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Be The Change 247
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25.01.2022 Galatians 6:17 (MSG) ‘Quite frankly, I don’t want to be bothered anymore by these disputes. I have far more important things to dothe serious living of this faith. I bear in my body scars from my service to Jesus.’ ... A couple of days ago as I was driving my son to school, the topic of scars came up. We started to chat about the different scars that our bodies had. I showed him a scar that I have under my right eye that is still quite obvious 40 years later. It happened when I was chasing my brother around the house and he ran into the freshly mopped kitchen that my Mum had just cleaned. In the middle of our kitchen was an island bench with extremely sharp corners. As you can image, the moment my bare feet hit that wet floor I slipped over and caught my face on a corner and saw stars. I split under my eye open and immediately got a bruiser of a black eye. The doctor decided to not put stitches in because he said the scarring would be noticeable, but here I am 40 years later with a noticeable scar, so that didn’t quite work! Today’s verse is about having scars that count, marks that we’ve faithfully earned. My scar on my eye was earned by my own stupidity, but some of the ones I carry in my heart are because of my service to Jesus. Today as I celebrate 23 years as a Senior Pastor and 30 years in ministry, I carry the scars of betrayal, of rejection and of false accusation. I have had to fight to not let that scar tissue ruin my soft heart towards people. It’s a battle to not let the awful situations and disputes people bring into my life distract me from what God has called me to do. And the same goes for you today. Serving God is not a smooth, silky ride filled with rainbows and no pain. That part comes in eternity. But right now, we need to know that there are going to be honourable scars in our life that we will carry because we serve Jesus with our life. Once we come to peace with that, then we can continue to do what we need to do for God and continue the serious living of our faith. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
24.01.2022 Romans 5:3 ‘There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next.’ ... I have a beautiful tree in my front yard and my husband and I discovered it hidden behind a thick layer of shrubs when we tidied up our front yard. Now it stands alone surrounded by grass. I decided that I wanted to wrap some fairy lights around the tree branches and really make it stunning, so I bought a string of 500 twinkling fairy lights. The hurdle I had was how to get this very long, single strand of lights to wrap around the branches of the tree and look half decent. I started to feed the bunch of lights around the trunk and within seconds the lights became completely tangled. Arrgghhh. For 30 minutes I stood out in the sun trying to unravel the lights. I thought the whole project would be completed in just a few minutes but here I was, on the front lawn surrounded by hundreds of tiny fairy lights and a lot of knots. I could feel the impatience growing and I just wanted to throw the whole lot back into the container, put the lid on and give up. Today’s verse talks about how times of trouble develops passionate patience in us that in turn forges virtue. So as I stood in the sun and untwisted this mess, instead of getting frustrated and quitting, I began to pray that my family’s hearts would be as entwined in God as these lights were. And instead of being completely angry and frustrated by the mess, I allowed the negative to bring a positive. Before I knew it, I had the lights untangled, the tree decorated and the job completed. The patience paid off because when the sun went down, those twinkling lights lit up and my tree looked stunning. It’s worth shouting our praise and allowing our troubles to build into us passionate patience so that we can be tuned into whatever God will do next. Don’t blow an opportunity to allow God to grow us because we lose patience in the process and give up. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
24.01.2022 Luke 10:40-42(NIV) ‘But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me! Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are neededor indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. ... I’ve been told my whole ministry life that what I’m doing is wrong. I was told that I was too young to be a Senior Pastor. I have been told that preaching like I do is not for everyone or is the best. I’ve been told that I don’t follow people up enough or too much. I’ve been told that I’m not invested enough or I need to back off. I’ve been told that we are different to the church down the road and I need to change. People are so opinionated about my life. These people don’t look at the call of God on someone’s life but decide that their opinion is what actually matters. Today’s verse is about what Mary was called to do and Martha’s opinion of that. Jesus simply said to Martha that Mary was right and what she was pursuing wouldn’t be taken from her. I’m going to really step out and challenge you all today. Do you need to be quiet with your opinions on someone’s life? Maybe it’s your own Senior Pastor - maybe you harbour some ill thoughts on how she/he should or could have done something differently according to you. Maybe you struggle with the choices that someone else has made that you feel you have a right to have a negative opinion about. Most of the time our personal opinions, whether we like it or not, go against what God is doing, so we just need to learn to be quiet before God puts us in our place. Instead of trying to change someone or something with your opinion, just support and encourage them. The world needs less opinions and more love. Jesus didn’t stand for it, He loved Martha but He wouldn’t let the negative opinion she had of Mary slide. Practice the art of the shoosh, it will serve you well. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
24.01.2022 Joshua 14:11 (NIV) ‘I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.’ ... One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve get a bit older and, I guess, a bit battle weary, is that I feel like somedays I just don’t have the stamina or strength to continue to fight the battles I have to fight in the spiritual war zone. It often feels like it would be just easier to stay in bed for the day and watch movies and pretend that I don’t have to adult. I’ve got to be honest, when I read today’s verse I actually got a bit convicted. I have been treating my life a little bit like I’m in the wind-down phase, (the year of the pandemic hasn’t helped), and then I stumbled across this Bible verse and it’s like a smack up the head. Don’t get me wrong, I work hard in all areas of my life, but this verse is not only talking about stamina, it’s also referring to the zeal and the passion that we carry in our hearts. When we have a calling on our lives to do something, it’s not always going to be an easy task or an easy path to follow. Sometimes it’s going to be like pushing water uphill with our bare hands. There are going to be days of threatened quitting, tears, frustration and plain anger. There will be moments of uselessness and questioning the call and even a supposed silence from God. When we base our lives and our call on our emotional status, on how things look today or this month or this year, our emotions will inevitably tell us to give up, we’re no good at this, we’ve failed. We have got to learn to separate our emotions from our calling, from the purpose that God has for us. Because when we focus on what today feels like, then we lose the stamina, passion and zeal to do what needs to be done. We need to be like Joshua in this verse, and declare that we are as vigorous and strong to the purpose as we were when we started. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
24.01.2022 Ephesians 1:13-14 (MSG ) ‘It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it, found yourselves home free - signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first instalment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.’ ... When I was a little girl I got a gift off my parents, my very first proper piece of jewellery. They gave me a sterling silver signet ring with a tiny pink gem stone and my initials SP engraved in cursive letters. I loved this ring so much; it had not only come from a grown-up jewellers shop, but it identified as mine. I still have that signet ring in my jewellery box in my bedroom. A signet ring is set apart from other rings because it carries an identifying mark of the person that is wearing it. In history, a signet ring was used to mark the correspondence that the wearer was sending out. When you received this correspondence there was no doubt who had sent it. The signet stamp was the identifying mark of the individual who had sent it. Today’s verse talks about the Holy Spirit being the signet ring of God on our lives. This is a sign of everything that God has planned for our lives. Just like that signet ring I wore as a little girl, it told everyone who saw my initials on it that it belonged to me. And God filling us with His Holy Spirit and us hearing His truth and believing in Him is a sign to everyone that we belong to God. I just love that. I love that our lives bear the promises of God and set us apart, just like a beautiful signet ring. We need to make sure we care for this signet mark we carry and that our lives shine brightly for God. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
23.01.2022 Psalm 31:4 (NIV) ‘Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.’ ... Sometimes we can just get stuck in our life and accept what’s not God’s best. I had a beautiful friend at school who came from a fairly rough family - siblings to different parents, alcoholism, drug abuse, low socio-economic housing. She was a good friend of mine at school but our families were at two different ends of the spectrum. I lost track of her for many years and often wondered how her life had ended up. A few years ago I tracked her down and found that she too, had followed that path of her family’s choices. Sometimes we get stuck in the trap of familiarity and we lose the ability to forge out a different path. We accept what we know and we remain incapable of moving past that point or looking for a different way of doing things. Today’s verse is the perfect example of how the devil wants to keep us locked in that trap of thinking, living and existing. He doesn’t want us to unlock our potential or breakaway from the trap that keeps us in bondage to negative things in our lives. If we get buried in the familiar then we never want to attain the things that motivate us to be different. We just stay in the same pattern of destruction, we just give into the familiar and the monotonous and we lose who we are and who we are meant to be. Today we need to remember that settling for second best is not God’s plan for us. He is our refuge, He is our home, His plans are the ones for us, not the familiar baggage we drag through life. Allow God to keep you from the traps that tell you that what you have is all you deserve. When we find refuge in God, we find our place in the purpose He has for our life. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
22.01.2022 Acts 28:5-6 (NIV) ‘But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead’ ... Oh to have faith like Paul in today’s verse. Paul shook the snake off and suffered no ill effects. I love this story because nothing was going to stand in the way of the mission that God had call Paul to. Not a shipwreck that got him to this place and not a snake bite from a deadly snake. People expected him to fail and to die and that would be the end. But Paul understood that God was bigger than anything that would try and stand in the way of his journey. You will always have people sitting on the sidelines waiting for you to die. It’s human nature. It used to bother me so much but now I try and shake it off before it becomes deadly to my soul and my spirit. It doesn’t matter what other people think should happen in our life. We need to understand that awful things might happen and things or people may come to us to harm us and try and take us out, but how we deal with those situations is what makes our journey with God so important. Paul didn’t scream at God and accuse God of letting him down because all these terrible things were happening even though he’d been obedient, and where was God? No, he shook it off and kept going. People watching stood with breaths held waiting for it all to be over, but Paul ignored it and kept going. He didn’t even make a scene about it, or a preach about it or a pity party about it, he just kept on doing what God had called him to do, and left the doubters to work it out for themselves. I love that. No explanations needed. Just walk in the purpose God has for you and when others think it’s all over for you, just keep going. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
22.01.2022 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (MSG) ‘Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you, who belong to Christ Jesus, to live.’ ... Have you ever stopped to think what sets you apart from other people? I mean, really stopped and thought about it? What characteristics do you carry on your life that would make you stand out in a positive way? Today’s verse is about 3 simple keys that God wants us to live by every single day - 1. Be cheerful no matter what 2. Pray all the time 3. Thank God no matter what happens Unfortunately there is a lot of sour Christians walking this earth. They are grumpy and judgy and downright an unpleasant bunch. If we are going to be a light on a hill for people to see Jesus in us, we need to be cheerful, happy people, no matter what. We need to bring the sunshine in the storm. The Covid storm. The relationship storm. The anxiety storm. We need to be the beautiful distraction in a hard day, the bright, sunny neon billboard of Jesus, and we need to wear cheerfulness like a yellow sweater every single day. The next key is to pray all the time. That does not mean that we have to spend 24 hours a day on our knees - that is an unrealistic impossibility. We need to carry in our hearts the posture of prayer at all times, praising God, being thankful and covering those who have needs. This is all about the condition of our heart and not the position of our knees. Prayer should be a continuous dialogue not a one time commitment. And finally, we need to thank God no matter what happens - no matter what falls apart, no matter what looks like an impossible situation and no matter if we can’t see a way out. When we thank God through all situations we are bringing about a lifestyle of faithfulness. And this is how God wants us to live. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
21.01.2022 2 Corinthians 6:12 (MSG) ‘The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!’ ... I am an introvert by nature but I have lived my past 30 years in an extrovert world. My husband has always been the life of the party, when he walks into a room, he has no trouble walking straight up to whoever is standing around, introducing himself and starting a conversation. I, on the other hand, feel much more at home finding a quiet corner and waiting for someone else to come up and say hello. Ministry has required this little old introvert to exercise some serious extrovert muscle. And, far out, have I had to do that a lot, preaching with my knees knocking together, praying for someone and trying not to trip over my words. I love today’s verse, it’s a reminder that our personalities cannot be an excuse for how we choose to live our life in God. The smallness, the inadequacies, all come with who we think we are, not who God thinks we are. The world loves to put people in a box. Christians go in this box. Girls go in this box. Men in this box. Youth go in this box. Older generations in this box. But today God is telling us to break out of the shackles of living contained, of living small, and to start to open our lives up and live expansively. When we walk with God, we have no excuse to stay small. He didn’t create us small, He created us to live large, to dream big, to be expansive in all we do. Don’t ever let your insecurities keep you small. Don’t ever let another person keep you small. Those dreams, those God ordained purposes are yours if you stop believing you are small and start believing that God made you to live your life expansively. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
20.01.2022 Psalm 127:3 (TPT) ‘Children are God’s love-gift; they are heaven’s generous reward.’ ... A couple of days ago I became a Grandmother for the 2nd time. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about that! Our eldest son and his wife welcomed another son into our family and I have had the absolute privilege of looking after my 2 year old grandson, the big brother, full time while Mum & Dad camp out in hospital. Due to Covid restrictions I won’t get to meet or cuddle my new grandson until they all come home. But I am in love with him already, watching his little movements and hearing his little cry on the phone. I know that he is going to be a great blessing to my life. Today’s verse says that children are God’s love-gift and a generous reward from heaven - wow, what a beautiful verse. As a mother of 6 children, and now a grandmother of 2, if I were to line up all of the things that I had achieved in my life, my greatest achievement of all would be my children. They are God’s love-gift to me. And I’m thankful every day that I get the honour of being their mum. There are so many children in this world who don’t have a loving family like ours. They are mistreated, abused and abandoned. I feel that God gives each one of us the responsibility to advocate for children and to be proactive in every way we can to make a child’s future more wonderful. Even if you do or don’t have children of your own, it is still easy to be a positive influence to other children and youth. Maybe you could consider sponsoring a child in need, maybe you could invest in a youth’s life in your church, maybe you could volunteer to teach Scripture in schools or work with children within your local church. The choices are endless. I strongly believe that we are all called to be accountable for children’s lives. We don’t have the right to turn a blind eye or shrug off our duty towards them; they are God’s love-gift to the world and how we care for them, how we advocate for them, how we behave towards them is reflected in the foundation their future is built on. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
19.01.2022 Genesis 6:22 (NIV) ’Noah did everything just as God commanded him.’ ... Noah basically built an ark in a drought. Yep, up until the time that God told him to build a boat, the earth had not experienced rain fall. All the water at that time came up through the ground. So Noah is left with the job of building and explaining something that was beyond people’s understanding. Our belief in God appears like that to a lot of people. They think we are totally weird going to church and believing in a ‘fairytale’ because it is beyond their understanding. That is why we need to be gentle and real with our faith and give people time to make their own choices and decisions. As Noah built the ark he copped abuse and was laughed at. But yet he still encouraged the people ridiculing him to be a part of what he was doing. Maybe you’ve been ridiculed for your faith and it’s made you shy away from attending church or telling people that you do. Maybe God has asked you to do something and it appears that God is asking you to do something that is unusual in the climate around your life. Whatever it is, remember today’s verse. Noah did everything just as God commanded him. We need to always remember that God will never ask us to do something that is a waste of time. Noah’s predicament was extreme and yet he persevered and pushed through and just did what God asked him to do, as crazy as it was. We need to have the faith and the courage that Noah carried and understand our part in God’s plan even when others can’t understand it. Don’t let someone else’s words or unbelief or harassment stop you from following God, because the only person who will be ripped off from the whole picture is you. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
19.01.2022 Deuteronomy 1:37 (MSG) ‘Your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will go in. Build up his courage. He’s the one who will claim the inheritance for Israel.’ ... Fear is a killer of dreams and vision. It is driven by the possibility of rejection, shame and failure. It often stops us in our tracks and threatens to derail us from our forward motion. I read a quote that went like this - Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’. That’s having resolve. That’s determining that I will keep going even though I’m scared of this circumstance. Many of us have overcome enormous situations in our life by finding courage and doing it scared. Being courageous is not about being so tough that all the fear in your heart is expelled. No, being courageous often looks like fear packaged in a tight coating of resolve. Today’s verse is an interesting one. It’s not about us digging deep and finding the courage to overcome something. It’s about us championing on someone else and encouraging them to walk through those things they fear. Everything that God does is inclusive of others. He’s not a one-stop mechanic for just us to get our life serviced, He’s also about us getting up off our backside and doing things for others. Rejection, shame and failure are real. The power of another man or woman’s negative reaction to our lives is real. And it cripples people’s purposes. Each of us needs others to cheer us on and help us breakthrough the fear and do what we need to do. Just like today’s verse about Joshua, we need to be that voice of courage for someone else, to help them get on track in their purpose and encourage them to overcome fear and follow God’s intention for their life. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
17.01.2022 Romans 3:28 (MSG) ‘God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. We’ve finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.’ ... I have a 2 year old grandson who is sunshine in my life with his hugs and kisses and curls. But this little man is very strong willed and he lets us all know really quickly if he is not getting his way. He throws epic tantrums, he chucks whatever he is holding and sometimes he even throws his little chunky self onto the ground. The best way to dissipate that tantrum is to not respond to what he is doing and he soon realises that he needs to respond to what we want of him. Today’s verse is exactly about this same thing, except it’s between us and God. When things don’t go our way, we need to stop throwing tantrums and respond in our lives to what God is doing. This is not our show. We are not in charge of running the parade. We need to get over ourselves and start walking our life to God’s pace and stop demanding that we want Him to answer our prayers or take action in our life the way we want Him to. It’s time we figure it out and realise that God is never going to respond to what we do. We need to stop making demands of God and instead spend time honouring Him. I’ve seen countless times over and over again people demanding God for finances, for a partner, for a ministry in their life, for whatever, and quoting the Bible at God and expecting God to respond to them while they actually need to be quiet and learn to respond to God. This is not our parade. We don’t run the show. We need to be people who have humble hearts and respond to what God is doing around us and in us and get into step with that so that our lives will be in the purposed rhythm He has for us. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
17.01.2022 Joshua 14:8 (MSG) ‘My companions who went with me discouraged the people, but I stuck to my guns, totally with God, my God.’ ... It was 25 years ago and my husband and I had a new born baby and a 2 year old. We had prayed about the opportunity to run the family business but had really felt the pull towards youth ministry and we knew that taking on a successful and busy business would take us off in another direction we didn’t feel was right. It was a hard decision to make but we made it together, fully believing that it was what God was calling us to do. A few months later I have to admit it was a struggle. We were selling furniture to pay bills, but we were loving doing youth ministry. I began to feel a little torn, while I loved the opportunity to do ministry, I was feeling a little unraveled by the seemingly ever growing lack of security around my home and family. We worked hard for our pastor, running not only youth meetings, but leadership meetings, preaching and running missions. But one day our pastor pulled us aside and he said something that threatened to derail my ministry journey forever. He said to us that he believed that we had made a huge mistake and that we should have taken on the family business and not pursued ministry and we’d made a wrong decision. For me in a fragile state already, that was a huge blow. I trusted this man’s judgement and opinion and all I wanted to do was lie in a foetal position on the ground and cry for hours, in fact, I think that’s exactly what I did. But let’s look at today’s verse. My companions discouraged people - yep, I was completely and utterly discouraged - but I stuck to my guns, totally with God. And that’s what we did, we kept serving God and trusting we had heard Him correctly in our lives. Within 2 years our pastor left the ministry abruptly and we were put in as the Senior Pastors. Discouragement can be a deal breaker for many people, so make sure you clearly listen to the things that God has for your life so that people’s opinions don’t derail your journey. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
14.01.2022 Proverbs 27:21 (MSG) ‘The purity of silver and gold is tested by putting them in the fire; The purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame.’... This is such an interesting verse because a lot of us think that the word ‘fame’ is related to Hollywood, by making it big on TV or in movies or for writing a stupid book series on witchcraft (yep, you all know what I mean). But fame is actually any recognition by your peers; it’s when your mates pat you on the back and say things that make you feel really good about yourself, or when you do something and you know you’ve knocked it out of the park and people praise you. I like today’s verse because of its connection to precious things. Silver and gold are tested when fire removes the dross and the dirt and the purity of the metals can be revealed. We, on the other hand, are tested by what our heart and life produces when we get a little bit of recognition or fame. What comes to the surface? Does the fact that your friends might think you’re cool because you did a particular thing, make you throw out the purity and let the dirt rise to the surface of your life? Does a bit of fame or a bit of acceptance compromise your values or convictions? I know you all want to say ’No’, but I’ve seen too many people with a lukewarm religious experience chase after the wrong things and the wrong people when they gain some recognition in their life. As I’m writing this I am thinking of one young man who just recently has taken this path. He accepted Jesus into his life and worked hard for years as a volunteer, allowing God to help him overcome anxiety, stress and isolation. Unfortunately there were other areas in his life that he didn’t allow God to help him in and a door opened that led him to choosing wrongly and getting fame from the wrong people and the dirt in his heart surfaced. It’s so sad. Another well known pastor in the USA has just fallen trap to the same thing - fame. It is devastating and destructive when people lose accountability and chase man’s acceptance and fame over God’s. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
14.01.2022 Proverbs 14:11 (NIV) ‘The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.’ ... When my 4th child was about 3 years old he became extremely destructive. I mean, he was really bad. He cut things he shouldn’t, swallowed things he shouldn’t and destroyed things he shouldn’t. My household furnishings, pets, toys, all felt the wrath of this child. One day while I thought he was napping, he somehow had hidden a pair of scissors in his room and when I heard a noise, I went in to check on him and he had taken a very expensive soft toy we had bought him as a gift from overseas and he had stabbed that thing multiple times until his room looked like it had snowed tiny plastic balls. I actually thought at one point that I had a possible criminal on my hands! He was the stuff of nightmares. We navigated that stage of terrible destruction in his life and he now has the softest heart of anyone I know. We worked hard to help him to understand that what he was doing was wrong and they were a long couple of years of discipline and correction, but it paid off. Today’s verse talks about wickedness and righteousness. The house of the wicked will be destroyed. When you let destructive things into your life and you allow those things free reign, then eventually they will destroy your life. If I had of thought it was just cute to let my 3 year old run around and cut, break, swallow and stab whatever he wanted to, and if I had of made excuses for his behaviour, then I know he would have turned out to be a very different person to the gorgeous young man he is today. We need to understand that wickedness should never be excused away in our lives as ‘personality’, a ‘stage’, or ‘I can’t help it’. Those couple of years of hard work for us as parents produced righteousness in our son’s life. The same goes for each of us. Sometimes we need to work hard and stop excusing wickedness in our lives and allow righteousness to reign so that our lives flourish. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
14.01.2022 Ecclesiastes 8:15 (MSG) ‘So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.’ ... My husband and I have started a new routine in the our day during this Covid period. We decided that every evening, on the days we can, that we sit down outside on our front veranda lounge and we chat about life. We usually have a ginger beer and we watch the sunset and we just pause and breathe and sit. We decided to do this to bring some peace into our busy lives. We keep each other accountable by encouraging the other to stop what they’re doing and sit and relax. I love today’s verse because it talks about the importance of enjoying our lives in the toil of all that we have to do. Busyness for a lot of us is completely unavoidable but today’s verse is a timely reminder to make moments of joy in the busyness of life. There is nothing better than stopping, relaxing, enjoying a great meal and just taking the time to put life on pause. God is all about finding the balance in our life, we read that over and over again in His word. It’s us that muddy the waters of peace and live our lives in top gear all the time. Everything we do is our choice. If we have to work 60 hours a week to be able to pay for enormous loans because we have a large house, two new cars and a boat, it’s our choice to do that. It’s not wrong until it takes over you and sucks the moments of joy and of God out of your life. It’s important we start making balanced choices for our lives. If you live in misery because of your materialistic choices and responsibilities, then time to change some things. Take time to create moments to stop - to eat a meal with friends, be glad, and be intentional in finding some joy in the busyness of life. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
11.01.2022 James 1:12 (MSG) ‘Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.’ ... I was on my way to school by train one morning and a good friend of mine who used to catch the train and bus with me, pulled me to one side. In his hand he held a small aluminium foil wrapped parcel. He whispered to me, ‘Would you like to try some marijuana?’. I looked at that parcel in his hand and I thought of all my friends that were into this ‘harmless’ drug and I instantly had a strong conviction in my heart to say no, so I did. Even now, 35 years later, I still remember the feeling of that conviction, because it was like a warning lightning bolt into my soul. The issue that a lot of people have is that they ignore those lightning bolt convictions and eventually the bolt becomes a pang and then the pang becomes a dull thud and the dull thud eventually becomes a whisper, because we become ignorant to voice of God’s conviction on our life when we constantly ignore it. Today’s verse is a very encouraging one to listen to the convictions, meet the challenge head on and stick out the warning. The reward is life and more life. I have no idea what door I may have opened that day if I had of ignored the conviction and gone ahead and accepted that drug gift. To this day I have abstained from any drug use. I’m not here to have a debate on ‘safe drugs’ because I’ve personally seen the absolute carnage that a ‘safe drug’ can do to someone’s life. So whatever the conviction may be in our lives, we really need to tune into what God is prompting us to do and what He’s prompting us to say no to and make the best decisions for our lives. Because when we meet a testing challenge head on and stick it out it shows that we are absolutely in love with God and His purpose for our lives. Don’t ever ignore a conviction on your life, because you could be sparing yourself a lifetime of pain. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
10.01.2022 Luke 9:62 (TPT) ‘Jesus responded, Why do you keep looking backward to your past and have second thoughts about following me? When you turn back you are useless to God’s kingdom’. ... When I was a young girl my brother and I used to play on a big ant nest. We would put sticks down the holes and watch all the cranky ants come out. We called these ants ‘Meat Ants’ because if Dad ever killed a snake, we’d throw it on the ants nest and the next day it would be completely eaten. This one day as we were poking sticks and moving quickly to avoid the running ants and I made the mistake of looking back and turned my face straight into the big poking stick my brother was carrying behind me. That long stick poked me straight in the eye. Oh boy did it hurt, I thought I’d never see again. After a trip to the hospital and a couple of nice looking dents on my eyeball, the only real injury was to my pride when I had to wear a medical patch on my eye for several days. Looking back never serves anybody well. In today’s verse Jesus is asking us why do we keep looking backwards from where we’ve come? Every time we look backwards, we injure our spiritual journey. We add another dent of pain. We pick off the scab of progressive healing. In fact this verse goes on to say that when we look back we are actually useless to God’s kingdom. I don’t like that one little bit. The thought of being useless to God actually scares me. And it should scare you. Looking backwards always brings pain and yet we all do it. And every time we do, we undo the work that God’s spirit has done in our lives. That situation with the stick poking me in the eye never happened again. The pain was bad enough the first time, let alone revisiting it. That’s how we need to look at our lives. We need to avoid turning back and looking at what once damaged us because that will keep us stunted in our journey and make us useless to God and His kingdom. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
09.01.2022 Hebrews 12:2 (MSG) ‘Do you see what this meansall these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start runningand never quit!’ ... Each one of us has a life that God has uniquely shaped for His purpose. Imagine our life like a jigsaw piece, one little piece that makes a stunning image when put together. Today’s verse talks about our place and our part in the history of God’s Kingdom. These kinds of verses make my heart race, because this is a reminder that my life is not just all about my job or my day-to-day existence. Our life is a part of an enormous, magnificent story. The pioneers that went before us, carving out the story of the gospel to their generation. The veterans that are cheering us on, willing us to pick up our baton and run our race faithfully, to stop getting choked on the inconsequential, stupid things in life and to really start running. We’ve got to stop letting the burdens of the life we’ve chosen to stumble us up during the race. We need to strip down, get rid of those unnecessary stressors and unnecessary distractions, and run for God and keep running. If your priority is teaching your kids the importance of basketball, instead of the importance of God, then you’re stumbling up and you’re creating obstacles. We need to hone back in on our purpose, the whole reason that God created our life. He didn’t create us so that our job or our sport or our hobbies take the place of Him. He created us to pick up the baton and display the message of the gospel to our generation with those who have forged before us, cheering us on. Today is the day we’d better get on to it - shake the dust off our purpose and pull our head out of the distractions and reignite our purpose in God and start running! #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
08.01.2022 Psalm 45:9 (TPT) ‘The daughters of kings, women of honour, are maidens in your courts.’ ... I know men read these blogs, so this is not just for the girls today, but it’s the principle behind this verse that I really want to pull out. Who we do life with is so important to our emotional and spiritual health. Who we spend time with, form opinions with and are influenced by really sets the platform for how steady or unsteady our lives will be. Today’s verse talks about quality people we should gather, those who understand integrity, honour and morality. The people we choose to do our journey with are those who will influence our lives the greatest. My best friend is someone I wholeheartedly trust my heart with. She encourages me, laughs with me and cries with me. She honours God with her life and is filled with integrity. Because she is such a positive influence in my life she holds me accountable. Following God means that we either have a heart or need to develop a heart for people. The problem is that we need to love people, help people in their situations but not get caught up in their choices or actions. It is one thing to have empathy for another, it is something entirely different to start to live in their world. Like hearted and like spirited people are drawn to each other. I have had people in our church who clashed with each other, but as soon as they have a problem with my husband or myself, all of a sudden they are best buddies with each other. They go from loathing each other to supporting each other in their dysfunctions. I do that internal eye roll because they are being completely stupid and unwise about who they are allowing in their court. Be careful who you let in your corner. If they are not speaking life to you or about the people around you, if they are not filled with integrity and godliness and champion you on, then get rid of them quick smart, don’t buy into the garbage. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
07.01.2022 Judges 14:16 (NIV) ‘Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer. ... Emotional blackmail is a real thing. Poor Samson was a man in the Bible with incredible strength and an emotional blackmailing, and ultimately, betraying wife. In today’s verse we see first hand what emotional blackmail looks like at it’s finest - You hate me. You don’t really love me. You involve everyone else but poor me. Emotional blackmail is a style of manipulation where someone uses your feelings as a way to control your behaviour or persuade you to see or do things their way. And it’s not healthy. It never ends well for the person who is being emotionally blackmailed. Samson’s wife manipulated him into telling her what she wanted to know and then told others, and a series of events after that led to Samson’s death. If you can identify yourself in today’s scenario then something seriously needs to change. You are not inferior to anyone else and your worth should never be found in another’s opinion or treatment of you. Your worth should be found in God. Allowing someone else to emotionally bully us leads to a very unhealthy soul. I’ve met plenty of emotional blackmailers in my time that have tried to influence me to give them what they want. Sometimes it’s hard to say no because they can be very persuasive. But I have had to learn to stand up for myself and understand that this kind of behaviour is toxic. It’s not God’s best for my life. It’s not God’s best for your life either. Always remember, if God thought it was important enough to put it in the Bible for us to read, then we should pay attention and learn from it. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
07.01.2022 Psalm 90:1 (MSG) ‘God, it seems you’ve been our home forever ‘ ... Having a home is extremely important, not just for security or safety, but for the heart. This year with our house fire right when Covid hit Australia, it was a time of upheaval for our family when we lost the stability and safety of our home for a few months. Our haven was damaged and things were destroyed and, even in the months that followed, we were open to the elements and to a house full of tradesmen, and we lost that feeling of bricks and mortar security. Our home failed to provide what it was build to do. It let us down. But then we have a verse like today’s one that gently reminds us of where our safety, security and stability lies. God has been our forever home, long before He created the earth that we build our temporary homes on. He is our sanctuary. This just stirs my heart. When we look at the home we live in, it might be looking a little scuffed, a little broken, a little tired. Day to day it slowly degenerates through wear and tear and the elements. Just my walls raising my children have been smashed, drawn on and ruined. Our homes here on earth are temporary, they will rot, leak and break down eventually. They will fail us. But God will not. He will not fail us. In His presence we find our home, we find our security, we find our peace. Today we need to remember to focus on the the real place we will find our home forever. It will never come from bricks and mortar. It is found in a loving God who holds us tight and never fails us. There is nothing temporary about our God. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
06.01.2022 1 Timothy 4:8 (MSG) ‘Exercise daily in Godno spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.’ ... I joined a gym once. It was not a great experience. They enticed me in with all the bells and whistles but once I had parted with my money, they couldn’t have cared less about my physical journey. And don’t even get me started about the huge dudes working out in front of the mirror and looking at themselves like they were God’s gift to humanity. I used to laugh to myself and think it was all very weird. It was such an off putting experience. No thanks, I’ll take my exercise in solitude without the narcissistic view. Today’s verse talks about the importance of exercising daily in God, that is, making it a priority to discipline your spiritual life more then you might your physical life. Yes, keeping our physical body healthy is super important and helps us to do all we need to do in life, but it should never supersede the importance of having a disciplined life in God and making us faith-fit with no spiritual flabbiness. When we give our faith the daily workout it needs, it prepares our hearts for whatever might be heading our way to try and derail us today or in the future. A daily way to make us faith-fit is to read the Bible. Just one verse applied to our life can strengthen the armour. I make it easy just through this daily blog to bring the word of God to life and help you apply it to every area and circumstance of your life. It’s up to us not to allow ourselves to get spiritually flabby and to daily keep building our faith muscle. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
06.01.2022 1 Corinthians 3:16-17(MSG) ‘You realise, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God Himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalising God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacredand you, remember, are the temple.’ ... Have you ever had the opportunity to visit an incredible cathedral that was built several hundred years ago? I have been to some stunning ones in my travels around the world. They are ornate, breathtaking and a beautiful place dedicated to God. Today’s verse is one of those in-your-face kind of verses, that makes you stop and think. We are God’s temple, He lives in us and not just in a building called church that we might attend once a week. We are a living, breathing, moving temple of God and God Himself is present in us. Wow! This verse also says that no one will get by with vandalising God’s temple - yikes! We have some vandalism around our town and it’s really an eye sore, it completely detracts from the object that it’s damaged. God is reminding us today to not be an eye sore to people by vandalising ourselves, the temple, that God is living in. This is His place, it should be presented as an incredibly beautiful thing. So what goes in or comes out of that temple determines whether we are polluting or nurturing that space. The criticisms, the whinging, the backstabbing, the hate, the unforgiveness, the anger, the impatience, the rejection, the cruelty, the gossip - are all vandalising the temple that God calls His home. We need to be extremely mindful of how important it is to keep our hearts pure and clean. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
05.01.2022 Exodus 20:8 (MSG) ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God.’ ... Taking time out is an important part of our relationship and our journey with God. God created the heavens and earth in 6 days and on the 7th day He rested. Today’s verse is asking us do the exact same thing - work hard for 6 days but on the 7th day rest and commit it to God. Now there is an age old debate on which day is the ’sabbath’ and it’s even divided the church of God with denominations fighting over which day of the week does God actually mean. But seriously, if we are worried about that then we are majoring on the minors and missing the big picture. What is important is that we need to commit a day to resting, relaxing, spending time with our family and acknowledging the goodness of God. For many of us that might involve taking our family to church to worship. I try and make my Saturday my quiet day of having a rest in and a slow start, because in ministry I work on Sundays. I have to admit, I really do need to work on the resting and remembering the importance of having a sabbath every week. God designed us to be prosperous and diligent and for us to do the things that need to be done during our week, but He also understands the importance of shutting down the distractions of life and giving our minds and bodies a rest from the constant assault of technology and demands. Jesus often withdrew to just rest and have a break from everyone and everything. If Jesus knew the importance of doing that for His mental, emotional and spiritual health, then we should definitely follow His example. Let me encourage you today to plan to really bring a day of rest into your life each week, even if that means going off social media for the day and doing something relaxing that you love, spending downtime with family, eating out, spending time outdoors, enjoying your life but, most importantly, spending time with God. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24
05.01.2022 Exodus 33:14 (MSG) ‘God said, My presence will go with you. I’ll see the journey to the end.’ ... In 2005 I traveled on my first trip to Italy. Italy was one of those places I’d always longed to visit, I mean, who could resist gorgeous old buildings, stunning countrysides and delicious food? We flew into Rome, hired a car and headed south to Naples, because one of the first things I wanted to see was Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii. After visiting the ruins of Pompeii we decided to get a closer look at Mt Vesuvius and discovered that we could walk up to the summit of the mountain. We decided to give it a go, and while it was a wide path, it was steep and the day was extremely hot and we pushed ourselves to get to the top. People in front of us were giving up and going back down. When we got to the top we could see out over Naples and across to the Tyrrhenian Sea. In the middle of the crater we could see steam rising out of this still active volcano. It was awesome and totally worth pushing through and getting to the end of the journey. Today’s verse is about completing the journey of our life with God beside us. Unlike my ascent up Mt Vesuvius, we are not doing life on our own strength. God promises us that His presence will be with us every step of the way and He will see us to the end of our journey. What a great and wonderful comfort that is. No matter what the present may look like, whether it is a beautiful valley season or a really tough mountain one, God will see you through. Don’t allow the thoughts of quitting in the tough times cause you to take a different path and miss the promises. Walking every day with God will make the journey’s end to eternity so very worth it. #dailydevotion #bible #foundation #truth #liveyourbestlife #livelifedifferently #bethechange24/7
03.01.2022 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (MSG) ‘Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of the brightest and the best among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these nobodies to expose the hollow pretensions of the somebodies? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowin...g your own horn before God. Everything that we haveright thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh startcomes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God. Today’s verse is a long one but such a great word of encouragement for us all. Let’s start with the clear message of this whole statement - in God we all start on an even playing field. Not one of us has a disadvantage or an advantage depending on our backgrounds and our lives. In fact, God goes even further to say that He chooses the ones the world classes as ‘nobodies’ to show that just because you think you’re a big deal in your own eyes, God doesn’t necessarily agree. There is no room for divas in the kingdom of God. Don’t feel that your ‘God-given’ gift is far superior than everybody else’s abilities. I will put my hand up to admit that I am one of those who are not ‘the brightest or the best’; I didn’t go to university, I didn’t even finish high school. In fact, all I’ve ever said my whole life is, ‘what do you want me to do God?’. Now we can think that we have a great advantage if we think we carry an awesome gift on our life, but really, when you blow your own trumpet, God isn’t interested. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - God is all about inclusiveness and nothing about elevating the greater gift. We are all meant to work together harmoniously, not lord if over everyone because we can preach a great message or play a mean instrument, or belt out some high notes or prophesy a promising word. Honestly, we need to understand God’s heart for His church and that the day of the diva isn’t even part of God’s culture for us. See more
03.01.2022 2 John 4:4 (TPT) ‘I was delighted and filled with joy when I learned that your children are consistently living in the truth, just as we have received the command from the Father.’ ... As the mother of 6 children, life has felt like it’s in fast forward most days - busy driving here and there, busy cleaning, busy washing, busy just doing life with the schedules of 6 kids and a husband. Raising children to have a love of God and His ways and to help them understand His word has sometimes had challenges. I know that some of my older children have made decisions or got themselves into situations that they regret, and that’s ok. As long as they regret it. The moment that they start to not regret or feel remorse about their actions is the moment they become numb inside to the things of God. Because my children have been raised in ministry, I have done my utmost best to raise them with a healthy attitude towards church. Thanks to some real morons that have come into our ministry life, some of my kids have battled with why Mum and Dad do what they do and why we keep going even with the spiritual lowlifes of the church. I have always said, from day one of ministry, that if church life ever interfered with my own children’s salvation, then I would walk away from that position. I mean, seriously, what is the point of running around with everyone else’s problems and demands and watching your own children slip away? Today’s verse is one that I want to always live by - that my children are consistently living in the truth. Each of us should have that as our driving desire. I don’t ear bash my children with the word of God or make them feel inferior because of the sin in their life. I just try and live a life that is reflective of Jesus and be as consistent and as real with that as I possibly can. I’ve raised them in the truths and ways of God and now I support them as they forge their own relationship with God, filled with whatever ups and downs they may find in their journey. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
03.01.2022 Philippians 4:19-20 The Message (MSG) ‘You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, His generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity.’ ... I love the combination of God and finances - you simply cannot out give God. He is an endless supply that never runs out. If we do our part with our finances, He does His. He’s not our personal bank manager that is supposed to deposit what we need whenever we put in a demand. He is our provider when we are diligent with what He has already given us. Today’s verse is a reassurance of that. He will take care of everything we need and His generosity exceeds ours. So start giving. Be active with your finances in the right places. We need to be diligent so that God can take what we offer and multiply it. Gambling is not being diligent. You can’t waste your money on the machines at your local club and then expect God to provide for your needs the next day when your rent is due. It’s not how it works at all. You can’t spend your money on selfish gain and expect God to pick up the shortfalls. We need to be diligent, we need to give selflessly so that God can do miracles with our finances in our lives and in other’s lives. I love being generous with my finances and it’s messed up how jealous people become when God honours that generosity. I’m never afraid to out give God. He always comes through and that enables me to keep giving and for Him to keep multiplying it. It’s a perfect cycle. He gives me all that I need and then more to pour into others. It’s a great system that requires awesome team work. Don’t ever be afraid of your finances, don’t ever let them have a hold on you. God’s best for you includes every aspect of your life, finances included. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
02.01.2022 Acts 20:35 (TPT) ‘Giving brings a far greater blessing than receiving.’ ... With Christmas fast approaching, I thought today’s verse was a very good one as we all start to prepare for this special event. I have spend hours yesterday getting my online shopping done for my family. Last year it was so much easier as my husband and I took all our family on a wonderful week’s holiday to the Gold Coast from Boxing Day and into the new year. We had the most amazing time, but thanks to Covid and the travel limits and the fact that EVERYTHING in Australia is booked out for a family of 14, I had to go back to individual gift shopping. I am not a shopper by any means, I feel headachy after about an hour in the mayhem of the shops. I don’t get joy in window shopping or browsing - if I’m going to go to the shopping centre, then I’m in and out. But I do find joy in giving. Today’s verse is a reminder that it is far greater to give to receive and I say ‘amen’ to that. While I do love receiving thoughtful gifts, I love giving them even more. I was brought up to be generous and not have a stingy heart and it has really served me well. The more we honour God with our generosity, the more He blesses us. When we give, He pours back in. When we put ourselves to one side and give into other’s lives, then He fills us up. You simply cannot out give God and His abundance for our lives. Let me encourage you as we approach this Christmas season, and well, any week of our lives, to be generous to others. Maybe give a donation to the Women’s Refuge for Christmas. If you are struggling financially, maybe you could offer to mow your neighbour’s lawn or bake some goodies for someone. Even a thoughtful, caring note will bring the reader incredible joy. It’s not difficult to be a giver to others, and when we are, it brings blessing around our lives far greater than we could ever imagine. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
01.01.2022 James 2:14-16 ‘What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?’ ... As a family member of God’s living church, we are called to action in all that we do. Our faith needs to be in action, our lives need to be in action, our convictions need to be in action. We were never, ever called to attend church, keep our seats warm, be entertained by the band, critique the preacher and then go home and start our regular week again in the same ho-hum rut. Our faith was designed for action. Today’s verse couldn’t say it any clearer. We’ve got to be more than throwing a ‘God bless’ you at someone. God requires us to step into their situation. What good is it if we just say words to people but never engage with them? Our words become just empty sentences with no substance. Our faith has to have deeds. It has to have a physical component and not just a spiritual one. It can’t be just air, it needs to be solid too. It’s not just about what we believe in our hearts but also what we do with our hands. We were never put on earth to become completely absorbed in our own spiritual journey and leave no room for anything else. We are actually called to do the opposite. We need to follow God and understand His ways and what He’s adjusting and celebrating in our lives, but we also need to put feet on our faith and move with it. It’s got to have a flow on effect - God moves on our lives so that we can partner with Him to move on other lives. It’s how He designed our faith to function. #dailydevotion #bible #blog #truth #liveyourbestlife #bethechange24/7 #foundation
