Author: America's Keswick

The purpose of America's Keswick is to model and teach Biblical victorious living in Christ Jesus, to provide an environment in which Biblical life transformation takes place and to foster active personal involvement in the local church.

Diversity

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Dorothy Church near Drumheller, Alberta

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. (Romans 15:2)

Have you ever sat after church and no one spoke or look at you? Have you ever attended a fellowship only to notice that the members hung only with their respective group? Did you ever wear clothes that did not seem acceptable at a service? I spent many years in various churches that did not regard my presence for reason I can only imagine. I left those churches without a follow up and thinking where was the love.

When dealing with proper church edict Paul is usually a reliable source. Paul was communicating that believers are not meant to take a comfortable approach to our newfound liberties. We are freed for something greater. Primarily, we need to glorify God with all our life. Second, it’s fair to say that we ought to love each other, and in this verse he mentions that it is good to please your neighbor.

As a counselor, moreover as Christian I have learned that my reality is a reality, but not the only reality. To be more effective, it is essential to reach and learn different cultural predispositions to be a better aid. Diversity is one our country’s strength, in that, it allows us to embrace the strengths and weakens of others to build our great nation.

We could continue acting like this does not exist and morbid the relationship building that could possibly be helpful for everyone. As Christian, we should consider the way our country is evolving, being equipped with our youth, nationalities, differences etc… an that will help us in the Spirit of unity and build us up together as entity.

The church is filled with diversities and cultures. And one of our callings is to operate in a Spirit of unity. This is work; being transparent in all things gives the advantage to understand each other circumstances. God wants us to build corporately; this is how non-believer will know we are Christians by love for one another; by the way treat each other, and how we work with each other.

Written by Juan Mendez: Juan is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a full time staff member at America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 63; Proverbs 3

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: “We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin.” ~ C.S. Lewis

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge. ~Proverbs 14:26 (NKJV)

Cancelled

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DebtI cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? ~Matthew 18:32-33

Cancelling debts sets us free. At some point in our lives we have all been wronged. Someone has hurt us in some way. A debt was created in that relationship. From our perspective, it is our right to hold on to this debt until it is paid back. Until the offending party makes restitution the debt will stand. From God’s perspective it is one of the most self-destructive things we can do.

We put ourselves in a prison when we cling to the debts owed to us by others. If we demand payment we are the ones that ultimately pay. Our unresolved need for repayment manifests itself through anger. We become angry because we are owed something and it needs to be paid. In this anger we blind ourselves to the debt we have been forgiven. We play the role of the victim, completely forgetting the massive debt that was cancelled for us. Anytime we perceive ourselves as victims a laundry list of excuses will most certainly follow. As a victim we can write off almost any type of behavior. In our pain and hurt we continue to produce excuses and rationalizations for our poor behavior.

Overtime we start to believe the lie we are telling ourselves. We believe that it is acceptable to behave the way we do because we have no choice. We’ve been treated so poorly that our poor behavior is unavoidable. As a victim we aren’t proactive about changing. We become imprisoned to our own stubbornness and unwillingness to forgive.

In Matthew 18 Jesus confronts us. He lets us know that our desire to collect on the debts owed to us will cost us more than those who have hurt us. In verses 34-35 Jesus says “In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from heart.”

Holding on to the debts of others, no matter how justified it may seem, leads to self-destruction. There is freedom in forgiveness. We must have a healthy understanding of the grace and mercy we’ve been shown and then pay it forward to those who owe us. If we don’t, our very freedom is at stake.

Written by Jim Lang: Jim is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and full time staff member of America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 63; Proverbs 1

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: “If I cast up a confessed, repented, and forsaken sin against another, and allow my remembrance of that sin to colour my thinking and feed my suspicions, then I know nothing of Calvary love.” ~ Amy Carmichael

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge. ~Proverbs 14:26 (NKJV)

Vacation’s All I’ve Ever Wanted!

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MS EUROPA 2

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” ~Psalm 121:1

“Wanna get away?” I did a search for “vacation” in the concordance on a web site I use to do my Bible study, there were no places in the Bible in all the translations that have the word “vacation”. I did this on the heels of a two week cruise I took with my wife. First of all I would not recommend a cruise to someone who would struggle with alcohol or gambling and would definitely have some accountability with you, (there’s my disclaimer).

As I pondered our time away I became a spectator of my fellow passengers and the way they do “vacation”. We love to cruise and have been cruising for many years but for some reason this time was different. I wondered as I watched people consume massive amounts of alcohol and spend countless hours in a smoked filled casino, “is this what a vacation is”? This lead me to search out what God would have us do for “vacation” and found through a series of meanings for the word I fell upon the meaning of rest or refresh. I determined that we were seeking to break our normal routine, get away and enjoy each other and recharge for another year of work.

In Psalm 121 the Psalmist ask the question of “From where does my help come from?” The same question I asked myself as I thought about how blessed I was to have this opportunity. I asked God to give me a vision of what I was experiencing. He showed me that we are prone to wonder, tricked to thinking we can somehow please ourselves, trying desperately to fill an unfillable hole with pleasure and self-gratification. Talk about perspective, I began to realize that this time away was not my ultimate sustainer but a vehicle to seek where my true help comes from. “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved, He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper, the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night” (verses 2-6).

I became burdened with compassion and wanted to scream but could “only” pray and share with a few who, when I told my story either ignored me or had a brief encounter with a truth they may know and are only hiding behind their temporary cover. There was one man on a sailing excursion we did, he was the captain from here in the states, he told me he drinks heavily every night, says there is nothing else to do. He looked at me with saddened eyes when I told him “it doesn’t have to be that way”, and said, “I wish it were true”, please continue to pray for him.

So, today, if you’re looking for rest and think “if only I had….”, know that true help comes from the Lord, Amen!

Written by Rob Russomano: Rob is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and full time staff member at America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 61; Proverbs 30

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: “Abide in Jesus, the sinless One – which means, give up all of self and its life, and dwell in God’s will and rest in His strength. This is what brings the power that does not commit sin.” ~ Andrew Murray

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge. ~Proverbs 14:26 (NKJV)

Simplify Your Life

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“Be still and know that I am God …” Psalm 46:10

We have been talking about ways to simply your life. Maybe you don’t think your life is too complicated. But maybe you are on overload.

Think of some the ways we are on overload:

Information Overload: Remember life without our cell phones? Remember life when you cell phone was just a flip phone? Now our cell phones are mini-laptops. I can check emails, have my GPS at my disposal, use google and Siri instantaneously. My Kindle account is on my cell phone. I have Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. I can check multiple newspapers, magazines; listen to podcasts, sermon messages, and even watch a church service. We have so much information coming our way just through our cell phone.

Choice Overload: Just walk down the aisle where you can buy cereal. Whoa! Talk about choices. Which one do you choose? I don’t have to just buy plain old Cheerios now! And if cereal wasn’t bad enough, think about the process of buying a tube of toothpaste!

And we have created monsters in our kids – we have created a generation where even breakfast feels like it has to be a buffet because we have given them the opportunity to choose.

Book Overload: For some of you, I wish you had even the slightest overload when it comes to reading. Most guys are not readers. But we have so many choices. When was the last time you went to a physical library? We don’t have to do that anymore – if you have a library card, you can access your local library with never having to leave the confines of your home!!! I have a closet full of books to read – my guess is that pile will continue to grow and grow unless I put an end to it. My Kindle account now has 250 titles waiting to be read. Yikes!

Commitment Overload: I am not going to judge anyone in this area because I have struggled with this my entire life. Isn’t the purpose of the calendar to see how many things we can put on each day of the calendar? And we have passed that on to our kids – filling their schedule to the max so that when they have “free time,” – you will hear them say, “I’m so bored.”

I think you get the point. If we are going to really enjoy life, is it supposed to be on constant overload? Or just maybe is the goal to live more simply? Maybe we’d enjoy life better, have more fulfilled relationships, if we’d be able to slow down, trim back, de-clutter so that we could breathe deeply, rest better and actually live a more fruitful, fulfilled life.

And just maybe, we’d actually be able to hear the still small voice of God and enjoy intimacy with Him. Think about it.

Written by Dr. Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’s Keswick: He has been married to his child sweetheart for 40+ years, and has three married kids, one that is engaged, and 10 amazing grand kids. He loves music and is an avid reader.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 60; Proverbs 29

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: When we insist on doing too much, we are not only inflicting the damage of this choice on ourselves, we are sharing the damage with those we love the most.  ~Anne Wilson Schaef

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge. ~Proverbs 14:26 (NKJV)

Insubordination

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underspotlightAnd Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  ~Matthew 28: 18-20

We have all worked with “that guy.” You know, “that guy” that no matter what position he holds at your work place he thinks he is in charge. He does things he shouldn’t do, he makes decisions he shouldn’t make and he always has a better way of doing things.

I’ve managed many people in my career but the most difficult type of person to manage is a “know it all.” They barely can complete their daily tasks, yet they know how to run things more smoothly, make more money and complete tasks faster. They are constantly doing things in ways that, in their mind are better, but in reality cause greater problems for the company as a whole. No matter how many times you tell them, they are incapable of keeping to their job description.

Isn’t that what we do as Christians? As men of God, we sometimes take on tasks that don’t belong to us. We heap kingly responsibilities onto our plates without even completing the tasks we were assigned to.

For the sake of this comparison, let’s look at Matthew 28:18-20 as the general Christian job description.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We are to make disciples, baptize and teach obedience to all nations. Being the “know it alls” that we are, we try to convert, condemn and judge. Instead of making disciples, we bully people to try and align them with our beliefs. Instead of baptizing, we judge people for their shortcomings. Instead of teaching obedience we condemn them for their sin and instead of being promoters of Christ; we act like His security guards. We try to pick and choose who is allowed to hear His message and who is deserving of His salvation. In our insubordination, we repel the world to the good news that we are intended to preach. As you move forward today ask yourself these questions:

Do my daily actions demonstrate obedience to God ?

Do I withhold the message of salvation to those people I deem unworthy?

Do I speak words of hope or words of judgment?

Am I repelling or attracting people to Jesus Christ?

Don’t allow yourself to become insubordinate in God’s kingdom.

Written by Jim Lang: Jim is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a full-time staff member at America’s Keswick. 

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 55; Proverbs 26

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: Fear is a self imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love. ~Rick Warren

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  It is better to trust in the Lord; Than to put confidence in man. ~Psalm 118:8 (NKJV)

Spiritual Maturity

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Spiritual MaturityMaturity as a Christian is a process that has several factors to keep in mind and recognize. I want to start with the sovereignty of God, meaning to recognize and accept God’s right to have all power and authority over everything.

(Faith) When reading John 1:1-4 we are able to see this concept. He (God) created everything and He is life. This is just one of many places in the Bible that sheds light on the principle of sovereignty, but after reading about it, now comes an opportunity to look at our lives and see God’s fingerprint.

Taking time to reflect on events that show someone greater than ourselves stepped in to help and guide us towards spiritual maturity. For me, I am now aware of times of protection, provision, grace, mercy, discipline, and even suffering that He allowed to guide me in the direction He desired me to go, which not only glorified Him but was in my best interest.

This brings us to the next factor of maturity to focus on, circumstances. The book of James in chapter 1:1-18 explains how maturity comes through the testing of our faith. This section of the Bible goes into a clear explanation of applying the word of God to our lives simply by giving Him the authority over our lives which is already His.

Jesus says in Matthew 16:25 “If you try to keep your life for yourself you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me you will find true life.” So you see James is revealing to us how, by allowing God to determine how we will react to the things of this world, which only wants to separate us from our creator, we grow stronger in character that adds to our maturity as a Christian living for God and His purpose.

James goes on to say in verse 5, “If you need wisdom – if you want to know what God wants you to do ask Him, and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent you’re asking.” Now remember how God speaks to us through His Spirit, and His word, the Bible.

The last point I wish to look at to help with spiritual maturity is obedience. Obedience from a worldly perspective is hard, but from a Biblical perspective it really isn’t, we make it hard because we think we know what is best for us.

Think about this for a minute, how many times growing up, especially as a teenager did you think you could do something and saw nothing wrong with it or danger in it. Then someone older, parent, teacher, or friend pointed out serious concerns or dangers.

Sometimes I would ignore and wished I hadn’t other times listen and saw they were right without having to experience the consequences of not listening, but either way most times listening to the wisdom of someone older was beneficial for me.

Well God is eternal you don’t get any older than that. The only reason it seems harder to be obedient is because we like the idea of being as smart as everyone else or even smarter. Satan used this very concept to tempt Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:1-24.

In Matthew 11:29-30 Jesus says “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” The longer you do something it does seem to get harder to stop doing it, and it takes approximately six weeks to make a habit, then in reality it’s not harder to be obedient just the same amount of time and dedication and application.

Time of being in Christ, dedication to Christ, and application of surrendering your will.

Written by Brian Ferguson: Brian is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and full-time staff member at America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 55; Proverbs 25

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: Meet your fears with faith. ~Max Lucado

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  It is better to trust in the Lord; Than to put confidence in man. ~Psalm 118:8 (NKJV)

Excuse Me, Washcloth or Filter? (I’LL ASK AGAIN)

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coffee“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” ~Gal 5:16-18 (ESV)
(This Freedom Fighter was written back in July of 2011. I would like to dedicate this re-contribution to the memory of my brother-in-Christ and close friend Mark Fisher. Brother Mark went home on February 10th of this year…he was a Freedom Fighter to the end. PTL!!!)
As we were dropping off our sons to begin their season on Summer Staff at America’s Keswick, my brother-in-Christ, Mark Fisher, and myself were engaged in deep conversation. He was telling me about how the Lord spoke to him through an evangelist about the use of coffee filters. Mark starts off with by saying, “Tomorrow morning try this, when you make your coffee, don’t use the filter. Just let all those nasty coffee grinds go right into the pot. Then after you drink some of it, try to use the filter. No matter how you try, you will soon realize that the filter only works when we use it the way it was designed, before we drink the coffee, not after.”
This illustration of coffee being filtered goes along with what happens when we find that many of us refuse to leave the foot of the Cross. Some of us just stay there and continue to wash ourselves over and over in the blood of forgiveness. We make very little, if any attempt to step away carrying our own Cross and showing others what the cleansing blood of Christ has the power to do. We seem to forget that once we are covered in the shed blood of redemption it not only covers us in the righteousness of Christ but it also serves as our filter to face the world. And so many of us (present writer included) fall into the traps and snares of our Adversary that we will fail to see the escape that was made way for us.
This happens because we find the filter too restricting, so we make the choice to take the filter off. Keep in mind that this particular filter was designed to work on many levels of the human condition, especially at the level of our thoughts and our desires. Instead of being Spirit lead and having our thoughts and desires filtered, we decide to use the filter as Christian washcloth. We tend to dip it in the blood of Christ to wipe away the filth from our mouths, our eyes, our ears, our wallets, and our feet after we find ourselves in sin. If we go back to our coffee pot and serve someone a cup of that same coffee full of grinds, and when they say “Hey what’s up with this coffee it’s full of grinds?” hand them a filter and see what kind of reaction you get.
As Brother Mark continued in conversation he made this point. “This is exactly what we are doing to the Holy Spirit when we remove the filter. We take off the filter, which represent the gift of discernment to be used before we sin, and instead of using them as they were designed, we decide to use them as washcloths which represent our conviction and use it after we sin. Hasn’t God showed us that we should be filtering our thoughts before we act on them? We should filter our thoughts before we speak, before we look, before we listen, before we spend, before we go and so on.”
So I’ll ask you this brother. Did you have a cup of coffee this day that wasn’t filtered? And if you did, how did it taste and do you really enjoy it that way? I agree with Mark that drinking coffee without it being filtered is just plain nasty to drink but living out the life provided for me by my Heavenly Father and to just dab the shed blood of Christ on my sin with a washcloth is just plain disobedient. So when you step out into the world this day make sure you have put the filter in before you add the coffee. I am sure that the Savior will add His sweetness to it if you do. Amen?
Written by Chris Hughes: Chris is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy 11-2003 and serves on the Deacon board at Trinity Alliance Church in Cologne, NJ.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 55; Proverbs 24

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: “Throughout the centuries relatively few Christians have been martyred for Jesus. We may die of embarrassment, but few of us will face the literal loss of life for our faith. However, it is clear that staying is easier than going out into the world. But then, Jesus never promised us we could stay in our comfort zone. Jesus calls us to go into the world. This is scary when we think about the hostile world we are entering, but God loved the world enough to send His own Son into the world, and He calls us to follow in His footsteps.” —Dick Staub

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  It is better to trust in the Lord; Than to put confidence in man. ~Psalm 118:8 (NKJV)

We Become What We Love

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iStock_000061285428_MediumWe become what we love. When we are fixed and focused on who God is in His essential nature then the presence of His agape love in us sets us free to love in the same way: to love without any sense of needing a reward, to love for the sheer sake of love itself. Jesus put it this way, “I love you as the Father loves me”. Our testimony is that we are radically and outrageously loved in such a powerful and wonderful way that we have become transformed in our own nature! … More than anything, though, love is a verb, a doing word. I love, you love, he-she-it loves. We love, they love, the whole world loves, and God so loved the world that He gave His only son. Love is something you demonstrate, or it’s not worthy of the name. And to be properly worthy, love isn’t something that you demonstrate once, or even twice. It’s a permanent state, this pale reflection: a shadow of the awesome, staggering and unconditional love that we experience from the Father of us all. ~ Graham Cooke

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory… Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. ~Paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Colossians 3

Oh beloved, it is true. There is the greatest of lies foisted upon us by the world. And the lie is ever more insidious because it is partly true. Death is real. But the lie is that death is a monolith. We are told there is only kind.

This not true. Death comes in many forms.

Oh yes, the Death that Jesus did beat (quite soundly) at the cross and through His resurrection is a terrible, ghastly enemy. This death is the worst of foes, and beyond its gates is a permanence of terror that words are unable to contain. And the shadow this Death casts may be why we shy away from even speaking about it.

There is another death. And this one is no less violent. In fact, it is more violent than the Other. But the violence is clean and sure – and more permanent than the Death that is our enemy. The death is the end of another brutal and nagging enemy: me.

To be clear, this death is not the end of my breathing or the functioning of my brain. This death is the end of the dominance of that within me that would indeed bring me under the other Death’s authority – and converting me (literally, spiritually and completely) into whole new species of being.

The death of “me,” paves the way for a whole new Life to take preeminence in me and through me. For when Jesus died, He did it not that I would have some sort of path to self improvement by having the “tab” for my failures covered. No, He died that I would die along with Him and be ushered past the enemy’s gates into an eternal and changeless and fully Alive state in Him.

Love.

Can we see it? Before our death in Him, we were trying (and failing) to get everything we wanted from the world and everyone around us. But now, in Him, we have everything for which we could have ever dreamed – and more.

This complete change from completely empty to overwhelmingly full has finally given us the ability to actually Live as He lives. We are now enabled to give ourselves completely to others and to begin to give them what they need (Him).

So yeah, death feels a little weird. The direction we thought we had to our lives is taken away and replaced with a path of adventure beyond our dreams. It is an epic journey. But the weirdest thing about it, is that it is exactly what we were always looking for when we were trying to stay alive anyway.

Tonight is your night beloved. Time to die, that you might Love.

Written by Makala (Mak) Doulos: Makala Doulos is a child of God, a husband to his wife, a father to his children, and a teacher to his students. But mostly, he is a prisoner set free by Jesus. Love has invaded his life, crushed it, and made it new. Now, God’s Love is what constrains him to live in full surrender to the freedom The Father and Son and Holy Spirit have bought for us all. Grace and Peace to you all.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 54; Proverbs 23

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none. Eternal years lie in his heart. For him time does not pass, it remains; and those who are in Christ share with him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. ~A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  It is better to trust in the Lord; Than to put confidence in man. ~Psalm 118:8 (NKJV)

Simplify | Facing Overload

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iStock_000083463937_SmallLast week I shared a list of 20 ways to simplify your life from the pen of seminar speaker, Dr. Steve Stephens.

You may wonder why in the need to simplify. I would like to suggest that most people are facing overload in every area of their lives. Some of us are on a treadmill and we are going through life “existing” and not really enjoying life.

We are so busy and overloaded that we are missing the opportunities to smell the rose, enjoy a sunset, to enjoy our kids and grandkids, and so many other blessings that are right under our noses.

We keep adding stuff to our lives, and in order to pay for more stuff, we have to work more hours, start a second job, max out our credit cards to pay for what we really can’t afford, and then go to the doctors to get a prescription because we are anxious and can’t sleep because we are worried about how to pay for the stuff we have purchased.

I want to step back and talk about a couple items from Doc Stephens list. If you missed it, go back and read my blog post from last week.

Here are some things for you to consider:

1. Do only one thing at a time. – I used to pride myself on being a multi-tasker and thinking how good I was because I could do more than one thing at a time. That is just plain stupid! You can’t multi-task and really be engaged in what you are need to do. To be fully engaged, we need to focus on one thing at a time. You will find yourself making less mistakes, being more thorough and thinking more carefully.

2. Say no at least once a day. If you are on overload, my guess is like me, you haven’t learned that “no” is an acceptable word in your vocabulary. I have done a horrible job saying “no.” I have lived under the bondage of being a people pleaser, needing to make everyone happy. And guess what – everyone still isn’t happy, and neither am I. “No” is a good word. It is the word that can stop the freight train from running off the rails of our lives.

3. Get rid of clutter. What does your top bureau drawer look like? The draws of your desk? Your car? Your brief case? Some of you know exactly what I am talking about. Our life is one big mess of clutter.

This is one of the best ways to start learning to simplify. At this age of my life I am forcing myself to start the process of decluttering and it is painful. Being a musician, I have hundreds of choral collections that have saved for “someday.” Really? It’s all good stuff. Some of these pieces I haven’t seen in years. So I finally took the step of throwing away 100 choral books. Painful. And the ones I am keeping, my Administrative Assistant is scanning. It was hard, but freeing.

I am working through file drawers. Hey I have some great stuff I have saved over the years. But guess what – I also haven’t looked for it in years. My old boss, Neil Fichthorn, used to back up a box and take it with him on his stay-vacations and sort through it – getting rid of the unnecessary clutter. Not a bad idea.

I will share a couple of more ideas with you next week. Not a spiritual Freedom Fighter? It sure is. Could it be that the clutter in my life is what the writer of Hebrews was referring to in Hebrews 12:1? Maybe clutter is part of the hindrance that weighs us down. Think about it.

Written by Dr. Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’s Keswick: He has been married to his child sweetheart for 40+ years, and has three married kids, one that is engaged, and 10 amazing grand kids. He loves music and is an avid reader.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 53; Proverbs 22

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness. ~Henry David Thoreau

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  It is better to trust in the Lord; Than to put confidence in man. ~Psalm 118:8 (NKJV)

All Alone!

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He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)

The greatest suffering of Jesus on the cross was when He was forsaken by His God! If He had not experienced that (because of our sin on Him), then we would have to experience it when we face God with our sin. Have you ever been forsaken? It can be summed up in one word – ALONE: being entirely by oneself, apart from others. The following helps to describe it.

            A – Abandoned: Leaving a person to the mercy of someone or something else; to give up with the intent of never again claiming one’s rights or interest in. Jesus experienced being alone from the beginning, the world knew Him not; His own received Him not (John 1:10-11). Jesus became irredeemable, not acceptable, He made Him to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus went through abandonment for you.

            L – Lonely: Solitary, feeling a lack of close companionship; longing for companionship. Being lonesome heightens the feelings of dreariness, dismalness. To be forlorn and desolate which bring a sharper sense of loneliness are all part of what Jesus felt – for you!

            O – Oppressed: Anything between mere objection and intense hostility or warfare. Jesus was at war with Satan in the garden while He prayed. The enemy wanted Him to give up and take back His own will, but He did not….for your sake! Jesus, the man, knew that His God was against the sin which He bore. This brought a sense of oppression to Him.

            N – Neglected: Jesus, being alone, had to feel a sense of neglect; a lack of sufficient attention; to be renounced; to be given up. The people, soldiers and a thief on a cross mocked and ridiculed Him. Jesus knew that God could help Him, but wouldn’t! What a terrible feeling! Because of our sin He suffered neglect; because of His love He endured.

            E – Excluded: This means keeping out what is already outside. To be deserted suggests that companionship was involved and no longer existed. He bore our own sins in His body (1 Peter 2:24). Therefore God had to exclude Jesus – because God is sinless, and Jesus on the tree was sin – your sin! You will never be excluded by God if you place your sin on Jesus and receive Him as your Savior. Thank Him for being excluded for you.

Whenever you feel alone, remember Jesus was forsaken for you, so you can be accepted.

Written by Jack Noel: Jack Noel served for years as a chaplain at the Colony of Mercy and is a dear friend of the ministry of America’s Keswick.

Today’s devotional was taken from our Real Victory for Real Life Volume II. Real Victory offers 365 Daily Meditations for Victorious Christian Living with daily Bible readings to take you through the Bible in a year! You can purchase Real Victory for Real Life Volume II on Amazon by clicking here

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 50; Proverbs 19

Click Here to Download our 2016 Daily Bible Reading Plan

Daily Quote: A prayerless church member is a hindrance. He is in the body like a rotting bone or a decayed tooth. Before long, since he does not contribute to the benefit of his brethren, he will become a danger and a sorrow to them. Neglect of private prayer is the locust which devours the strength of the church. ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. ~Hebrews 13:18 (NKJV)