Peter Or Judas?

We all make mistakes. We go through stages of strengths and weaknesses. I guess that is what it means to be human. Like a football or baseball team that plays in a game, there will be some winning and some losing. The key is not if you win or lose, it is what you do after the game that matters. When you lose a game, it most definitely hurts. I have played sports my whole life and have been on more losing teams than winning ones. I know the feeling of getting beaten badly. But each time I had to make a choice. I could either give up, or I could move on to the next game. It is impossible to do both. One must make a decision, and then put their whole heart and soul into that decision.

In the New Testament, we learn a little about Judas and Peter. Both were disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Both were eager to learn all about Jesus. But both also made a terrible mistake. Judas betrayed the Lord, and Peter denied Him, even after he said he would never deny Him. The difference, though, was in what they did after their mistake. After both men realized they failed the Lord miserably, they took different paths. Judas gave up and committed suicide. But Peter decided to learn from his mistake, and as a result, he became an even stronger follower of Jesus. We, too, are faced with two options when we fail miserably. We can either learn from the experience like Peter, or we can wallow in our sin and never grow spiritually like Judas. Which one will you choose?

Revelation 21:7 says, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things."

Father, teach us to be like Peter. We can't avoid mistakes. But through Your perfect Power, we can overcome our mistakes. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Root Of The Problem

Last November, I learned that I had a disc that was protruding into my spine. The neurosurgeon gave me a few treatment options that seemed to help a great deal. Of course, he also informed me that surgery was an option, but I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. I have not had too many problems with it since then...except this morning. I can barely turn my head to the right. The pain runs down the right side of my back and into my legs. I pray it is because I slept on it wrong, and it is just aggravated. But in the back of my mind, I know the disc problem is still there and is not going to go away on its own. Please pray that I will not need the surgery. God is still in the miracle business!

This injury reminds me of something. In our lives, we all have problems. Most of those problems are things out of our control, such as my injury, but some of our problems are a direct result of our bad decisions. I can tell you first hand that making bad decisions can lead to a lifetime of regret and sorrow. But it is never too late to make the right decisions and alter our lifetime course. In order to do that, though, we must get to the root of the problem. We can't just mask it and hope it will go away. Oh, it will go away temporarily. But it will always sneak back in sometime and haunt us. By confronting the problem at the source, we have a much better chance of destroying it once and for all. I can think of no better way to do that than to ask for God's help! We know all things are possible with God. Today, let's take a moral inventory of our lives and decide what needs serious changing. Then, go to the root of the problem with Jesus. What problem is bigger than He?

Jeremiah 17:14 says, "Heal me O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for though art my praise."

Father, I ask you to heal my injury. I also ask you to help me right all my wrong decisions. I have faith that you will give me my heart's desire. In Jesus name, Amen.

Can I Lose My Salvation?

My devotion yesterday entitled, "It's Over", was about a battle we no longer need to fight. That battle "is over". There is no reason why we should beat ourselves up or stress ourselves sick with worry that God will not forgive us for a sin, no matter how terrible it may be, once we are saved. For that reason, we will see murders, rapists, thieves, and such in heaven. All sin is equal in the eyes of God. If we have sin, Romans 6:23 ensures us that the penalty is death. But it also adds that God is offering us a free gift through Jesus Christ. That gift of forgiveness only comes from accepting His Son. The gift is two-fold: Not only does He forgive us our sins, but He also promises us eternal life!

I know the subject of Losing Our Salvation is not viewed the same way by everybody. I am not a bible scholar, but I do have my own opinion. It is my belief that there is only one thing in the world that we can do to receive His gift of Salvation, and there is only one way we can "lose" it. The only way to receive it is to accept His Son Jesus Christ as our personal savior. The only way to lose it is to "give it back to Him" and never accept it again. I believe in order to "give it back to Him", we would have to make a conscious effort to denounce Him for the rest of our life. Of course anybody can be saved or 'rededicated' on their "death bed". The thief on the Cross proved that. Our salvation is not based on works or how much we go to church or anything else that some people "dream up". If we were required to do anything other than accept Christ, then what Christ did on the cross was insufficient. But Jesus clearly said, as he passed His spirit on to the Father, "It is finished." That's it! He did it all. All the things that we do for Christ is not so we can be saved, it is because we are saved. If you have accepted Christ, relax, you are going to heaven, and all of your past sins, or future ones, will never come up again. Not only does God say he has removed our sin "as far as the east is from the west", He also says that He will "remember it no more". God has removed our worry about Salvation this very minute! Now we can replace our worry with energy, and honor and Glorify Him forever. Share His Good News with everyone!

I have found no less than 10 verses in the Bible that lead me to to this conclusion. Once you are saved by the Blood of Jesus, no sin, past, present, or future can "snatch you away from the Father". John 3 15 says, "everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life."

Father, thank you for Your Son Jesus. Please relieve our worry about Salvation. In Jesus name, Amen.

It's Over

As humans, we are subject to many struggles while here on earth. But God guarantees us two things with regards to our struggles: We will get through them, and He will walk with us, sometimes carrying us, until we do (Psalm 34:17). You know the expression "we have to choose our battles?" Well there is one battle that many of us choose to fight, though there is absolutely no reason why we should.

Jesus died for our sins. If we have accepted Him as our Savior, then God has completely forgiven us for all our sins, even the ones we have not even committed yet. Sometimes we struggle with the worry if we have made God mad at us because of choices we may have made. But God is not mad at us, He loves us! The Old Testament explains of how God's wrath was poured out on those who chose to disobey Him. But today, we live by His New Testament. We are under His grace today, not the old Law. Once we accept Christ, we become a "new creature." God promises that the old us is passed away! Will we still sin? Yes, we can't avoid it. But we should never worry that we have made God mad at us and caused Him to turn His back. He will never leave us nor forsake us...not for our sins, our decisions, or for anything else we may do.

Father, forgive me of all my sins. Please help me to not get bogged down worrying if you still accept me. I know You will always accept me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Hold On A Little longer

We know we must put God first in our lives, above family, friends, job, and ourselves. But what exactly does that mean? That's a tough one! I have learned that not putting Him first can be a disaster. I have chosen to put other things, and people, above God. If you were to ask me if God was first in my life, I would have given you a quick response: yes! But when things went all wrong in my life, I had to take a step back and determine if He really was first in my life. Sadly, my actions showed that He was not.

I think of it like exercising to lose weight. In order to start burning fat, we must first get our heart rate up to a certain level. Ranging on the type of exercise and our particular body type, that can take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. Until we get to that level though, we are not going to see great results with weight loss. Maybe that is how it is with God. A quick prayer here and there can do wonders for us spiritually. But we also need to find a time to actually exercise prayer and the seeking of God's will. It may take more than 5 or 6 minutes. It may take a little bit of time getting out spiritual heart rate up to the level where we really start feeling Christ, and learning His will for our life. We have to stop, take sufficient time, and listen to Him. Perhaps we give up too soon, or stop too quickly. After all, it is hard to hear Him speak sometimes when we are running ninety-to-nothing!

2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Father, forgive me for not seeking You first in my life. You have shown me the error of my ways Please guide me through Your will. In Jesus name, Amen.

God Is Good!

Last night was a terrible night! Part of my trouble is this chronic insomnia. God is dealing with that. First of all, I would like to apologize if my devotion sounded like I was giving up on my life. I'm not! I do have many things in which to be thankful. I have been praying all day...and I mean ALL day! I guess I feel like Peter. I do feel guilty, childish and selfish. But I also feel deep remorse for my actions. I don't think I gave up on God like last night...the Bible says that anything we do against God COMES FROM SATAN, and not from us. Now God forgives me. Will you?

We as Christians are always learning how to live more like Christ. But we are only human, born to make mistakes. I am making a profession of faith that I will not allow Satan to use anything in my personal life to derail me from spreading God's Glory. True, I don't understand what is happening...I may never. But no matter what life throws my way, I can not give up. I have been writing devotions for a few years now, and I honestly truly enjoy trying to search for the words God wants me to write. So, regardless of my situation, I do have faith that God will use every single devotion for His Glory. God loves me very very much, regardless of how I feel at times. He also loves You! Please take my advise and don't let Satan cloud your vision of Jesus Christ. I will continue to write devotions with His help!

Psalm 32:5 says, "I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity, I said ' I confess my transgressions to the Lord'- And you forgave the guilt of my sin."

Father, forgive me! Even at my darkest hour, I know You have a wonderful plan for my life. I accept what I can not have, and I will strive to further Your perfect Kingdom. In Jesus Holy name, Amen.

What A Combination!

What happened this past weekend in Bellvue, Washington was one of the strangest things I have ever heard about. Fire officials say a sunny day and a dog's glass water bowl combined to cause a blaze that charred the back of a home. They said that the glass water bowl acted as a magnifying glass to start the fire on the back deck. Luckily the dog was rescued, but the blaze caused $215,000 in damage! The sun and a glass water bowl? Who knew?

You know it is the combination of things that tend to cause bad stuff to happen, and even good stuff too. For example, all my students are good, but certain combinations of students can cause me extra stress due to their misbehavior. One or two can be absent one day, and the entire class atmosphere is totally different. And think about how certain meds combined with others can cause undesired side-effects, or worse. That's why you should always inform doctors of all meds you take if he prescribes a new one. What about trying to lose weight? You can diet or exercise and lose some weight, but the combination of the two together will blast the fat away! I am continuing to learn of another awesome combination of things. If you want a closer relationship with our Savior, you should do more than just pray or read your Bible or go to church. I have found it is the combination of all those things that gets God's attention the most. A daily diet of prayer, bible study, faith, hope, and striving to live like Christ will blast away loneliness, despair, etc. Try it! It can be a very damaging combination to Satan!

I Corinthians 15:58 says, "Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Father, please help me to continue to strive to do all the things that bring me closer to You. Thank you for being with me during this awful time in my life. In Jesus name, Amen.

Jesus, How Can You Sleep At A Time Like This?

Well here we go again, round 8 of insomnia. Since last Monday, I would venture to say I have slept less than a total of 10 hours. I found myself today unable to concentrate, even on the simplest of tasks. Around lunch time, I had to get a sub to take over the rest of my classes. But when I came home, not only could I not sleep, I couldn't even rest. It is now after midnight, and although my entire body is totally exhausted, I just can not turn off my mind; It is racing ninety-to-nothing. My mind is jumbled and my heart is in a state of anxious turmoil. But I am confident that the Good Lord will "fix" my problem very soon!

Do you remember the story of how Jesus calmed the storm one night on the Sea of Galilee? As the story goes in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus and His disciples were crossing to the other side of the lake when a huge storm blew up. The winds from this storm caused mad waves to fill up their boat. The disciples, who were obviously used to storms on the lake, were in a state of panic! Could this storm have been hurricane-strength? The Bible does not say. But it was bad enough to frighten these seasoned maritime veterans! They scrambled to find Jesus, who was peacefully asleep down below on a pillow. They woke Him, and He got up and stopped the storm instantly! We all know storms gradually die down, but not this one! Jesus simply said, "Peace, be still". While my personal storm rages about causing me insomnia, Jesus WILL rebuke it, too. I absolutely have no doubt that just any day now, He is going to stretch forth His loving hands over me and say, "Peace Allen, be still." And when He does, the very first thing I am going to do, as soon as I wake up, is jump on here and tell you what an amazing thing God has done for me! To be continued...

Psalm 85:8 says, "I will listen to what God the Lord will say; He promises peace to His people, His saints."

Father, How great thou art! Although I am in the midst of the worst storm of my life, I know that soon, You will bring me sweet peace. Thank You Lord! In Jesus name, Amen.

The Mayonnaise Jar

Well, it's 3:30 Sunday Night/Monday morning, and my severe case of insomnia continues. So instead of just tossing and turning in bed, I decided to write a devotion. I found this one on the Internet. It seems to be from an unknown writer. Since we all know that every good thing comes from heaven, and this one is very good, I will credit Jesus for writing it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed."Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things- your God, your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with God. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal." Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand. One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Mr. Sandman

Well this is the fourth day without sleep! Actually I think I slept about 2 hours last night. I occasionally have insomnia, but this is ridiculous! I know it is related to my personal matters. I can't take those sleep aids because they give me the "creepy crawlies" in my legs, and because they never seem to work until I am about to get up in the morning. Then I am dragging and drowsy the whole day. I know I must look cute today with these huge bags under my eyes. But through the sleeplessness all week, I have made it to work each day. Although I am extremely exhausted, I am still effective as a teacher, for I am still getting on their nerves as much as I always have. So that's normal, and a good thing.

Today's devotion is a piggyback of yesterday's. I am going through the most trying times of my life. I am getting beaten and battered right now, but I know God will not let me fall. My personal situations will turn back in my favor soon, I just know it. The biggest tragedy started about 6 months ago, but I still have hope that it will get better. And I can't go much longer without sleep. That, too, will soon get better. "They" say we should keep a positive attitude! Well, I am trying. "They" say I will be a stronger person one day because of my endurance. Well, we will see. Life is a series of mountain tops and valleys. This just happens to be a valley for me-a very low one! There are two people in this world who know exactly what it will take to catapult me instantly to the highest mountain top. But one of those people is just not ready yet. But I STILL have hope! I am learning that hope is one of the most powerful forces in the world!

Lamentations 3:26 says, "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait on the Lord."

Father, although I am struggling right now, thank you that I am alive! You know my heart's desire. I pray for Jackie, Lord. She is awesome! Please be with her, as she too struggles right now. Thank you for what You will accomplish in our lives if we just don't lose hope and faith in You. In Jesus name, Amen.