“They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.” – Luke 9:17

In Luke chapter 9, we read about Jesus feeding the 5000 with 2 fishes and 5 loaves of bread. Jesus blessed the meal and then handed out pieces to everyone. After they all got their fill, they picked up the scraps that were left over and they filled 12 wicker baskets.

In our lives, we are blessed everyday. If you have a warm meal, a safe place to sleep, or even if you simply woke up this morning, you have been blessed by the Lord. The disciples and people following Jesus were blessed by getting the loaves, but what about the scraps?

God said He would bless those who love Him and that He’d do it abundantly. The things we see as being good are definitely blessings, but so are the bad. We focus on the big things, the loaves. What we don’t see are the scraps. The small portions of blessings that we are given daily. All of those little irritations and annoyances we experience everyday are occasions for us to cultivate holiness in our lives.

Stuck in traffic? Try thanking God that you have a vehicle or somewhere you are needing to go. The waiter serves you a cold meal? Thank God you have the means to purchase a meal. Children needing your help on homework? Thank God you have children and have their trust enough for them to ask you for help.

These are the little scraps of holiness we take for granted everyday. You may not have thought about it before, but you woke up today, which make this the perfect opportunity to give God something you didn’t give Him yesterday. Thank Him for the scraps.

God’s blessings to you. 

DH

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

Much of my early life was spent learning how to act like a Christian. On Sundays, I would put on a nice outfit and do my best to show people how godly I was. I did really well acting like a Christian. The biggest problem was that I would go back to being myself after church. I was an angel on Sundays and a hellion the rest of the week.

The fact was that even though I had accepted Jesus, I didn’t accept Him into every area of my life. It was like me telling Him, “You can have this part of my life, but I really like these sins over here, so don’t mess with those.” That’s not the way to live the blessed and abundant life God wants for us.

When we truly break down the worldly barriers to accepting Christ, the bible says that we will be transformed into His image. (2 Cor. 3:18) The original word used for ‘transformed’ is the Greek word metamorpho, which is where we get our English word metamorphosis. I like knowing this because it says to us that accepting Christ is like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly. We are made brand new, with all of our old sins and pain washed away by the blood of Jesus.

In your life’s journey, please remember that we need to BE like Christ towards all people rather than to just act like Him when it suits our needs. Kindness, peacefulness, and love aren’t just for Sundays. Break down your internal walls and let Jesus into your heart. Easier said than done sometimes, but your reward will be greater than you can possibly imagine.

God’s blessings to you. 

DH

“For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” – Collosians 1:13-14

This world lacks hope. Without a savior, you just can’t see anything past the doom and gloom that overshadows this present age. However, even good, solid Christians have their moments of doubt and pain. Many people that I know who have given their lives to Christ first expected everything to be sunshine and lollypops and rainbows. Sorry, think again. I wish it worked like that, but even a soldier has to go through some tough training before they are skilled and trusted in combat. If we faint in the sight of hard times, there would be no way we could show someone else how to perservere and be free from their own struggles. You need what I call “proof of purchase.”  

The hard reality of life is that there will be times of struggle and hardship that come to all of us, but the promise of God is that nothing we go through is ever waisted.  

Those times of heartache give us purpose, and it’s not just for ourselves, it is for the betterment of all people. If you have been homeless, you know the value of a home and can help others find a decent home as well. If you’ve gone hungry, you know the value of your next meal and you know how important it is to make sure other starving people have food. That is exactly where your own “proof of purchase” should come in to play. You can make the difference in someone’s life and future, much more than you realize. 

God led Moses and the Jewish people through the desert for 40 years, not because nobody could read a map, but because it took them that long to get ready for the blessings that God had in store for them. They just had not gotten their “proof of purchase” yet. The promised land flowing with milk and honey sounds great, but can easily get spoiled for everyone if people don’t know how to apprecaite it or what to do with it. There are people all around us that are going through their own desert right now. Those people need you more than you know, and frankly, they won’t respond to someone who doesn’t know the struggle they are in.  

Your experience through trials and even your failures can go towards helping to free others who are held captive by sin. If you have been addicted to drugs but have gotten free from them, you have that “proof of purchase” needed in order to tell someone that drugs are bad and how much better life can be without them. If you’ve lost a loved one through a tough fight with cancer or other sickness, you have that “proof of purchase” to help others to keep strong in their own fights.  

God uses His angels all of the time to help us, but some of His best tools are right here on Earth. You can be one of those blessed tools to help someone be free from their pain and suffering. The Bible even makes mention of a man named Simon who helps Jesus carry His cross. Simon was ready to help Christ; how about you?

God loves you with a love that’s bigger than you could possibly imagine. He wants you to experience His best and be able to share that with others. When the time comes, and it will definitely come, God wants you to use your “proof of purchase” to let someone else know of that same love. You have been saved, now God wants you to help others in their war against good and evil. There are many who are going through their own dark times. They need someone who has passed from darkness to light. They need someone with that “proof of purchase,” paid in full by the blood of Jesus.  

God’s blessings to you. 

DH

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” Luke 21:3-4

In Luke 21, Jesus saw the wealthy donating some of their surplus money, then he marveled at a poor widow who gave just two coins. Those two coins weren’t much, but they represented her entire livelihood. Jesus was proud of that poor widow because she gave Him all she had out of love.
The fact is that God is God. He created everything and needs for nothing, but He completes His heavenly works through us. We are to serve Him with all we are, not just what we have materially.

Take a tip from the saints. Most of us can’t do big things for God, so do small things, but with great love. Those small things can include everything you do when you offer them up to God. The Apostle Paul said in the book of Romans to offer yourselves as a living sacrifice, then again in First Corinthians to do everything for God’s glory.

Being an attentive and caring mom is one of the most noble tasks in His kingdom. Offer it up. Working hard day in and day out for your family is also a great task. Offer it up. Even giving someone a compliment or a kind word is a blessing that will reap great rewards. Those things may seem small or average to you, but they resonate in the minds and hearts of those you do them for.

One good thing to remember is that your blessings will be magnified if you do them when it’s not convenient or when you don’t really feel like doing them. Jesus didn’t feel like going to the cross, but He did it for the good of everyone. He offered Himself as a sacrifice. Consider your good deeds as a living sacrifice. And like the Nike commercial says, “Just do it.”

Offer your heart up to God when you do anything for the good of others. God sees your secret intentions and will reward you openly.

God’s blessings to you. 

DH

“And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed.” – Exodus 17:11

 

In Exodus 17, the people of Israel were fighting a desperate war against the Amalekites. Moses took the high ground to watch over Israel and pray for them.  As long as Moses kept his hands up and prayed, the battle would go well. If his hands fell, the Israelites would start to lose. So to help the army of Israel, Arron and Hur helped lift up the hands of Moses to keep him praying. In the end, the Israelites won the war.

 

This story held a lot for me personally as a Christian in today’s world. Our first obligation is to keep in close contact with God to know more about His will and what He thinks is right rather than what this fallen world defines as good. We come close to God through prayer, which is a dialog between us and our Lord. It’s where we find out more about Him and thereby find out more about the life we were truly meant to have. Unfortunately, we all get tired sometimes. We may even hit some dry spells in our prayer and our walk with Jesus Christ. That’s when the rest of us need to be lifting those weary people up in prayer, and in doing so, we can all continue to fight the battle.

 

When we feel led by the Spirit to pray and talk with God, we are blessing those we pray for.  However, when we feel dry and walking through a kind of spiritual desert, our prayers mean even more.  It is those times that we don’t quite feel like praying that we have the most power in our prayers.  We aren’t being led to pray, we instead do it because it’s what we ought to do.  Those times when we are free to pray or not are the times that we really strike back at the devil the most. True freedom is not just doing whatever we want; it is being able to do what we ought to do.

 

You can’t have it both ways.  Either we are working for God or the devil.  The devil wants us to use our freedom for the wrong things in order to tear down the kingdom of God.  If we instead use our freedom to further the help and healing of the nations, we deal a serious blow against his wicked ways.  With every prayer, we can help change the story for another lost soul. We don’t always pick the right way for ourselves from day-to-day, but other good and faithful Christians lifting us up in prayer can make all the difference.  So go forth and do the same for others, no matter what your day has been like or whether you feel like doing it or not.

 

Some people are concerned about what to pray when talking to God.  I say that if you can’t muster up what you think is a solid prayer, then pray about praying.  God likes honesty and knows what’s in your heart.  And if you are in a situation that knocks you to your knees and all you can get out is the name of Jesus, take heart.  The precious name of Jesus is one of the most powerful prayers there could ever be. He is our stronghold in times of trouble. Run to Him, no matter the circumstances.

 

Also, just because you had a rough day and maybe made some sinful choices, don’t think that God isn’t listening to the pleas of His children. Although you fail sometimes, that doesn’t make you a failure. God will never see you as a failure, even if you yourself do. God knows His own and is ready to be a good father to us, even when we aren’t necessarily ready to be good children for Him. No matter how strong we are or how holy we think we have become, we can always backslide if we aren’t careful. The devil is a tough opponent, but one we are promised we will defeat as long as we stick close to Jesus.

 

So don’t give up and don’t give in to the devil. And just because you and I may be preachers, pastors, or good professing Christians, don’t you think that it can’t happen.  We can all fall now and then.  It takes the prayers of the faithful to keep the rest of us in the battle.  So please, you pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Together we shall be victorious.

 

God’s blessings to you.

 

DH

 

 

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.  For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” – 1 Corinthians 2:1-2

 

It could be said that the Apostle Paul was the most religiously schooled person of all the apostles.  He learned under highly regarded Jewish leaders, read and memorized many of the scriptures, but to use his words, he counted all of this as garbage when compared to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  To Paul, Jesus was the one and only thing worth knowing.

 

We, too, should have that aim in our lives.  This world can be a tough one at best.  We are bombarded daily by temptations and evils of all kinds, and if we don’t have our eyes focused on the right things, we can easily succumb to the devil’s wicked ways.  In short, keep your eyes on Jesus.  We can try to be good people and we can even try to be as religious as possible, but unless we have Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are fighting a loosing battle.

 

Don’t get me wrong, church and religion is a good thing, but it cannot be the only thing in your life.  You can be a regular at Bible study and may be able to spout off hundreds of verses at will, but my question is, “Are you living those verses?”  The Bible is an important book; really, it is THE most important book.  That being said, it is only a collection of words and stories without the Holy Spirit helping you along.  If you have not accepted Christ and His finished work on the cross, you do not have the “necessary equipment” yet to really understand what the Bible has to say.  It all starts with Jesus Christ.

 

No level of supposed holiness can save your soul.  No matter what anyone says, paying massive amounts of money to a church will not give you eternal life or get you a better seat in heaven.  Positive thinking is a good thing, but it can’t get you into heaven either.  Facing east five times daily or hopping up and down on one foot singing kumbaya doesn’t get the attention of God any faster.  The one and only bridge between God and man is the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, suffered and died on the cross, was buried and raised from the dead to remove your sins so you can get into Heaven.  Strive to know that truth more than anything else.  If you have accepted that, you have been born again and are destined for Heaven.  There’s a lot of other details to this life, but they are just that, details.  Jesus Christ is the source, the center, and the summit of life.  Jesus alone saves us and not the details.

 

Throughout eternity, God spoke but one word, “Jesus.”  He has nothing more to say.

 

God’s blessings to you.

 

DH

 

 

 

 

“But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.” – Acts 28:5

 

There is such a thing as righteous anger, but it’s hard to know where the line is drawn. Take for example the story of Jesus kicking the money changers and other hooligans out of the temple.  The Bible says he drove them out.  This was not a little wimpy “please sir, would you mind leaving…”  This was Christ turning over their tables and fashioning a cord to whip them with.  People don’t take into account that Jesus was a carpenter prior to His earthly ministry.  They didn’t just pull the Chevy truck up to the wood and haul it home.  He carried trees and lumber for a living.  Jesus was a physically tough guy.  Our Savior brought “the gun show” and wasn’t afraid to use them.

 

The fact is that Jesus wasn’t going to stand idly by while people defiled God’s temple. He taught love and acceptance of all of God’s children, but what He didn’t accept was sin.  The old adage of “love the sinner, but hate the sin” is completely true.  However, too many times we see ourselves poisoned by our anger until we are no better than those we are fighting against.  We all face times of anger and that’s OK, but what are you doing with it? Some times when it seems like the devil is hitting us from all sides.  We all deal with it differently, but we only make things worse when we engage in those same actions.  If someone is cruel to us, it seems only fitting that we should be cruel back to them, right?  Certainly not.

 

Christ said that if someone hits us, we should turn the other cheek to them. Unfortunately, our first instinct is to turn the other cheek, then come back around with a left hook.  That’s not God’s way though.  Sometimes we do have to stand up for what’s right. There are good fights and bad fights.  The Bible is replete with God-sanctioned wars, but those are people of God versus the forces of evil.  The lines were clearly drawn. Now, those lines are so fuzzy that we often have no idea who is on what side.

 

My point is that we should never find ourselves being pushed so far by evil that we, in turn, do evil while on our quest for good. We get wronged so we feel we must get some payback.  It’s hard, but we must fight against ourselves to keep from fighting against others in some situations.  In your battle against sin, do not become sin yourselves or your fight is for nothing.  God said that He is the judge and will avenge our wrongs, so let Him.  He can do a much better and more thorough job at it than you or I ever could.  Sometimes, it may look like things are going nowhere and those who do evil are getting the upper hand, but God is the ultimate strategist.  Trust in Him.

 

The devil is a snake waiting for his chance to bite you. When you stay with Jesus, you will be able to shake the devil off into the fire where he belongs.

 

God’s blessings to you.

 

DH

 

 

“O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord. Give the Lord no rest until He completes His work, until He makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.” – Isaiah 62.6-7 NLT

 

There are so many problems in this world.  Hunger, war, disease, anger, and the list goes on. Since the time of Adam and Eve, there has been an evil in this world that none of us are immune to.  Unfortunately, we all are subject to many of those types of evil.

 

The question gets posed, “What can I do. I have a job, and a family, and obligations, and…and…and…”   While I understand not having a moment to yourself, what I don’t understand is why can’t we do more for the kingdom of God in our own everyday lives?  At work, at home, or wherever we are, we need to look for more opportunities to do good for others.  And whether or not we can do something physically for someone, we can and should always pray for them.

 

If you are a Christian, you have taken on the responsibility of showing Jesus Christ to this fallen world.  We need to empower rather than cut down and build up rather than destroy.  I once saw a man in a truck stop bathroom who was taking a paper towel and lightly cleaning around the dirty sink.  He didn’t work there, so I asked him why he was cleaning.  The man replied, “My Savior, Jesus, left this world better than what He found it.  I should do the same.”  Those words rang in my ears like a church bell.

 

Granted, it’s sometimes hard to model Christ for others, especially when we feel angry or offended by someone, but it is our duty children of the Most High God.  And frankly, it is those times when we see someone that is full of anger or sadness that we need to pray for them the most.  I know what my Lord and Savior has done for my life; how selfish that would be for me to want to keep the love of God all to myself.

 

Many people work with others and talk with them in the course of their day.  You may talk with them for 20 years about their kids, sports teams, their social habits, and a number of other things.  The one thing that people seem to have trouble sharing is the word of God.  Even if your job banned all religious speech, you can still share the love of Christ through your actions and reactions to business situations.  Your faith is something that you should be living out loud.  If you are a Christian, you should be the most ethical and most reliable person there.  You may not get it all right all the time, but there should still be a certain joy that you bring there.  A joy based on your God and not your circumstances.  Once people see your joy, they will have no choice but to ask you the reason why.

 

The point is to never give up, no matter what the fight looks like.  We as Christians need to walk straighter and hold ourselves to a higher standard than the rest of this world. Even when the devil throws all he has against you, you should be able to look him in the eye and smile, knowing you are protected by the blood of Jesus.  When the devil tries to condemn you, know that the King of Kings has already given you His seal of approval.  God loves you and wants the best for you and all of His people, so keep fighting the good fight.  Model Jesus to everyone and never stop praying for them.

 

No matter the country, color, or circumstances, people are not so different.  We all need prayers to not only find Jesus, but to walk with Him closer and closer everyday.  We fight against the sin in this world and the wickedness in ourselves, but through God’s saving grace, we shall find our rest with Him in Heaven for all eternity.

 

God’s blessings to you.

 

DH

 

 

“The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble;” – Psalm 9:9

The Apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament of the Bible. Many of those were letters to churches that he wrote while in prison, locked away because he was a Christian.

We may struggle with our current situations, thinking that God must not care that we are having such troubles. The reality is that nothing that happens, good or bad, escapes God’s sight. And the Bible teaches that God will work all things for the good of those who love Him.

Prison for Paul wasn’t then ideal situation, but needed for what God wanted to accomplish in the bigger, more God-sized view of it all. Paul had no idea of the people he would reach for Jesus, even 2000 years later. All he knew was that the Holy Spirit was working in and through him. Had Paul not had time in prison, he may not have had the ability to sit calmly and truly listen to God’s words.

So next time you think that God has abandoned you in your troubles, think again. You have no idea of the blessings that God is setting up for you this very minute. Praise Him in the best of times and the worst of times, for He is making the path for you to Heaven right now.

God’s blessings to you.

DH

 

 

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” – Mark 6:31

 

I remember being out fishing on the river with my dad. As a kid, the times when were cruising along in his johnboat were the best.  However, in order to catch fish, we would have to use the slow trolling motor to get along the river banks.  Ugghh… it was soooo boring as a kid to just troll along there, but there would be no way to catch fish when we were speeding along with the big motor.  If we wanted to eat, we would have to troll along and sometimes sit in one spot for long time.

 

Those were good memories with my dad, but it got me thinking about how often we hear or read the word and we don’t take our time. For some people, church is just an hour out of their lives every Sunday.  Also, all too often, I’ll hear someone say that they don’t even have time to pray.  Frankly, if you are too busy to pray, then you need to get your priorities straight.  God wants to make sure that His children are cared for, and if you don’t slow down once in a while, you will miss out on the Heavenly meal that the Lord has for you.

 

Speaking with God and spending time in His Word is of the utmost importance. It helps you to connect with Him and understand more about what this life is all about.  Granted, you will never get all of His plan, but you will begin to understand more of it and you will also be able to deal with the bad times just a bit better.  I’ve heard of religion being like a lift in your shoe that makes you walk straighter and hold your head a bit higher.  The more time you devote to the Lord, the more He will raise you up.

 

Honestly, there are times when I find myself speeding through passages of the Bible that I’ve read a hundred times. That’s also usually when the Holy Spirit smacks me upside the head and tells me to go back and re-read.  Quite often, when I slow down and take my time with the verses, the Spirit reveals more and more to me that I never got before.  The Bible is truly a living book.  The same goes for sermons from good and trustworthy pastoral sources.  Just as Christ lives, so does God’s word is alive in any form. There’s something to be gleaned from every moment spent connecting with God’s Word.

 

We are a busy society and that’s unfortunate. We are living our lives so fast that we blink and it’s over with.  How many parents out there (me included) can say that our kids were babies just a few minutes ago it seems.  Often, people are so stressed and lack patience so much that even if we did have a couple minutes to ourselves, we would be looking for more stuff to cram into those few short minutes.  Sometimes, we need to just slow down and troll along.  That doesn’t mean you need to quit your job and move onto a mountain top in Tibet to find peace.  You can find peace right here and now.

 

Stop for a moment wherever you are. Now, take a deep breath and say “Thank you Jesus.”

 

What are you thanking Him for? You are thanking Him for His life, death, and resurrection that erases your sins and allows you eternity in Heaven.  You are thanking Him for His peace that surpasses all understanding.  You are thanking Him just to be able to thank Him.  You have breath, you have life, and you have eyes to see or ears to hear this sermon.  That right there is more than some people have.  Be thankful and praise His name.

 

We often speed down the river of life. Remember that if you don’t slow down and just troll along now and then, you will miss out on the wonderful and abundant life that God our Father has in store for us.

 

God’s blessings to you.

 

DH