students of jesus

Enough with the rants and the whining: we have taught ourselves the habit of discontent. We are a people gone crazy with complaints. But the good news is habits can be dropped and new ones can be learned. We can update our software. We can see the world with fresh eyes.

Today A Month of Thanksgiving goes live at Amazon.com. It’s my attempt help reset our baseline and see gratitude as the “normal” God intended for each of his children. I wrote it because I believe our greatest need is to return to a “creaturely” relationship with our Creator. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. Did you know that last sentence is a verse of scripture? Visit our stern brother James and you’ll discover one of his foundations.

It’s a short daily devotional—you can read each one in a minute or two. After the devotion you’ll find a question worth asking, an action worth taking, and a quote worth repeating. Here’s a sample from day one. Get on board for the thanksgiving train: it’s underway in just a few days.

                                                                 November 1^st

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Paul’s words in Thessalonians have something to teach us about the will of God: he wants us to be thankful from the heart. Why torture ourselves over discovering God’s will when the obvious first step is right in front of us?

The Father knows thankfulness is the best thing for us—if it flows from the heart. When our hearts respond with prayers of joy and gratitude to the situations of life, we are responding out of Christlikeness and not simply parroting the company line.  One way to "pray continuously" is to develop the habit of giving thanks in all things. Gratitude is a mighty prayer in the Spirit.

Ask Yourself: Do I believe it is possible to give thanks in all situations? How could every circumstance contain the seeds of thanksgiving?

Live Into It: Each day, identify three thanks-worthy things. Use the notes App on your phone, or the white board on your refrigerator, or your bathroom mirror. It doesn’t matter if you repeat yourself some days—some things are worth giving thanks for every single day.

A.W. Tozer ~ “A thankful heart cannot be cynical.” 

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This devotional is available at Amazon 99 cents as a Kindle book, or just a bit more in paperback. Gather your wits each morning. Become sane again. Select “Restart” and you will find the world God wants you to see.

The thankful heart is awake to God’s goodness. It lives in the constant wonder of his first judgment about the world: “it is good.”

This is a sneak peek at Day One from a new Devotional, 50 Forgotten Days: A Journey Into The Age To Come. It's designed to take you forward from Easter to Pentecost.

The Resurrection of God ~ DAY ONE 

A Preview of Coming Attractions

Resurrection makes all things new: Jesus, in a physical, resurrected body is operating under a whole new set of rules. He is physical enough to eat and drink with the disciples, and “spiritual” enough to appear behind locked doors or disappear before the eyes of the two guys on the road to Emmaus. This resurrection is the hint of what is to come for all of us. We will not simply come alive in the old way. Resuscitation is resuming the old life; resurrection is entry into a new kind of life.

Ask Yourself: Have I merely added Jesus to my menu of choices and then simply resumed the old life?

Live Into It: What would a resurrected-kind-of-life look like in my home, my job, my school, and my life?

Here's the Introduction from my new devotional book, 50 Forgotten Days: A Journey Into The Age To Come. It releases this weekend on Amazon Kindle and B&N's Nook. This excerpt is from the introduction, but the daily devotionals are super-short, for busy people who need a 5 minute-a-day devotional.

We are big on Easter, and rightfully so—God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, putting an exclamation mark on the life of his Son. Some branches of the faith are big on Pentecost, celebrating the coronation of Jesus in heaven, and the overflow of the Spirit dripping down to the earth. Between the two there’s a span of 50 days. 

In the hubbub of Easter, we sometimes forget Jesus stuck around for another 40 days after resurrection. Apparently he had more to say and do. The very first verse in the book of Acts teaches us that the gospels were about “all that Jesus began to do and teach.” The rest of Acts teaches us that Jesus is still doing and teaching in the days, weeks, months and decades after the gospels. The work of the first century church was the work of Jesus. Isn’t that true today? It’s all too easy to substitute our work for his, to engage in ministry apart from his direction. What is Jesus is doing and teaching in our day? Are we still working with him or simply working for him?

Jesus’ message in the 40 days of resurrection was really no different than his message during his three years of ministry: he taught about the Kingdom of God (Acts1:3). Acts opens and closes with the Kingdom of God front and center. The very last verse in the book shows us Paul, three decades later, proclaiming the Kingdom of God (Acts 28: 31). Have we meditated on the meaning and importance of the Kingdom, or have we reduced the message of Jesus to only his sacrifice of the cross? Individually and corporately, we need to rediscover the Kingdom message.

The angels who were present at the ascension asked a pretty good question: “Why are you looking toward heaven?” (Acts 1:11) It’s a question worth considering. Frequently we are more concerned with heaven than with the Kingdom of God. The breathtaking sacrifice at Calvary purchased the forgiveness of sins and the hope of heaven, but in our generation many followers of Jesus have limited his work and message to heaven and heaven only. We should ask: if the gospel is only about going to heaven, why did Jesus invite us to take up the yoke of discipleship?

I’d love to get the podcast of everything Jesus taught in those 40 days, but it hasn’t shown up on iTunes yet. In the meantime, he invites us to work with him just as closely as the first disciples.

So why 50 forgotten days instead of 40? Simply because there were ten days of waiting, watching and praying before Something Big happened to the church. The idea of ten days to do nothing is desperately needed in the church today, and this is the perfect time of year to embrace that very thing.

The gospel accounts end with Jesus saying, “Go!” In Acts Jesus says, “Wait!”  What was so important that Jesus told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem? In our day many Christians are familiar with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) but are we aware that Jesus also told us to wait? Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t go anywhere, don’t do anything until you receive all that I have for you?” Have we meditated on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives? We can work for God without any special empowerment. We cannot work with him apart form the Holy Spirit.

There are plenty of Lenten devotionals. They help us reflect on the gravity of the cross and the glory of resurrection. But what do you do after Easter? That’s really the question of what it’s like to live in the Age to Come. The days between Easter and Pentecost are usually an after-thought, yet they can become an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the resurrection in our lives. The risen Jesus didn’t leave in a hurry: he hung out with his disciples and put the finishing touches on three years of training. He wants to do the same for us.

This devotional will take you 50 days into the Age to Come.

We’ll discover what the resurrection of Jesus means for us in everyday life.

We’ll discover Jesus’ message of the Kingdom of God.

We’ll discover the possibilities of life in the Spirit.

The time for fasting has ended. Let’s feast together in God’s Kingdom.

This Christmas I’ve published a 25-Day devotional, one for each day in December. Each one is drawn from the scripture, because even though these holiday stories are familiar, they are still the word of God to us, capable of teaching and guiding us through life. And because the burden of Christmas makes us busier and more prone to stress, each meditation is designed to be read in a minute--and provide something to consider all day long.

The eBook is available over at Amazon.com, but here’s a sample page:

How God Speaks:

DAY EIGHTEEN

God speaks through dreams: The record shows that God spoke to Joseph exclusively through dreams. What’s more, Joseph took these dreams seriously and made life-altering choices based on them. Would you marry someone or move to a foreign country based on your dreams? Joseph did! In fact, we are in the habit of referring to "our dreams," but what if they are God’s? Dreams are mentioned no fewer than four times in Matthew’s Christmas narrative. The scripture demonstrates God can and does guide his children through dreams. Imagine: in an emotionally charged situation like the Nativity, just when we would be tempted to ignore our dreams as a product of our subconscious, God is present: leading, directing, and guiding—through dreams.

At last: A Christmas devotional for incredibly busy people.

Each day in December, in one minute or less, you can capture a concept that will enrich your journey toward Christmas day. Everyone's busy--and the holidays only add to the list of things to do. Yet Christmas is something more than a celebration of an event from long ago or modern holiday centered around shopping.

God is still speaking through the Christmas story: the gospel narratives centered around the birth of Jesus are filled with encouragement and revelation concerning the love of God and his wisdom for us today.

This practical eBook format means you can catch a devotional moment on the go: from your e-Reader, at your desktop, holding your tablet, or on your phone. If you can create enough space to read these one-minute devotions, you can carry their thoughts and ideas with you the rest of the day.

Available for Amazon Kindle and Kindle Apps.