No help available for this item...

I was greeted with this message on the printer at work this morning.  
"There is no help available for this item."

Well - doesn't that make you feel just great?  And the best it would let me do is "Ignore".

And I think about how often I feel that way about other things in my life.
This is MY problem and I'VE got to fix it.
And "there is no help available for this item."

Psalm 69:20
Scorn has broken my heart
    and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
    for comforters, but I found none.

BUT how wrong I am.

Romans 5:6-10

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

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God,
Thanks for the constant reminder that "help is available".
24 hours a day / 7 days a week.
It's a prayer call away.
Until I draw my last breath.
Amen.

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What's the big deal about Jesus?

Breathe Deep!

Breathe deep!

As a bicycle commuter I get to smell a lot more smells than most folks.

• Smoke in the air
• Dead animal on the road..that's been in my bike lane for a couple days in the 90 degree heat...
• Restaurant in the afternoon (after opening)
• Restaurant in the morning (before opening and the dumpsters are full)
• Cedar trees cut down - wow - that one I smelled for a month after they did it.

When God breathes deep - what does he smell?

Is it "my prayers rising before you as incense, the lifting up of my hands (to God) like the evening sacrifice". (Psalm 141)

Or that "My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning." (Psalm 38)

Or neither?
"For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."
2 Corinthians 2:15-17

Sin stinks.  
Savor salvation.

Breathe deep in Jesus.

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Lord,
Let me prayer rise before you as incense, 
the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.
Amen.
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What's the big deal about Jesus?

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!
It's the birthday of someone special today (my mom).
It is in my life - maybe in yours too!

What's the best gift I can shop for?
How much did we spend last year?
What's better than last year's gift?

Why are these the wrong questions...?

Because God - the best gift giver of all - teaches us that it's not the shopping or the price tag or the "better than last year" that matters.

Need proof?
John 3:16-17

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Lord,
The best gifts don't have a price tag.
An unexpected hug.
Making dinner.
A phone call just to say hi and how are you doing.
Remind me to think better, not bigger.
Amen.
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Link to daily bible reading calendar (chronological - one chapter per day)

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What's the big deal about Jesus?

12 hours of squeaky chalk...

(yes - it is a real YouTube video [no, this is not a link to it])

I am really good...at being bad.
I want to be oil paint smoothly flowing over the canvas.
Instead - I'm 12 hours of squeaky chalk on a blackboard...

So were the people living in Corinth a couple thousand years ago.

Their spiritual GPS had gone off course and needed some recalculating...
1 Corinthians 1

• "I heard tell there's some trouble..." v10-12
• "Let's get this straight!" v13-16
• "Here's the deal..." v17
• "...the Real Deal!" v18-21
• "What are YOU looking for?" v22-25
• "If you're going to blow a horn..." v26-31

Only our God can turn our squeaky chalk into harmonious oil paint.

Give Him a call.

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Hello, God?
I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a pickle.
I said/did something that, umm, I probably maybe shouldn't have.
Well - OK.  I was wrong.
I chose wrongly.
You'll be right here.  Great!
Oh - you ARE right here.
GREAT!
Amen.

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What's the big deal about Jesus?

Why am I here?

Why am I HERE?
At the end of my rope.
And I'm afraid...knot.

Well - I've got to say I can't really tell you.
But I know somebody who can.
Romans 7:24-25

Why am I here?
Everyone is in a different place in the journey through life.
Physically, mentally, spiritually.
A new day brings you to a new place.
This passage tells me WHY I am here and what I should do about it.
Romans 15:1-2

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Lord Jesus Christ,
You know why I'm HERE and WHY I'M here.
You're very clear about both.
Help me to accept, acknowledge and adapt.
All to Your glory.
Amen.
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What's the big deal about Jesus?

Faiilure's secret ally - Self-Confidence

(guest devotion from my brother Chris) 
"Failure's Secret Ally - Self Confidence"  
A study on 1 Corinthians 10:11-12

"These are all warning markers - DANGER! - in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes.  Our positions in the story are parallel - they at the beginning, we at the end - and we are just as capable of messing it all up as they were.  Don't be so naive and self confident. You're not exempt.  You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else.  Forget about self-confidence; it's useless.  Cultivate God-confidence."

Listen to the vast majority of motivational speakers and you'll hear the gospel of self confidence.  
Observe the pump up speech delivered by most coaches in America and you'll see the self confidence doctrine on full display.  
The world has bought in; self confidence is THE required ingredient for success in this life.

But it's a lie.  
Self confidence is foolishness.  
Faith, belief, hope in me is empty.   
Expecting me to make right decisions, when time and again I've chosen wrong is pure folly.  

Yet again, God's word stands in DIRECT contrast to the world's "wisdom".  
Man's knowledge shows it's shallow nature by directing us to believe in ourselves.  
Trust in your own power. 
Know that YOU can do ANYTHING if you only believe that you can.  

When we trust in ourselves, the devil smiles.  
When we value our worth based on faith in ourselves, our abilities, our own sense of self worth, the devil squeals in delight.

But then Jesus steps in.  
He establishes perfect God-confidence for us and offers it freely to us.  
Satan cringes.  
Jesus wins.  
Satan loses.  

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Dear Lord - Help me to battle Satan and this world's attempts to build up my self-confidence and instead lead me to rely fully on God-confidence!

Amen

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What's the big deal about Jesus?

this + this + this = amazing

My brother and I were discussing how little things can add up to amazing.

In the world of technology...

• A phone (which knows where I am) + A map + Knowledge of road construction = A customized route map

• A camera + A multi-language dictionary + A screen = the ability to point the camera at a road sign in another language and see it in my language

• A microphone + A multi-language dictionary + A screen = the ability to listen to people talking in another language and see what they are saying on my screen

In the world of salvation...
A promise (see Genesis) + A plan (see The Old Testament) + A Savior (see Jesus Christ) = Eternal salvation for me.  
Just for me.

As I read through the Gospels I have come up to the Good Friday events.
I am again amazed at all the "little things" that were fulfilled - the pieces of the plan that came together.
God's amazing, amazing plan.

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God,
You bring all the little things together in such a mind-boggling way that I can't appreciate it completely.
The technology is your gift to us.
Salvation through Jesus Christ is your GIFT to us.
Thank you.
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?