birthdays [+] Tuesday E-Devotion

Proverbs 10:22 (nlt) --- The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich,and he adds no sorrow with it.

Proverbs 20:7 (nlt) --- The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them.

Birthdays are everywhere I look. Our oldest daughter's is today (see this blog post). Yesterday was my dad's. This week is one of my nephews and a cousin and a church leader and another precious kid at church and another guy...the list keeps going on and on.

Whats the deal? Kind of like that old commercial of "I want to buy the world a coke" if we tried to buy them all a gift or take them all out to eat it would never end, but I love making people feel special. That is not always easy, but it is always right. Think about it. God has made us special in so, so many ways.

Since it is my little girl's birthday, we have been talking about how to make this day special...how to let her know that she is special to us. Therefore, we go out of our way to share, spend time and do special stuff. I like that. I love my kids.

Has God done that for us? YES. He has gone the extra, and I mean the EXTRA, mile in declaring His love for us, in giving us big blessings and in leading our lives every day.

When it is your birthday, you don't have to open gifts or do special stuff. But that would be strange. You don't have to acknowledge what God has done or that He loves you. But that would be wrong.

A couple things:

Proverbs 3:27 (nlt) --- Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it's in your power to help them.

Go out of your way to make people feel special. Tell those close to you what they mean to you. Watch for those around you that need a hug or an encouraging word and give it to them. Just do it. This ought to be second nature for Christians.

Romans 8:38 (nlt) --- And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.

And another thing, let God's thoughts about you become real to you. Confess it...God loves me! God has forgiven me! God has blessed me! I praise you, God!!!

Those two things may change your life. Wait a minute. Those two things will change the people around you if you live that way. It ought to be second nature for Christians. You and me.

Another reason to make birthdays special...people matter to God more than anything else!

Francis Chan's "Forgotten God" (brand new book)

One of the most powerful preachers, writers and leaders of our time, in my opinion, is Francis Chan. His first book, Crazy Love , revolutionized my thoughts about God's love as well as my interacting with God. Now it is time for a brand new book from Chan being released tomorrow, September 1st. The book is Forgotten God . This is a phenomenal book about the power that Christians and the church can and must tap into. All of it is within the Holy Spirit. Francis talks about the power that was seen in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit began to move among people. It is true that many have avoided or maybe forgotten what the Holy Spirit is all about. And like the Savior who poured out His life and blood so we have reason to rejoice, we were made to lay down our lives and give until it hurts. We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and ac...

inspiration from C.S. Lewis

There are many people, past and present, who get our attention by what they write or say or share. For me C.S. Lewis is one of those. He was a prolific writer who continues to grab the attention of thinkers from many different points of view. Lewis first grabbed my attention when I was in 5 th grader, and our teacher, Mrs. Foy, shared The Chronicles of Narnia with our class. It was a powerful time that this dreamer opened doors to thinking like I had never lived before. He wrote of faith, of far off places and of strong figures who found their character rooted deep in God. C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and died in 1963, 7 years before I was born. It wasn’t until his 30’s that under the influence of his friend Tolkien that he came to be a Christian. He was raised in a traditional church going home, turned away from God as an Atheist in his teen years and through trying to stay away from God and faith returned to God with...

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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