Yes! YES! YESSSS!

Yes!
Not a non-commital, half-hearted, yes.

But a fist-pumping, bicep-flexing YES!
YESSS!

You know the feeling.
When it all comes together.
Everything works out right.

It's an instant day-brightener, an attitude-adjuster, a "the sun is shining now" moment.

YES!

In this world I tend to get cynical and beaten down.
YES moments are special things.
And the most special one is my YES with Jesus.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22
Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

May your day be peppered with YES moments today!

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God,
You line my day with YES moments - only some of which I notice.
Bring them to my attention in your creation and the people you fill my life with.
Thank you for making me right with you through Jesus.
Yes, yes - so shall it be!
Amen.
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What's the big deal about Jesus?

Draw me a picture!

Draw me a picture!

I'm a visual learner - and so when I have to read a bunch of words or listen to someone on a conference call talk about something for...ever...

I just don't get it.

Draw me a picture.  Or let me draw a picture of what you're talking about and let me know if it is right.  And then I'll "get it".

That's why I enjoyed reading 1 Corinthians 15 today - because Paul is talking about me.
I'm the skeptic who asks - what does my "resurrection body" look like?  
Wait.  What?  How does this work?  

And in the use of word pictures and metaphor - God paints me a vivid picture of "what will I look like in heaven"?

1 Corinthians 15:35-41

35-38 Some skeptic is sure to ask, “Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?” If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a “dead” seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don’t look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different.

39-41 You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans, animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies—sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we’re only looking at pre-resurrection “seeds”—who can imagine what the resurrection “plants” will be like!

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God,
Thank you for painting the picture of my resurrection through your Word.
I can't know or imagine what it will really be like - but you have guaranteed it will be AWESOME!
Help me plant more seeds for You.
Amen.
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What's the big deal about Jesus?

Keep it to yourself...

Does this happen to you?

I have an idea or thought.  And I just want to share it.
But because it doesn't "fit" (at that moment, in another person's opinion, etc.) I'm encouraged to "keep it to myself".

As children - we naturally share those thoughts - but as parents we unfortunately (and mostly unwittingly) give our kids the message to "keep it to yourself".
Not right now, honey.
This isn't a good time.

And that gets ingrained in our thinking.
We share less.
We keep it to ourself.
And in the end - that makes everyone's road a little more difficult.

God didn't plan it that way.
And he sure doesn't want it that way regarding his glorious message of salvation.

From 1 Corinthians 14:1-3
1-3 Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth. If you praise him in the private language of tongues, God understands you but no one else does, for you are sharing intimacies just between you and him. But when you proclaim his truth in everyday speech, you’re letting others in on the truth so that they can grow and be strong and experience his presence with you.

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Lord,
Remind me that all good gifts come from you.
And the best one - the gift of life with you in heaven - is too good to "keep it to myself".
Help me share it everyday in any way.
Amen.
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What's the big deal about Jesus?

Special Assignment!

(Guest devotion from my brother Chris)
Special Assignment!

It was the proudest moment in my young life when Mrs. Munsch, my 3rd grade teacher, asked me to her desk to give me a special assignment.  She trusted me to show the other students "the ropes" as we began the school year.  In giving me this assignment, Mrs. Munsch made me feel special and important.  I was motivated to do my best for her because she had trusted me to take on this task.

What makes this all the more special was that this was the beginning of my second year in 3rd grade.  I'd been held back because I simply wasn't where the other students were.  This decision crushed me.  I felt stupid, slow, singled out.  Life wasn't fair.  I'd spent all of the time since my mother and father had informed me of their decision, pouting, sulking, worrying and dreading the first day of the next school year.  But one special assignment made all of the negative disappear.

Paul's opening words in 2 Timothy 1 are "I, Paul, am on special assignment for Christ, carrying out God's plan laid out in the Message of Life by Jesus."

Writing this devotion today I genuinely felt the pride and joy that had filled me up when my first leadership assignment was given to me many years ago.

I have to wonder though, why don't I wake up each day feeling that same pride and then some?  My God has worked the miracle of faith in my heart through the Holy Spirit.  My God has sacrificed his only Son and purchased my salvation, freeing me from the eternal punishment that is rightfully mine.  My God has given me the special assignment of proclaiming this to the world, in my actions and words.   Yet I so often approach this assignment as a chore, a task...work.  This assignment is more special than any other.  This assignment is to be at the core of who I am, what I'm about and what I do.

Today, our special assignment is the same as Paul's.  We are to proclaim the good news of Christ crucified to the world.

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Dear Father God, I pray that you help me to find and appreciate the joy that comes from being entrusted with such an important special assignment.  Thank you for choosing me, empowering me and making me up to the task.

Amen
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What's the big deal about Jesus?

I can't see clearly now...

I get frustrated when I can't figure things out.  
When I can't see clearly and make out what's really there, what's really going on, and what to do about it.

It affects all areas of life - my work, my family, even my leisure!

That's when it's important to remember that I'm NOT SUPPOSED TO be able to figure things out.  

This is a sinful, messed-up world and it is a constant conundrum.

Paul reminds us of this in...

1 Corinthians 13:12-13

12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

The fog will clear and true 20/20 vision will be mine in heaven.  Not sooner.

In the meantime - trust, hope and love is more than enough to get me through!

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Thank you God for giving me the prescription glasses of your Word.

Remind me where I "left my glasses" when I forget - and to put them on!

Only then do I see the clarity that is to come.

Amen.

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Link to daily bible reading calendar (chronological - one chapter per day)

TIP: click the Bible Reference and then "more details" to get hyperlinks that open Bible Gateway

What's the big deal about Jesus?