When The Fog Lifts

Question to think about: Have you invited the presence of God into your day?

It is a foggy morning.
Visibility is reduced on the roads.
When the fog lifts the day is forecasted to be sunny and clear.
The view changes when the fog lifts.

When we do not seek God, we live in a spiritual fog. Christ came that we would see more.

John wrote about the disciple's lack of understanding. Their were those who resited and refused to see how Christ changed their view of God. They had lived their Jewish faith generation after generation. It was difficult to see that Christ did not take away their faith in God, but completed their faith:

Many among his disciples heard this and said, "This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow." Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, "Does this throw you completely? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from? The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don't make anything happen. Every word I've spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this." (Jesus knew from the start that some weren't going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, "This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father."
John 6: 60-65, The Message)

Stop.
Stop resisting.
Stop refusing.
Seek God.
What does God want you to see today?
Let the spiritual fog lift.
Broaden your perspective of life today through the life-making Spirit-word.

Learning with you to see more when the fog lifts,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)

Full Meal

Question to think about: Do you want the full meal deal?

The full meal deal is big business.
But, do we have all the information?
Does the full meal deal provide what is needed to be healthy?
The full meal deal often puts the heart at risk.

We might deny it . . . but the short-term deal often takes precedence over the long-term results. Businesses are counting on it.

The season of Lent provides an opportunity to evaluate our spiritual health. We need to think how something changes our life not only in the short-term but in the long-term of life.
Does your response to circumstances lead to health and wholeness?
What is the condition of your heart (personality, passion, desire, energy, intellect, and will)?
In the short term, accumulating and attaining the stuff of life might look like the full meal deal. Christ, God with us, explained:

The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you. In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me. This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always.(John 6: 54-58, The Message)

There is more to life than what we accumulate and attain. Without Christ,the hunger for more is never satisfied
When we fully engage with the presence and power of Christ
with
all of our mind
all of our heart
all of our soul
all of our strength
we are fulfilled.

Stop.
Evaluate your spiritual condition.
Are you healthy?
What is the condition of your heart?
Do you have a spiritual appetite for the Bread of Life?
Seek Christ for your daily Bread.

Learning with you to hunger for the Bread of Life,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)

Give "It" Up

Question to think about: Are you willing?

Life without Christ eventually leads to
Doom.
Darkness.
Desperation.
Depression.
Life with Christ leads to
Hope.
Light.
Anticipation.
Real life.

Today is the first day of Lent. A day marked by Christ followers around the world to focus on God through prayer and fasting. The value of participating in Lent is attaining more clairty about life through prayer and fasting.
Practicing Lent involves giving something up that matters in order to be less distracted and more focused on God.

We are created to be consumed with the presence of Christ rather than with the pressures and problems of the day. Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life." The people could not wrap their minds around what Jesus said:

Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. (John 6: 52-53, NASB)

It is a daily choice to be fully engaged with Christ.
Determine to be consumed with Christ.
Give up something during Lent.
Be consumed with the presence, power, and peace of Christ.

Learning with you to give "it" up,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)

No Regret

Question to think about: Do you live with regret?

Did you hear about the story of the Colorado bus driver?
Along with another gentleman, the bus driver helped two elderly women passengers cross an icy street. A truck came at them, so, the bus driver pushed the three other individuals out of the way; however, he was hit head-on by the truck.
The injured hero has been ticketed for jaywalking.
He has no regrets for helping.

Regret is produced from looking backwards and seeing that specific choices led to a disappointing, distressing, and even depressing outcome.
Regret becomes an obstacle to living freely.
Regret must be surrendered in order to move forward in life with passion and motivation.

If not faced, regret multiplies as more choices are made from the burden of regret.
Real life is missed when regret becomes the focus of living.
Christ explained living real life:
"I'm telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self." (John 6:47-51, The Message)

Christ, God with us, is the Bread of Life.
In the ancient days, bread was not only considered to be a staple but symbolized the sustenance of life. The manna, denoted as bread from heaven, provided sustenance to the people as they wandered in the desert because of wrong choices. They had forty years of regret. Despite their regret, God sustained the people.

Christ, the Bread of Life, stated that life is more than being sustained by manna . . . with Christ life is fulfilled.
Stop.
Determine if regret is present in the way you think, speak, and act.

Are you sustained by manna in your regret? In other words . . . you believe and have faith but regret rules your life and your current decisions.

Are you willing to live without regret?

Give up regret and give your whole mind, heart, soul and strength today to Christ.
Experience fulfillment in your day without the weight of regret.

Learning with you to live without regret,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)

Do you get it?

Question to think about: Is something missing?

Monday morning.
The race begins.
Get up.
Get going.
Get the to-do list done.
Get through the day.
Get to bed.

It is too easy to race through the days of living without getting the point to living.
We either work on getting through the stuff of life or intentionally live real life.
Living real life requires intentional connection with Christ throughout the day.
Christ said it:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life." (John 6:47, American Standard Bible)

Eternal life . . . is real life . . . living in relationship with Christ . . . in love and in service.
Get the point to real life.
Get up focusing on the presence of Christ.
Get going through the day with prayer in the name of Christ.
Get the to-do list done through the power of Christ.
Get through the day in the peace of Christ.
Get to bed focusing on the presence of Christ.


Learning with you to get real life,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)
at 6:20 AM

Numb

Question to think about: Are you numb?

Common denominators to people in the Western world include:
Overload.
Pressure.
Aloneness.
Worry.
Anger.
Exhaustion.
Stress.
Numbness.

Numbness masks problems that continue to escalate if nothing changes. Christ, God with us, desires to wake us up from the numbness that so easily settles in . . . to be aware of what really matters:
Jesus said, "Don't bicker among yourselves over me. You're not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that's the only way you'll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End. This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, 'And then they will all be personally taught by God.' Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally—to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father. No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father—and you can see me. (John 6:43-46, The Message)

Christ depicted life as a learning process through the teaching and guidance of God.
It requires a choice . . .
to turn away from numbness,
to wake up,
to get up and go in the way of Christ.

It may seem easier to be numb; however, in the long-term real life will be missed.
Refuse to regret your life.
Engage in life through Christ.
Live real life.

Learning with you to be awake, to get up, and to go in Christ,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)

The Mic Was On

Question to think about: Have you invited Christ into your conversation?

My friend put a microphone on before making a presentation.
He did not know the mic was on.
He complained about some details of the program to a friend.
Everyone heard.
His complaints impacted the crowd.
Few responded to his prepared talk.
It was a harsh lesson.

The thing is . . . our words impact others as well as ourselves whether we are speaking to one or to a crowd.

Humanity shares the problem of complaining; however, complaining narrows our view of situations and leads to more negativity rather than positive change. John wrote about the complaints of people in the presence of Christ:
41 Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said."
(John 6:41-43, New Living Translation)

Yikes! Busted! Christ, God with us, heard their complaints.
They failed to discuss their concerns with Christ.
Rather than seeking Truth they complained.
Christ was present but not invited into their conversation.

If a mic was on you throughout the day, what would be heard in your conversation?
Christ is present.
Invite Christ into your conversations.
Impact others through words of life rather than complaints.


Learning with you to invite Christ into every conversation,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)