spiritual journey

Bitterness or Grace? (Prayer Devotional for the week of January 3, 2016)

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I watched a food show once on TV featuring Alton Brown who shared a trick about how to eliminate the bitterness from coffee. You simply add a pinch of kosher salt to the coffee grounds before brewing. It causes some kind of chemical reaction that is beyond my understanding, but the result is absolute culinary magic! Just that tiny bit of salt really does cut the bitter aftertaste and creates the smoothest cup of coffee you’ve ever had in your life.

 

Interestingly, Colossians 4:6 says that our words are to be seasoned with grace like salt. I find it fascinating that the God of the universe (the Creator of those glorious coffee beans!), used the imagery of salt in reference to our attitudes. Like salt and coffee grounds, grace can cut through bitter character.

 

A new year is upon us, and with the changing of the calendar comes a question: What do you want to do differently this year? I’m not talking about New Year’s resolutions, but first impressions. Have you ever considered what impression your life makes on others, as a Christian, compared to who you were before you knew Christ? When people see us, do they see grace, or do we give off a vibe of bitterness or discontentment?

 

If you need a place to start, I encourage you to begin by finding ways to apply your Bible reading to your life personally. For example, take the chapter of Colossians 4 mentioned above. At the beginning of the chapter, Paul mentioned that we should be consistent in prayer, ask God for opportunities to share his word, and walk in wisdom. How can that be applied to your life, even this week? As you go about your daily routines at work, school, or home, why not ask the Lord to give you wisdom and to open your spiritual eyes to see opportunities to share your faith journey with others around you?

 

I think you might be surprised by how many opportunities you will recognize when you begin looking for them. Then when those opportunities arise, let your words be seasoned with grace as a reflection of Christ’s character.

 

Make Me New Again (Prayer Devotional for the week of December 29, 2013)

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Whether you make annual New Year resolutions or not, there’s something about another January rolling around that causes us to think about changes. My eldest asked the other day if I had any resolutions this year, and I simply said, “Graduate.” I’ve been working toward this goal for the past four years, although it feels like decades when I’m stumped on part of my research. Graduation is a tangible result – a date, a ceremony, a fancy robe and a piece of paper to prove what I’ve accomplished.

Not all goals are so concrete, though. Some goals we strive toward our whole lives and never quite see the end result. Take your spiritual journey, for example. I reckon if you asked any champion of faith if they have reached the ultimate goal of their Christian walk, they would probably say no. In Philippians 3, the apostle Paul (definitely a big name in church history!) wrote that he was still striving for the finish line.

I love the repeating stanza that the songwriter wrote in Psalm 80 (NIRV): “God, make us new again. Let your face smile on us with favor. Then we will be saved.” Is there anything greater that we could achieve than to experience the Lord’s favor? Everything else seems to pale in comparison.

Our faith journey is not like graduation, where you receive a diploma and call it done. Again and again, we need to be renewed. Over and over, we need to refuel our efforts. As Paul stated in Philippians 3:20, we are citizens of heaven, and until the Lord returns to stamp our eternal passports, we have work yet to do. Let’s make the most of it in the coming year.