Whole Heart Devotion

"Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother."  John 19:25a I've heard it said many times by parents who have had to bury a child that the agony that you experience during that time compares to no other pain known to man.  They often say that it's just not natural for a child to die before the parent. Think about Mary, Jesus' mother.  She didn't just watch her son die.  She was witness to one of the most brutal forms of execution and it was being carried out on her very own son.  Since the events of Jesus' arrest and sentencing all happened so quickly, I can only imagine that she was in pure shock. On top of the horror of seeing her son bleed and die, she had to hear the relentless shouts and heckling from the crowd, hear the sound of the hammers hit the nails and then the natural response of wailing from a grown man.  She had to watch the torture by the Roman soldiers and then stand there, practically alone, feeling such a sense of helplessness.  No mo

"Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall."  Prov. 16:18 Have you ever just swore that you would never do something, but then ended up eating your words later?  Perhaps you said: I'll never drive a minivan! I'll never let my daughter date that boy! I'll never eat at that restaurant again! Or perhaps your statements were of a more serious nature, like: I'll never become an alcoholic. I'll never get a divorce. I'll never get addicted to those pain pills. We see a serious "I'll never" statement in the hours leading up to Jesus' arrest.  Jesus tells His disciples that they will all fall away before all is said and done.  They were all in agreement that there would absolutely be no way that would ever happen, but Peter was the boldest and most adamant about his unwavering loyalty to Jesus. Peter was so sure and confident that he was completely sold out for Jesus that there would be nothing that woul

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But whe you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Cor. 10:13 I’m sure you’ve heard of claustrophobia. This common phobia is a fear of being in enclosed spaces, normally tight or small places like elevators. Have you ever heard claustrophobia’s distant cousin, cleithrophobia? These two phobias are very similar, but the latter goes a step further and just doesn’t take issue with tight spaces, but actually spikes fear of being trapped in that space. I hope after you read this you will have developed a healthy dose of cleithrophobia. Sometime prior to the Last Supper that Jesus ate with His disciples, there was evil lurking. The sin of greed had one of Jesus’ very own fiercely entrapped. This sin had control over his thoughts and his actions and his greed would eventually be the death of him.

“See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:24 The other day I read a tweet from someone I follow on Twitter that said: “It’s easy to see the Pharisees all around us, but do we ever see the Pharisee that lives inside of us?” That stepped on my toes . . . did it step on yours? I am your girl if you’re wanting to look for spiritual fault in someone else, but looking in the mirror is much more painful. We twenty-first century Christians really like to give the first century Jewish Pharisees a hard time. I’m sure you’ve heard the complaints that most people ( even Jesus ) have with the Pharisees. Things like them being more concerned with the law than with love or their preference of sacrifice over true worship. I’ll give it to you, the Pharisees definitely had some unresolved heart issues . . . but don’t we all? It’s believed that on the Tuesday of the Passion Week, Jesus really spent some time teaching and ministering to the

“From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.” Psalm 8:2a Is there anything more precious than the voice of a little child singing? A couple of years back, my daughter sang “Happy Birthday Jesus” in church at Christmas. I know that I am biased, but it was almost angelic sounding! I always love to sit around a group of children at church. When children have never been made to feel that praising the Lord is anything to be ashamed of, they can belt out the most beautiful songs with all the gusto they can muster up. The strength of their voices puts most adults to shame. Traditionally on this day in the Passion Week narrative is when we read that Jesus became angry in the temple. He had discovered that it was being used to pad the pockets of the temple leaders, rather than as a house of prayer. The beautiful part of the story that many times gets overlooked is the role that the children played in that story. Of course, the same religious leaders who had

"A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road."  Matt. 21:8 Whether it be the President of the United States or an awards show in Hollywood, one of the typical greetings they will see is a red carpet rolled out before them.  Believe it or not, this tradition has roots back to 458 B.C. when the idea of walking down a crimson path was alluded to in a play. When you and I use the expression of  "rolling out the red carpet" for someone, we're generally seeking to offer the highest level of hospitality to whoever is going to be gracing our presence.  It has nothing to do with literal carpet, but more to do with pulling out all the stops to make them feel welcomed. As Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on the Sunday prior to His death, you could have easily mistaken his entrance and his grand reception by the people to that of a king's entrance into the city.  The shouts of "H

"Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.""   Luke 23:43 Our family loves finding a good deal at a yard sale.  The closer we get to spring, the more antsy I get for a nice Saturday morning ride through all of the area subdivisions where the best yard sales are generally located.  You can really find some great deals going through people's junk! Some years ago, my kids picked up one of those 500 piece puzzles at a yard sale -- you know, the ones that you typically get halfway done with and then lose interest because it's much more time consuming than you ever imagined!  Anyways, I was actually were impressed by our dedication to see it through. However, I was devastated to discover that only 494 pieces appeared to be in the box.  You can only come to such a precise conclusion by coming to the end of the feat and being able to count the holes that were left in the beautiful picture of a scenic landscape, which now

"Then he said to them, "Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.""  Luke 12:16 Fourteen years ago this month, my husband ( then fiance ) and I boarded a plane along with ten or twelve other North Carolina Baptists and headed down to the Central American country of Honduras.  We felt moved to go and assist in the reconstruction that was taking place following the devastation caused from Hurricane Mitch. While I have trouble remembering details of what happened the day before yesterday, I can vividly recall names, faces, scenery, and interactions that we had while in Honduras.  Seeing first hand the difference between the first world and the third world was life changing for me.  I came back to the good ole U.S.A. with almost a sense of guilt for being born in such an affluent nation while approximately 85% of the residents of Planet Earth are born in a third world country.

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."  Luke 5:16 I don't know what your preferred choice of discipline is (or was) to use with your children whenever they disobey.  I've seen parents today use everything from yelling to taking toys away to the ever controversial spanking!  Perhaps one of the most popular forms of discipline today is putting the child in time-out. If you're of a more seasoned age ( smile ), you might have used the original form of time-outs and not even realized it.  Did you ever say the words: "Go stand in the corner!"? Well, I don't know about you, but sometimes I wish somebody would put me in time-out!  Not because I've been naughty or disobedient, but because I just need a break from the world.  Some days I feel that if I don't get about five minutes of peace and quiet that I might possibly spontaneously combust! The truth is, we should all be taking a time-out everyday. Between obligations at

"Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves."  Luke 10:3 For all of the college basketball fans in the nation, the month of March isn't just another month to tear off of the calendar.  Fanatical college basketball fans live for the month of March, especially if their team has made it to the playoffs.  The hype of March Madness reminds me of all of the correlations I drew between the game of basketball and the life of a believer, which I wrote about in " Lessons in the Game of Life ."  One of the realizations I had while sitting amongst the mass of excited fans at a college basketball game was that there are times in the game of life when you are the "Home Team" and times when you are the "Away Team." The places where we are the "Home Team" are the places where we get the pats on the back, the "atta boy's", and affirmation when we do something of importance.  They're the places where people have

"But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head."  Psalm 3:3 One of my absolute favorite songs is a song entitled " Thou Oh Lord " ( take a few minutes to enjoy it ).  On days that I need to be reminded that God is on my side, I'll plug in my iPod and crank it up real loud!  The absolute best part of the song comes around three minutes into it when all of the various musical parts are doing their own thing and it combines together to make one of the most beautiful sounds of praise you've ever heard! I don't care what has gone on in my day ( or week . . . or month ), listening to that song brings worship to my soul unlike any other song I know.  It's not just the beautiful harmonies or the amazing orchestra that provides such beautiful accompaniment, but it's the power of the words . . .  it's the power of THE WORD. You see, this song comes practically verbatim from Scripture.  David penned Psalm 3 wh

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"    2 Cor. 12:9 I stumbled upon a new phrase recently.  Perhaps you've heard it, but it was a first for me, and I immediately latched on tight to it.  This new phrase will replace my former expression of "Sandpaper People."  This new phrase can actually be used somewhat undercover because it is an acronym.  I'm not sure if you'll be as fascinated by it as I was, but here it is: E. G. R. -- Extra Grace Required Don't you love it?  This expression is a perfect sentiment to have come to mind when you are around someone who . . .  well, requires extra grace! We all have someone.  I bet you even have a mental picture of someone's face that popped in your head whenever you read that phrase!  The irony in all of this is that our focal verse comes out of the passage where Paul is telling the Corinthian church about his thorn in his flesh.  W

"It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees."    Psalm 119:71 The word "compassion" has been popping up everywhere I turn lately.  From devotions I've read, to my Sunday School lesson, and then my favorite was getting to share the meaning of the word with my children at a funeral service recently.  My son wondered why I was on the hunt for tissues prior to the service since I wasn't close to the person who had passed away.  I was then able to explain to him that once you've experienced sorrow and grief firsthand, your heart is able to feel compassion for people who are hurting, even if you don't know them very well.  This is what I've always called sympathy transformed into empathy. If you've ever wondered what the difference between sympathy and empathy is, here's a very simple explanation.  Sympathy is the desire to share in someone's pain.  Empathy is the desire to share in their pain because you&#

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."  Ephes. 5:21 It has been so neat to introduce my children to the TV shows that my husband and I grew up watching and for them to actually enjoy watching them, too!  One of our favorites to watch as a family is "The Brady Bunch."  I can't help but chuckle at the Hollywood portrayal of how well this blended family functioned as a loving, forgiving, and practically perfect new family unit.  It's astounding how the boys and girls automatically viewed each other as brothers and sisters, even to the point of going to blows in the school yard in order to defend a new sister's honor. It's no less amazing how instantaneously the girls took to their step-father and the boys to their new step-mother.  They even call them 'Mom' and 'Dad' right from the get-go of the show.  Perhaps you remember the episode when Mike and Carol make it clear to the children that there are no "steps&quo

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."     Prov. 14:12 During the summertime there is nowhere I'd rather be than sitting with my toes in the sand, the sun warming my skin, and the smell of salt air invading my airways.  Unfortunately, my family doesn't seem to share the same affinity for the beach as I do, so I either have to coerce them into going, or just go by myself! Whenever I do end up dragging the kids to the beach, I always have to remind them not to feed the sea gulls.  Of all the things there are to do in the midst of God's big playground and pool, they seem to find it more fun to feed nuisance birds!  For those of you who have spent some time at the beach, you'll know why one shouldn't feed the sea gulls.  Yes, it's cute watching them eat cheese curls or bread from your sandwich.  What's not cute is having to have an impromptu science lesson about how quickly the digestive tracks of sea gulls

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."  Eccles. 3:1 My sister is a middle school band teacher and one of our family's favorite things to do each March is to go watch her bands perform in their yearly contest where they are assessed based on three songs they play.  I love watching the nervous excitement on the faces of all of the young musicians as they step on stage to perform their three pieces.  As they take a seat and prepare to play their first song, which is usually a peppy march, one thing you can generally count on once that first beat is played is some toe tapping by many of the musicians.  Their training has taught them that keeping time by lightly tapping their toe will keep them on beat as they play.  Even the young musician in me comes out as I sit in the audience watching, toe lightly tapping to the beat of the music. Those young musicians know that keeping in time is essential to making beautiful music.  Gettin

"David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might."    2 Samuel 6:14 One of the lyrics to a new song that I hear on the radio quite often says: “If I had no voice, if I had no tongue, I would dance for You like the rising sun.”* Those lyrics make me stop and think about what my life would be like without my voice. Besides the practical aspect of needing it to accomplish everyday tasks, the lack of a voice would greatly affect my worship. I enjoy music and singing so much and a large portion of my worship is expressed through music. The other part of the lyrics that is somewhat disturbing is the thought of dancing! I have rhythm when it comes to music, but not when it involves me moving with the music. This white girl can’t dance! All foolishness aside, the idea of dancing for the Lord might be foreign to many of us, but it is truly an expression of worship.  One of the instances in the Bible that comes to my mind is when David dan

"Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry."  1 Cor. 10:14 My son recently spent the night at a friend's house, and although it's always a little quieter when he's not here, I just miss him terribly when he's gone.  I sort of like it when our little nest is all present and accounted for!  After I picked him up, I just sat and looked at him for a minute.  He always looks like he's grown an inch or become more mature whenever he's been gone a day.  I thought to myself, "I sure do love that boy!".  As a mom, I have to keep my immense love for my kids in check.  If I don't, I catch myself idolizing what was meant to be a gift from God, not an object of worship. I had just had a conversation with some friends about the things we have a tendency to idolize.  There are some very worthwhile things ( or people ) that we can place so much emphasis, time, and energy on, and if we aren't careful, those very worthwhile things can becom

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11 I can remember the day I graduated from high school.  I was filled with excitement as I walked across the stage and stepped into the next phase of my life.  I felt secure in my choice of which college to attend and I just knew that by the end of the next four years, God will have very clearly and specifically revealed to me what my future was going to hold.  Four years later, I'm walking across the stage at my college graduation and I knew for certain what the next few years of my life was going to entail.  My husband and I had gotten married the summer after my sophomore year in college and two years later I was four months pregnant on the day of my graduation!  I had known from the time I was old enough to cradle a Cabbage Patch doll in my arms that being a mom was going to be very high on my 'To

"Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."  Hebrews 5:13-14 Well, January is long gone and I wonder how many people are still following through with the well intended resolutions they made at the beginning of the year of eating less and exercising more!   I, too, have been guilty of starting with a vengeance, only to fail when it comes to enduring for the long haul. As I was researching what the recommended calorie intake is for people my age and with my lifestyle ( unfortunately, rather sedentary! ), I learned that there are three categories for the recommendation of the daily number of calories a person should consume.  Those categories are for people seeking:  Weight Loss, Weight Maintenance, and Weight Gain. As I thought about how insanely jealous I was of the people who actually needed to gai

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things."  Phil. 4:8 I know in my heart that someone needs to hear this today: "We are worth more than the result of our efforts."*   I know this because I, myself, needed to hear this yesterday.  In God's perfect and sovereign timing, He placed this statement on the most opportune day of my personal devotional reading where I would hear Him quietly and poignantly reassure me that my imperfections don't detract from how He feels about me.   I wish I could tell you that having a strong faith in Christ was an automatic cure for poor self-esteem or self-confidence.  The truth is, Christ is the cure for it, but it is just like any other medicine.  You have to choose to take it on a daily basis.  Most of the time we choose to swallow and digest what the world fills our medicine cup w