Devotional Blog

The Blessing of Dad is Life Giving.

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The blessing of a father to a son brings life.
The blessing of a father to a son brings life.

“Dad.”

What do you think of when you think about your dad? We all have a father. Some were better than others in how they did “dadding.” If you had a “bad” dad, my heart breaks for you.

To be fair, most of parenting is trial and error. As I look back on how I parented my kids I want to say to them as Tim Kimmel says: “Forgive me for being such an idiot!”

We are in a sweet season of talking about “family” at our church. This past weekend we camped out on a conversation about our earthly fathers and how it makes sense that most of us men learned how to be a dad by watching our own fathers. We learned the good stuff and the bad stuff by being first-hand recipients.

I think it’s ironic that just about every man I know who swore they would never say the things to their children that their dad said to them, have broken that vow. “Turn that music down!” “That friend of yours is no good for you.” “When I was your age, we respected our elders…” And the list goes on and on.

My relationship with my own dad was really pretty good. I knew that he loved me no matter what I did. Yes, he was too busy to come to all of my special events, but now that I’ve been a dad for over 20 years I can understand why. He died way too young and I never really had an adult-to-adult relationship with him.

And while I can’t remember a specific time when he blessed me, I know that he was proud of me and he was happy about the faith and life decisions I had made by the time I was 22, the year he died.

But there are many men I know today that did not have that kind of relationship with their dad. Some dads were downright mean. Some told their sons that they would never amount to anything. Some were ambivalent or absent. To these men who rarely, or never, heard positive words from their earthly father let me speak these words from our heavenly Father:

“I know you.” Psalm 139

“I have great plans for you; plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29

“I will never leave you.” Deuteronomy 31

“I will never reject you.” Psalm 94

“I will never abandon you.”  Hebrews 13

“I will not break my promises to you.” Psalm 89

“I will bless you and your family.” Genesis 12

“I do not condemn you.” Romans 8

“I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.” Isaiah 43

“I take great delight in you.” Zephaniah 3

“I love you.” John 3

You know, in the Old Testament culture, and still in the Jewish family today, the father places his hands on his child’s head and speaks a blessing over them every Friday night as part of the celebration of the Sabbath.  No matter what has happened between them during the week, at that moment, the Father and the Son are connected by a blessing.

Our Heavenly Father want to bless you. Receive God’s blessings, men.  He loves you more than you know. Let that sink into your heart and give you life.

And then, pass His blessings on to your children and your children’s children.  And if you don’t know how to pass along the blessings, just honestly say the words above to your children that God has already said to you.

It will touch their heart. It will touch yours as well. It will bring life to you, to your children, to your family.

 (c) 2103. Rich Ronald.

The Madman of the Decapolis

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The view from the Tombs. Sunset on the Sea of Galilee. Photo taken by the author, June 2013.

My name is Kyros. My family is from the Decapolis. My father is a teacher. My brother is a soldier. I was studying to be a teacher as well. Our family is close. We enjoyed good times together. Rome has treated us well. Some of the publicans have asked my father to enter politics. He would be good at that.

My story is simple, really. And, yet, for some reason, many in our region say it is extraordinary. I was a typical kid growing up. Studied hard. Played hard. I guess the turning point in my story starts on a night a few years ago. I was 18 and desired to prove my manliness. One night some of my friends and I hired a slave girl. It was innocent fun at first. But something about it was controlling… even though it was out of control. That first night led to night after night… you know that Rome is known for such wild parties.  It really consumed me… every day I’d make plans for the night….

And then the guilt came… it ripped me up inside, but I tried not to let others see that side of me.  Soon the behavior was controlling me… and the guilt was consuming… something I just could not handle. I would easily fly into fits of rage. My friend Lychas tried to help, but I would tell him to “Shut Up!” and I often followed the verbal abuse with a punch or two.  Then I would feel guilty and ask him to forgive me. Which he would… but then I would engage in more immoral behavior… and feel guilty all over again.

I moved to the tombs.  I found solace in just being alone… and cutting myself. I thought if I punished myself it would make the guilt go away. But it only made things worse. One day Lychas came to visit and this supernatural power came over me. I threw a large bolder at him and almost killed him. My best friend. He brought ten men with him the next time and they chained me up for my own good.  As soon as they left, again this power came over me and I broke the chains and then engaged in more immoral behavior.  I was a mess. Something was inside of me.  No, many things were inside of me. They controlled my feelings. They controlled my thoughts. Yes, they even controlled my actions. I could never get free. My only freedom was found in continuing to fly into fits of rage and hurting myself.

How did I get like this? It drove me mad. Why I was once a decent citizen of the Decapolis. My family was respectable… I was planning to be a teacher, like my dad.  Now, I was Crazy Kyros, the naked mad man of the tombs.

One day, there was this terrible raging storm on the Sea. I loved it! I shouted to the lightening to strike me and it did! And I was filled with power and rage. But then suddenly, in an instant, it got calm… and I saw this small little fishing boat breaking through the mist of what was left of the storm… it came up on shore. There were maybe 8 or 10 people in it.  A man got out and walked right up the hill to see me at the tombs. He asked me my name and the demons in me told him my name was Legions, not Kyros, for there were many of them living inside of me. With compassion in his eyes I had never seen, he commanded the tormentors living inside me to leave. I spoke, but it was not me, nor my voice. “Can we go into those pigs?” There were 2,000 pigs grazing in the fields around the tombs. The man said “yes” and before I knew it I collapsed to the ground and I heard the pigs stampeding over me and over the cliff and drowning in the sea.

I was physically spent, but not sure why. He sat down next to me. He ran his hand through my hair and touched my shoulder. I still cannot put words together to describe the sudden peace I felt. I had no immoral desires any longer. There was no need to hurt myself. There was no rage. There was only peace. I washed myself for the first time in months. He gave me clothes to put on.

Somehow, word spread to town… I think it was the pig shepherds… people came to see me and were very confused. I just felt peaceful.  As he climbed back into the boat, the man told me his name was Yeshua… Jesus. I begged him to let me go with him. But he told me to return to my family and tell them my story.

I did. My first stop was the home of Lychas. He couldn’t believe it was me. Then we ran to my parents’ home. My father also was full of disbelief.  But when my mother entered the room and her eyes caught mine, she smiled and shouted and cried and jumped up and down all at the same time. I told them all about Jesus.

Together, every day now, we start our day by praising the God of Israel. I cannot fully express my thanksgiving to the one I now call Master.

It’s been a year since that day and we have heard that he’s coming back to our town next week. The people are already preparing for his visit. They want to bring the lame and the deaf and the sick to him. I’m sure he will set them all free… just like he did for me.

My interpretation of the story in Mark 5.
(c) 2013. Rich Ronald.

Pray for my enemies? Are you kidding me?

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Keep Calm and Love Your Enemies
Keep Calm and Love Your Enemies

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Romans 12.  Look at the very last verse of this chapter:

Verse 21:  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Message says:  Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

This is the summary statement in a chapter full of actions that Paul encourages us to take as part of a life of transformed into Godly discipline.  Some are easy. Verse 13: “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” I can do that. Verse 15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice.”  Yep! That’s a piece of cake.  “Mourn with those who mourn.” Yes, I can come along side someone and share their grief.

But what about the verse in between those two? Verse 14: “Bless your enemies. No cursing under your breath.”

Bless those who persecute me? Are you kidding me? I have had some people really treat me badly. We all have. And the text says to bless them? And if that isn’t enough, we can’t even grumble about them under our breath. No, we are to be pure in heart towards them.

Paul is actually mirroring words spoken by our Master. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus says: “Love your enemies. Bless those that curse you.” (Matthew 5)

Look at how The Message translates Matthew 5:43-48: “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.”

Then look how Jesus sums up this thought: “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

So, when we pray for our enemies, and those who have messed up our lives, Jesus says it causes us to grow up… to mature in the faith.  I think what it says is this: “I’m gonna let God deal with this person, because if it were up to me and my self-centered spirit, I would want to make their life miserable.”  What happens when your enemy finds out you’re trying to bless them? Many times, they drop their affront, don’t they? It changes their heart. But more importantly, it changes our heart as well.

There have been people in my life who have really offended me and I carried around the angst of that offense for years. It caused bitterness and a cancer-like growth of ugliness to take root in my heart. It would cause the hair on the back of my neck to stand up and my heart to beat faster when anyone mentioned their name. And the thing is, they had moved on. Forgotten about it. Never bothered them in the least.

So, as a lesson in living a transformed life, I can say with confidence that I have moved on as well. It is not easy. But it is a choice I can make. With God’s Holy Spirit in me and comforting me along the path, and my taking increasingly greater steps of prayer for them, I am “growing up” and maturing in the faith as Jesus encouraged.

May I encourage you to meditate on those who may have offended you, and offer a prayer for them. I know it may not be easy. As God works in His divine ways, it will actually be a blessing to you.

P.S.  And if that person was me, please forgive me.

(C) 2013. Rich Ronald.

Hit a Glass Ceiling in Prayer?

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Unanswered prayer? Only Jesus heals the broken heart.
Unanswered prayer? Only Jesus heals the broken heart.

Do you have an unanswered prayer? Something you have been praying for weeks, months, years or decades? You desire that your voice travels all the way to heaven but it feels like it only gets to a glass ceiling a few inches above your head?

I’m going to venture out and suggest that every single one of us has had one of those prayers at some point in our life. There is the woman whose husband of many years lost his battle with cancer and she lost her life partner. And the businessman who ran his company by faith, and had plans of sharing his wealth, but the company went bankrupt because he couldn’t get sales.  Or the young boy, who with true child-like faith, asked God to prevent his parent’s divorce. But he spends every other weekend with his dad instead.  All of these prayers, and so many more, were prayers of hope and belief and yet were not answered in the way the pray-er desired.

So then, you might say, “See, prayer doesn’t work.”

This is one of the great mysteries of the Christian walk, isn’t it? And we answer the question with a trite “God knows best.” But that is so unsatisfying to the widow as they lower the casket into the ground, isn’t it? It is so perplexing to the businessman who was going to give away 90% of his profits and now is cashing unemployment checks.  It is confusing, at best, to the child who feels responsible for his parent’s split.

How do we reply?

The only way we can… with love, compassion, grace… and continuing to affirm that God is God. And that He loves us.

And you may say, “if this is love, I don’t want it.” And I get that. I do.

I believe that the Bible is true. And the Bible says we are God’s children and we have an incredible inheritance… an eternity with no need, no hurt, no pain.

Can you trust that God is in control? Absolutely!  Can you believe that He knows your pain? Yes! For did it make sense to the disciples to see Jesus die on the cross? Not at all. Did they understand once they saw Him rise again? Yes indeed!

The encouraging word today is that you can trust in the Sonrise of Messiah Jesus as certainly as you can trust that the sun will rise tomorrow.  And if we look close enough, I believe we can make sense of the prayers that appear to go unanswered. We can pray, like Jesus did, that God’s will be done. It’s tough though… especially when there is significant loss.

Hope is found in the promises of God that the lost will be found, the dead will rise, the sick will be healed, the forsaken will be restored, those in prison will be set free, the blind will see and those with a broken heart will find His eternal, unconditional love.

His will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

(c) 2013. Rich Ronald.

Tasting Pizza for the First Time

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pizza_edit
Pizza Time! Can’t you just taste how good it is?

Have you ever seen that TV show where that guy eats all that weird food from all over the world? Or are you old enough to remember the kid who wouldn’t try the new breakfast cereal until his little brother did?

I put off tasting pizza for my entire childhood. Why? Because its main ingredient was tomato sauce. And because my dad didn’t like tomatoes, I didn’t like tomatoes. Therefore,  I hated pizza. Without ever trying it!

My big sisters were worried that I couldn’t be a normal teenager without liking pizza. So, in the days leading up to my 13th birthday, they encouraged me to give it try.  “Try it. You’ll like it,” was another advertising slogan from my growing-up era.  I gave pizza a taste.  Guess what? I liked it!

Have you ever heard of the scripture from the Bible that says “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8).

How do we taste and experience God’s goodness and unfailing love?

Through prayer.

Oak Hills Church Minister Max Lucado is preaching a series of sermons on prayer.  From yesterday’s teaching on the goodness of God and connecting with Him in prayer: “He throws open the pantry of His heart. He has a feast of His kindness at His table. Taste the goodness of the Lord.”

Do we put off praying to God or giving Him a certain problem or situation because we think our problems are too small for God?  Or too big for God? Or perhaps because we are embarrassed by our situation? Or because we think it is ours to deal with, not God’s?

If our situations and problems trouble us, they trouble God.

May I tell you that God will be there for you and is delighted to hear from you? Part of the very nature of God is that He loves to be our problem solver.  His solution is always the right one.

Everything God does is right —  the trademark on all his works is love.

God’s there, listening for all who pray,  for all who pray and mean it.

He does what’s best for those who fear him — hears them call out, and saves them.

God sticks by all who love him.

Psalm 145:17-20a (The Message)

There’s another Bible verse that says “Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father.” (James 1:17).

So, taste the goodness of the Lord today through prayer. And you will see how much He loves you.

(c) 2013. Rich Ronald.

Putting God First in 2013.

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May you be able to put God first in 2013 so that everything will fall into order.
May you be able to put God first in 2013 so that everything will fall into order.

So we are already a week into the New Year and I’m finally putting thought into what 2013 looks like. Can it be the best year to-date? Well, I’ve lived some pretty awesome years, but, yeah, why can’t we start the next turn around the sun with the thought that this will be the best one?

We were challenged this past weekend by visiting Pastor Robert Morris that if you want to live “The Blessed Life” you need to put God first. It’s pretty easy when you are in a full-time ministry to say that putting God first comes naturally. But does it really? Can I make God the top of every single list?

What I read. What I watch.

What I write. What I think.

What I do for exercise – body, mind and spirit.

How I love my wife?  What are my motivations for my children?

How I manage my time?

Can 2013 truly be a year above all the rest?

Robert Morris says “When God is first in your life everything falls in order.”

Order.  That would be nice. No more clutter. No more hunting around for files, phones, keys, shoes or… vision.  Putting God first. Seems simple enough.

And because His Holy Spirit is in me, it IS possible. No, it will not be simple, because my flesh gets in the way, you know?

One of my favorite verses about putting God first is found in John 3:30. From the mouth of John, the Baptizer: “He must increase. I must decrease.” If there be but one prayer for the New Year, I will echo John’s words. “More of Jesus. Less of me.”

Will you join me in putting God first in your life this year? Truly putting Him first? You will be blessed beyond measure when you do.  And then you can truly be a blessing to all the people  God puts in your life.

(c) 2013. Rich Ronald.

From the dust of the manger… to our heart.

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Available at amazon.com in paperback or Kindle.

Christmas Day is one week away… wow! Where does the time go? Wasn’t it just spring break? Or summer vacation?

In the midst of all that is wrong in the world today, as we think about the Christmas story, the one thing that we might perceive to have been wrong, was actually right. Yes, it was right for Mary to place Jesus in a manger.

From Chapter Five of Be Born in Me:

While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby, and she gave birth to her first son. Because there were no rooms left in the inn, she wrapped the baby with pieces of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough.[1]

She placed Him in a feed trough.  In the Ancient Days most feed troughs in caves were merely hollowed out logs or rocks sitting on the ground.  You can’t get much lower than that.  Jesus, God in the flesh. God who sits on the highest throne in the highest Heaven, squeezed Himself into a human form. And if that wasn’t low enough, He was then placed mere inches above the dirt and manure that was in that animal cave.  Why would God do that?  Send His son.  To the lowest possible place on earth?!  To a feed trough?

Think about the trough being in the dirt and mud on the cave floor. Like Adam from the Garden of Eden, we all began our lives in the dust of the earth and Jesus knows that we all have dirt and mud in our lives.  That’s where we need Him most!

“Jesus, be born in me!” 

The apostle Paul also notes that Jesus gave up His place with God in heaven and made Himself nothing (Philippians 2).  Why? Simply because He loves us.

He loves you. He really does. Even though you may be a little dirty. Even though you may be a lot muddy.  It doesn’t matter to Him… He has been there too.

Isn’t that incredible!?! God in the flesh has been where you are… only His love can pull you out of the pit you are in. He is uniquely qualified to be our Savior. He knows how messy our lives are… and it doesn’t stop Him from reaching out His loving arms to lift us up.

May I encourage you to make this prayer, your prayer: “Jesus. Be born in me!”

Be Born in Me is divided into five sections and includes discussion questions so you can use in a weekly small group, family devotional or class setting.

Here’s the link to the amazon web site: http://amzn.to/SNOkND.
And here’s the link to the Kindle site: http://amzn.to/RI7ODe.
(c) 2012. Rich Ronald.

[1] Luke 2:6-7 (NCV)

 

“Make my heart Your Bethlehem.”

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Available at amazon.com in paperback or Kindle

Advent continues its countdown to Christmas Day.  The great thing about the season, is that it can be just that… a season. Not just a single day.

The prayer for our family this year is “Be Born in Me.”

I’ve written a little book, based on a song, that is helping us focus this year.  The cry of Chapter 4 is “Make my heart Your Bethlehem.”

Here is an exceprt:

Bethlehem. Do you know what the word means? In Hebrew “Bet” means ‘house’ and “Lechem” means ‘bread.’ So Bethlehem is “the House of Bread.”

We can see that Jesus, the bread of life from John 6, must be born in “the House of Bread.”

Jesus came to give us life, true bread and true sustenance.  Jesus is all we really need isn’t He? He satisfies, gratifies and strengthens us spiritually, just as bread does physically. 

And what happens when you don’t eat for awhile?  You become weak, right?

When our prayer is, “Jesus, be born in me. Give me strength! Give me all I need for life!” 

He says, “I have.”

May I encourage you as you enjoy a meal or two or three with your friends and family this Christmas season, to remember that Jesus is the true bread. He is our Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, who gives us all we have and all we need.

And may you allow your heart to be His Bethlehem… to be born in you.

 
Be Born in Me is divided into five sections and includes discussion questions so you can use in a weekly small group, family devotional or class setting.
Here’s the link to the amazon web site: http://amzn.to/SNOkND.
And here’s the link to the Kindle site: http://amzn.to/RI7ODe.
(c) 2012. Rich Ronald.

“Somehow I believe that You chose me.”

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Available at amazon.com in paperback or Kindle.

This is the second week in Advent, a time to celebrate Christmas for a whole month, not just a single day. How are you doing at preparing your heart for the season?

From Chapter Three of Be Born in Me:

God chose Mary for an incredible assignment, didn’t He?  Think about it, this is the biggest assignment of anyone in the Bible!  You think your wife fussed about what to eat and what to do when she was pregnant?  Mary is carrying God’s Son. No pressure there!  Can you imagine what she thought about having to climb up on the back of a donkey and travel for four days to the city of David?  Can you hear her in the cold of the night?  “Joseph, sorry I can’t do that, I AM carrying the Son of God here, you know!”

Looking again at Luke 1 we see that the angel, Gabriel, has told Mary that she has been chosen. Mary asks, “How?” The angel replies,  “Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.” [1]

Do you know that you have been chosen by God for an assignment today and everyday? How does that make you feel? For some, it is overwhelming. For others it is exciting. For me it is humbling.  Humbling, because most days I feel completely inept at doing something for our great (announcer voice here) GOD, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.

But that is the point, isn’t it? For the greatest impact, God uses the everyday person to reach the everyday person. You don’t have to have a Bible degree or years of ministry training. You can grab a cup of coffee and walk to the end of the driveway and share His story with your next door neighbor.  You can sit on the floor with a bunch of preschool students and sing simple songs. You can offer a hug to an elderly woman in a nursing home wheelchair.

He has chosen you to carry His message and His love to those around you. And there is no better time to do so than at Christmas. People in our culture are open to hearing about Jesus, and talking about spiritual things, more so during December than any other time of the year. So may He give you the heart of Mary to bring His joy to your world this Advent.

And be encouraged to know that He has chosen you to do so.

Be Born in Me is divided into five sections and includes discussion questions so you can use in a weekly small group, family devotional or class setting.
Here’s the link to the amazon web site: http://amzn.to/SNOkND.
And here’s the link to the Kindle site: http://amzn.to/RI7ODe.
(c) 2012. Rich Ronald.

[1] Luke 1:37 (The Message)

 

“Help me see with Heaven’s eyes…”

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Available at amazon.com in paperback or Kindle

Advent starts this weekend.  Like the onset of a new season or the New Year, it is a beginning. A time to prepare our hearts for celebrating the birth of the Messiah. It is a time to renew who we are as children of God. A time which allows us to truly celebrate Christmas for four weeks, rather than just a single day.

It is a time to cry out to God with the same prayer as Mary, the mother of Jesus: “Be Born in Me.”

It is every Believer’s cry from the depth of our heart as we ask Jesus to take over our lives.  We need Jesus to be born in us, fully and completely.

This new little book is designed to help you celebrate the joy of Christmas by looking back from Mary’s perspective.  It takes you into the times and culture of her day.

From Chapter Two of the book:

Francesca Battistelli recorded the song: Be Born in Me.  In the first verse there is a lyric that says “Somehow help me see with Heaven’s eyes.” What does this mean?

For starters, it means seeing the potential and possibilities of someone, who the world sees and rejects, with God’s eyes. It means seeing the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40) and accepting them. God sees and accepts everyone who comes to Him, no matter our story. Harlot. Beggar. Murderer.  Adulterer. Thief. Pharisee. Sinner. You. Me.  Once we’ve bowed our knee to Jesus, God sees us from Jesus’ point of view. All redeemed. All restored. He sees us the way He created us, like a new born baby, fresh, like a new day with no mistakes in it.

May I encourage you as you go through the day today to look around and ponder what you see. The crowded shopping malls. The crazy traffic. The homeless on the corner. The eyes of hope at your dinner table.  Can you see as God does?

Yes. When He is born in you.

The booklet is divided into five sections and includes discussion questions so you can use in a weekly small group, family devotional or class setting.

Here’s the link to the amazon web site: http://amzn.to/SNOkND.

And here’s the link to the Kindle site: http://amzn.to/RI7ODe.

(c) 2012. Rich Ronald.