about love. Jesus said we are to love everybody just as much as we love ourselves. But there is one love that should be even greater than our love for others. That is our love for Jesus Christ. How do we show our love for the Lord? One way is by demonstrating true faith in Him.

In the 8th chapter of Matthew, we learn of a man's faith that, in Jesus' words, was "amazing". He was a Roman soldier, and he asked Jesus to heal his servant. That in itself demonstrated the soldier's degree of love for others, even for his servant. But it was his amount of faith in God that amazed Jesus. Jesus told him that He would go to the soldier's servant. But the soldier insisted that he was not worthy of Jesus coming into his house, and he asked if Jesus would just say the word, and that would instantly heal his servant from there. Do we have that much faith in Jesus? That soldier knew that it was God's Word, not just His touch, that brought healing power to suffering people. Contrast that level of faith with the faith of Thomas. Thomas could not believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead unless he could actually see Him and "place his hands in His wounds." I can't judge Thomas' lack of faith because Lord knows my faith falters sometimes too. But with His help, maybe it can grow! And by growing my faith in Jesus, I will also be growing my love for Him. And not just some sweet, little Valentine love...but a deep, spiritual love that simply can not be explained.

Deuteronomy 6:5 says, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

Father, please help me to increase my faith in You. I want to have as much faith as that Roman soldier. In Jesus name, Amen.