In the movie, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen never seemed to catch a break. Her father dies in a mining explosion, her mother becomes severely depressed and her sister is chosen to play a human target in a deadly game created to amuse the Capitol. In the fictional drama that took place in a country called Panem, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place and endure hunger, exhaustion, fireballs, tracker jackers, and mutant wolves, to name a few. Finally, just when Katniss thinks she has won the game, the Capitol changes the rules and she is forced to act in defiance of the Capitol by attempting to poison and kill herself and Peeta, her partner. Her creative stunt angered the Capit

I forgot. Something came up. I was just too busy. We have all been guilty of overbooking ourselves and getting distracted from responsibilities and commitments at some point in our lives. We prioritize certain desires and goals at the expense of others. This is the constant battle of time. If only I had more time, if only there were more hours in the day. If we are being honest with ourselves, there are probably a lot of things that we put our time into that have no eternal significance. I confess that I have spent way too many hours just scrolling social media mindlessly consuming other people’s highlights of their weekend. However sometimes we get distracted by good things. We spend too mu

Let’s face it strong language definitely turns heads. One dictionary defined strong language as: “speech that states ideas forcefully, sometimes using words that may be considered offensive.” Strong language typically is used when you are extremely angry or upset. It is also used when you are in a heated verbal battle over something that you are both passionate about, but clearly on opposite sides. Strong language is used often times to intimidate or bully or you are so emotionally spent that this feels like the only way you can get your point across. Just listen a bit and you’ll hear strong language all around you. Does God also use strong language? Yes, just not the kind you and I

Have you ever watched a fight movie and realized that the main character is outrageously unprepared for the fight he is about to face at the end of the movie. what does it take for them to get strong enough and confident enough to face the big fight...? Simple, an epic training montage set to upbeat empowering music. If only it were that easy! since sin entered the world and with it pain, turmoil, and suffering we are in the constant presence of spiritual warfare, it could be a sin, an illness or an actual attack on us or our families. but we need to remember two things that God is with us through the fight and that He can use that fight to make us stronger and teach us to hold our ground th

A Pure Heart + A Good Conscience + A Sincere Faith = Christlike Love Start your time today in prayer and thoughtfully meditating on 1 Timothy 1:5 “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (ESV) David was said to be “A man after God’s own heart” What a way to be remembered in the Bible and in history. The life of David was certainly commendable, from the time he was a young boy he worship God, praised Him, wrote songs to him. The Psalms are full of his praises and prayers to God. Who could have questioned if he had “pure heart.” In a quote from his book Wild at Heart, John Eldridge said, “A man has to know where he comes from,

I remember growing up watching cartoons with my brother. One cartoon we would watch was Spongebob Squarepants. We watched a number of episodes, but one that stuck with me was an episode where Spongebob went to muscle beach. He went and saw all the buff lobsters and fish lifting huge amounts of weight. Spongebob tries to lift those same weights, but quickly realizes he is not anywhere near strong enough to keep up with those guys. So, he goes back home and sees a commercial for “Anchor Arms”, a set of inflatable arms that make you seem really strong. He buys the arms and goes back to muscle beach and everyone is impressed with his quick progress, until the time comes for him to actual lift so

So many of us walk around defeated. We feel hopeless and apathetic towards the battles we fight. This is a lie, a lie the Enemy wants us to believe. You see, in reality this feeling of defeat is often truly a result of inaction. We’ve all been guilty of this time and time again - myself included. It’s easier to see the problem as insurmountable than to recognize the authority we’ve been given. We have the power and authority to fight back against spiritual warfare. We have THE eternal conqueror on our side! We have been equipped to fight the battle - and we can win it. God has given us so many practical tools to combat the enemy. In Ephesians 6, the full armor of God is listed out for us. We

“But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith…” 1 Timothy 6:11-12a When John was 10 years old he spent almost every moment of summer daylight outside with his three friends doing what most active 10 year old boys do: Play whiffle ball, other sports, ride bikes, go to the lake, explore the woods, shoot BB guns, build forts and any other activity that allowed them to run, build and compete. There would be a brief stop at home for lunch most days, but other than that the four of them were busy. Except for about 15 minutes almost each day. Depending on where they were they would take a break in

Each week so far, we have grounded ourselves in this fact: You and I have a REAL Enemy. AND as our enemy, he has a REAL plan for your life. His plan is simple, he wants to steal, kill, and destroy everything God wants to do in, thru and for you. In 1 Peter 5:8, God tells us to “be alert and of sober mind,” watching out for the schemes of the devil who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." The devil wants nothing more than to devour our lives, to keep us from the joy of living in a relationship with Jesus. Satan wants no less than to bombard you with his lies, guilt, and shame, and to steal your identity of who you are in Christ. However, we are not alone. Jesu

In order to be fighting in this battle of spiritual warfare, We NEED to be memorizing Scripture. That is how we can defeat the enemy. We need to equip ourselves to combat what is thrown our way. Ephesians 6:11 says “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes”. One piece of that armor is the “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph 6:17). Taking the TRUTH and combating what the outside world is surrounding us with, is how we are able to be victorious in our battles. Jesus used the Word of God, and recited Scripture when he was being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4). A verses that has helped me in my life is, “But you belong to God, m

Pay Attention! Hey, I’m Talking to You! If you’re like me, from the moment I open my eyes in the morning I seem to loose my focus. My mind begins reviewing all the “To Do’s” of my day. To be honest if I allow it to, it will take me on a roller coaster ride throughout my whole day. Sometimes my day starts out like this... Coffee! I need some coffee! Why am I so tired? Coffee! Ah!!! Yes! Coffee!! Okay, now what was I going to do? Oh yeah, continue reading that chapter in my Bible, and my morning devotion...Wait a minute, Where’s my phone? Huh? Wow! I had that many Facebook messages? Something must be going on. I’d better read those first. A Hurricane in Florida? Oh my gosh! It’ll just take

I’m not sure if you have seen it or not, but there's a new commercial involving Tim Tebow, Derrick Henry, and Bo Jackson. Tim says he's "Bo watching" and explains that if you watch Bo Jackson long enough, he does something incredible. Derrick gets bored and turns to Tim to ask how long it takes, taking his eyes off Bo just long enough to miss something involving a helicopter and scuba gear. Poor Derrick can't catch a break, because every time he looks away, Bo has just finished some sort of crazy feat involving a sumo wrestler and even a wizard. If Derrick had just been focused on what Tim was saying, then he wouldn't have missed out on whatever crazy thing Bo had just done. That's what I wa

When I use to think of spiritual warfare I would quickly associate it with stories in the Bible like we heard this past Sunday. We heard a story of a man possessed by 2,000-5,000 demons! He was living in a cave and no people could restrain him. “If that is what spiritual warfare looks like I don’t think I’m in a battle.” As Christians, it is really easy to only acknowledge the extremes and use that as a marker for how we are actually doing in this fight. If we only see spiritual warfare as the extreme oppression we are missing a whole different side of the fight. The area of warfare I am talking about is not as much of a fight, but more of a surrender on our part. Complacency. What does tha

“But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8 Just about every month there is something new that someone is trying to get you and I to fall for. You’ve seen the latest one if you are on Facebook: Hi … I actually got another friend request from you yesterday … which I ignored so you may want to check your account. Hold your finger on the message until the forward button appears … then hit forward and all the people you want to forward too … I had to do the people individually. Good Luck! H

“Where do you go…my lovely…where do you go…I wanna know…my lovely, I wanna know, where do you go…” These words are the opening line from the 1996 hit, “Where Do You Go” by No Mercy. Commence 90’s dance moves!! You’re Welcome because now THAT Song will be stuck in your head ALL day LONG!! HAHA! Speaking of stuck in your head! What would happen today if, you walked around today with God’s Promises actually stuck in your head? What would change about you? Would your outlook be different? Would your Joy be more full? Would you have more Strength to endure this day? Would you be able to resist the devil’s attacks and temptations better because you were constantly reminded of who you are in Hi

Ever feel like you're being attacked from all sides like its an unfair fight? That's because it is!