Who's Your Daddy?

Scripture: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

We often times say about our children, “You are just like your dad. Or she looks just like her mom.” And there is no mistaking that we inherit certain traits and qualities from our parents. I am sure that is both good and bad. Sometimes I see myself in my children and cringe! But my sister spoke to me the other day about some undesirable qualities we have in our linage and she said, “I am thankful I have a new daddy.” I can’t stop thinking about that!

All too often we succumb to thinking that we are “just that way”. We have always been this way and we can’t overcome the “way we are”. That is a lie from the pit of hell! You can overcome those things that keep you bound and downcast! You have a new daddy! You now possess the abilities and traits of your Eternal Father! Christ is your brother. It is possible to inherit His traits and qualities!

How do we begin that transformation? One thing we must do is stop getting in agreement with the lie! You are not just like whomever… You fill in the blank. Was your dad and alcoholic? Was your mom a thief? Just because they were that way does not mean that you have to travel that same course. When you accept Christ, you take on his body and his qualities. However, you do have to renew your mind. Take charge of your thoughts that say well, my sister deals with depression it is natural from me to be depressed. No, decide that you are a new creation in Christ and every time you begin to make excuses for your sinful behaviors stop buying into the thought of this is “just how I am”. You are destined for great things, but we defeat ourselves in our head.

Let me be clear I am not condemning your behaviors as sinful, but I am saying you may be bound by your thinking. Just by default if you have always been a certain way, then you may be under the influence of a lie from your enemy. Satan could be stealing your inheritance by selling you a bill of lies. I will not deny that there are certain physical dispositions that are clinically proven to be passed down through your genes, but God is bigger than that. Do not let your mind tell you that this is just the way you have to be, because it was “passed down”.

I want you to be prayerful about anything that you would classify as hereditary. Whatever it is if it is keeping you from living an abundant life of grace, then you need to seek God to renew your thinking. Sin begins in our head. Ask God to show you what lies you are buying into, so that God can show you truth and set you free. Someone out there needs this miracle! Be sure to let me know when it happens, so we can glorify our Father together! Praise His name!

Your Sister,
Leslie Stephens
McMinnville, TN

Prayer: God, you are indeed our Father, we want to be just like you. Renew our minds and give us right thinking, so that we can have the abundant life Jesus bought for us on the cross. We want to act like children of the Most High God! Amen.

Prayer Tip: Seeking truth is an act we must choose to do. Take time when you pray to ask God to reveal truth to you as He sees it. When you really want to know the deal, He is faithful to show you.

Just 30 Minutes

This devotion is in loving memory of a faithful servant of The Most High God, Travis Burt. I never actually met Travis in person. He has written devotions for me as a gift of love and support. Please pray for his family in their grief. Chaplain, I pray that you are feasting on the bounty of Christ in all its fullness my friend. And I am excited that you now know the VICTORY of Christ!

Travis sent this devotion to me as a personal email on January 29th, 2011, less than 30 days before his death February 13, 2011. He had no idea that his time to share was almost up. I pray that this story inspires you to make the most of the time you have here on this earth for Christ and His Kingdom.

Just 30 Minutes...
I often pray, as you do... for opportunities to share The Hope In Christ, we ourselves have received... with both those I know, but especially with strangers. It is amazing how many opportunities of sharing Christ Jesus... I am sure I have balked on... when I restrain taking action, as He has Commanded to all His Followers, through shamefully... "reserving immediate action" by "not getting involved in other peoples' problems/business... you know what I'm saying.

We needed a few things from the grocery store, so I simply dropped Susan off right at the front of the entrance door of Sav-A-Lot store, off West Lincoln Street in Tullahoma. (Susan had asked me to stay in the car, because I often reach for things that are just too expensive for our limited amount of money to spend to "get what we want". Smile~~~! I think you know what she was saying, too. Smart woman! )

So there I sat... in for a wait... and, I don't like sitting in a car waiting to pick her up. Well, the first thing I spotted was a very elderly woman, who seemed very confused about how to get her groceries into her old 1968 Ford, Thunderbird. I mean she would lift out a bag, only to put it back in the shopping cart... she acted like so many, dare I say... senile people... we all know.

I simply exited my vehicle, carefully approached her, so as not to frighten her... and ask would she give me the privilege of assisting her in properly placing her bags of groceries in the vehicle. She advised me she was 84 years old, and probably should not be driving... that she was shopping for her next door neighbor, too, who was too sick, and older than her... to get out. She could not find her keys, to put the things in the truck, keeping the things belonging to her neighbor separated from her things, said it made it easier to handle that way, when she got home. Well, we found the keys, where she had left them, in the drivers seat of her vehicle. (She was so very embarrassed about this, I just laughed... and told her I had done things like this before, which was not true, but my words seem to give her comfort.) It was so easy to stand there, and listen to her predicaments of her great fears of losing her driver's license, as her doctor had said could happen, if she continued to keep driving. I fully understood how she felt, and which of us elderly seniors, would not? I asked if I might pray with her, and she warmly smiled, although taken back a bit back... and said, "No one has ever prayed for me in a parking lot, but PLEASE do!" I gently took her hands in mine... and prayed... watching her eyes, shed warm tears flowing down her cheeks as we prayed. Yes, I assured her... confirmed in her... Jesus Loves her... and it was by His Spirit I was moved to exit my vehicle, and draw next to her side. I advised her to give all the Glory to God... and the fact I was simply His Servant... and probably His Least One, at that. I walked back to my vehicle, thanking God for such opportunity to elevate His Name, and demonstrate His Love for us all.

Okay, I thought... mission accomplished... now I could rest, and wait on Susan. Wanna bet? The next scene that came before me was an attractive young woman, talking loudly on her cell phone... it was not difficult for me to hear, with windows rolled down on this lovely day... every word she was screaming into her cell phone. Her last words in this one sided conversation I could plainly hear, were... "I am telling you, damn it... I want to see my babies... these are my babies!!! and I'll be &^%$ @*!a, if I let you get by with this!!! She slammed off her cell phone, if one could do that, raised the phone toward the sky... and broke out in angry tears, as she shook the phone toward the sky, in great bitterness and anger.

Well, she walked directly by my vehicle driver's side, my window had remained down.. apparently to move on to reach her next destination. "Young lady... would you walk over here for a minute... I am a Chaplain.. and want but a moment of your time... to pray for you!" "What? I thought... Travis have you lost your mind... this young woman is raging mad... now what will happen here, in this very public place! What will people think? " I was shocked to see her moving toward me, and her story spilled out about what caused her rage. I simply listened to her broken heart speak... and then asked her to give me her hand, and allow me to pray with her... she did so immediately. As I prayed... I literally felt her hands become more relaxed... as her tears fell to the ground... and she thanked me profusely for being willing to pray for a stranger, in a parking lot... and reported she felt a new hope in her heart, as I also assured her God would arrange for her to see those "babies"... in His Time, not hers. I asked her name, and she said, "Angel". I simply told her she had a beautiful name, and now was the time to act like one. I thanked her for her allowing me to pray for her... and asked that she pray for me too (I gave her my "Chaplain Card")... when time would be available for her to do so. She promised she would, and squeezed my hand, before she walked away ... a gesture I understood, as ongoing gratitude, of just knowing God had not, and would not... abandon her.

Now, I sincerely desire to make this VERY PLAIN to you each. I am sending this "sharing"... and want you to realize... None of what happened in this parking lot... was any of my making... it was simply our Jesus creating moments of these of His Gifts of Opportunities to me. Most of you have experienced such things... and allow me to confess... I have not taken opportunities as I should have... many times. Yep, I have missed a bunch... by feeling this would be an awkward time and place... and being so stupidly concerned about how I might be misunderstood... or even more worse an excuse... the famous "What will people think of me... if I do this?'. Well, this year I will be seventy... somehow you get a little bolder in your words... and say, perhaps stupid things... but ya don't care, at least as much, about what people think... you begin to be more concerned about what Jesus Thinks, Amen? (And, to think... all of this took less than thirty minutes... to unfold.)

Chaplain Travis Burt
Heavenly Home (address unknown)

Prayer: Father God, please help us prioritize sharing our faith with others, so that the hope we have in Christ might make a difference before we die. Amen.

Prayer Tip: Before you begin your day ask God to make opportunities for you to share you hope with others and give you eyes to see those opportunities.

Hands Free!

Scripture: Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior. Psalm 24:3-5

Since I had another baby I find myself without enough hands. When I go to get in the car I have to make 3 or 4 trips to get it all loaded: Diaper bag, cup, toy bag, purse, baby, jackets, ect. When I return home I always find myself unable to open the door, because I have my hands packed full of stuff.

It occurred to me as I was trying to open the door with my hands full that is how we look standing at the foot of the cross. We are so encumbered that we can’t even raise up our hands. It is only when we come to Christ and lay down those things that we are holding that we can free our hands for service and praise!

Whatever you are gripping tightly, you must lay it down at Christ’s feet, so that your hands are free to praise Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. As you come to your prayer time this week, picture yourself walking up to Christ. Begin to visualize yourself lying down your burdens. With empty hands begin to praise him for all he is going to do in those situations. He is able!

Leslie Stephens
McMinnville, TN

Prayer: God help us to trust you enough to empty our hands, so that we may praise and serve you better. Amen.

Prayer Tip: Imagining Christ standing before you helps make your prayer experience more tangible.

Seasonal Gardening

Scripture: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Once upon a time I had a teachable moment with my children in the bath tub. The topic was the difference between good and bad fruit as Jesus taught in Matthew. We then got the list of the fruit of God’s Spirit from Galatians 5:22 (But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control.) where we find a great discription of good fruit. Here is where I realized that the kids were teaching me something…

I thought about the good fruit and assumed that bad fruit must be the opposite of the good. Therefore if the good fruit is love, then the bad fruit is hate. The kids were great at figuring out opposites. If joy is a fruit of God’s spirit, then depression is a bad fruit.

With my mind and heart turned toward the Advent Season I was pondering this week’s focus: Peace. Peace is a fruit of God’s Spirit. It is a good fruit. What is the opposite of Peace? Ouch!!! I found some rotten fruit in my basket here. I realized that turmoil, strife, unrest, worry, fear, and anxiety would all fit the bad list! O what a time to remember that the punishment that Jesus experienced is what brought us peace!

The peace that Jesus brought us came at a very high price. Yet in many cases we do not walk in the peace of Christ. If the fruit we display is not good fruit, then we must not be walking in the Spirit of Christ. Can we just decide to be peaceful? I think if it were that easy then everyone would be doing it.

The peace of Advent is a renewing of our mind. We must first be aware that we are not experiencing the peace of Christ before we can ever hope to put on that peace. Much like peace was a gift Jesus brought to us, recognizing our bad fruit is a gift from God. We must seek truth in order to find truth. We must seek Christ in order to find fellowship with Him. We must seek peace… Get the picture?

I pray that this Christmas you will indeed find the peace of Christ which WAY surpasses the peace that gifts, charity, and time off from work can give you. May you have a renewed mind with much more that visions of sugar plumbs and may you find the fruit of God’s Spirit in the stocking of your heart. Let the Prince of Peace rule in your lives now and always.

Prayer: Great and awesome God, help us unwrap your gift of peace this Christmas, so that the reality of Jesus can be made evident to someone who has not experienced the peace of Christ. Amen

Prayer Tip: Examining the fruit in your life during quiet times of prayer and meditation can allow God to expose your sin and the roots that bear bad fruit.

Leslie Stephens
Winchester, TN