Revelations 2:2-5 NASB   I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.  But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

The church of Ephesus is known as the church that “left their first love.” But they weren’t a church that had quit working: they were still serving, still striving, maybe they were even still growing! Other churches probably admired them and said “wish our church was more like that church…” but still Christ chastised them as needing to repent and return to their first love. How can that be?

I know how that can be.

There are days that the diaper changes and getting up in the middle of the night and cleaning the high chair (that I just cleaned) and picking up toys (that I just picked up) don’t really give me “that lovin’ feeling.” I’m still doing the work, still working towards the same goals, but I’ve lost sight of why I am doing it! But thankfully there are the days when God reminds me of what a blessing my son is! Then I take the time to get the extra snuggle, the extra kiss, I’ll hold him a little longer while he sleeps: I enjoy the relationship and remember the love I had when I first saw him!

Likewise, when I realize I’ve left out the love in my ministry, I know I need to put in extra time in my relationship with Christ. It doesn’t take long for God to remind me why I serve Him, and help me get back to the deeds I did at first.

-Kevi 

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1 Peter 5:8 NASB   Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Pushing my cart through the baby section of Walmart today, I was surprised to see a large black bird on the floor, eating a cookie it found. When I told my husband how surprised I was that the bird didn’t spook as I rolled my cart so close by, he replied “Well, that’s a Walmart bird!” I suppose a bird that spend most of its time at Walmart, enjoying the abundance of crumbs and fast food wrappers, wouldn’t see people as a threat. They are well fed, and unconcerned about the potential dangers around them.

Sometimes I act like a Walmart bird! I enjoy my comfortable life (and my comfortable sins) and I forget about the potential dangers around me. But the devil is real, as are the dangers of sin. If I don’t want to fall prey to the devil’s schemes, I need to recognize the dangers of sin, and “resist him, firm in my faith” as 1 Peter 5:9 says.

-Kevi 

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John 3:19 NASB “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “

My son loves to go outside on our back patio and just explore and play. This morning he fell and scraped his forehead on the cement. He cried for just a minute until I picked him up. When I saw it was an actual scrape I took him inside to clean it up. And you know what? He cried even more when he had to go back inside than when he got hurt!

It isn’t logical, but that’s how we are with our sins. Sin has its negative consequences, but we would rather put up with the consequences, than remove ourselves from the situation.

-Kevi 

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Acts 6:1-4 NLT “But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.”

When someone asks “Do you need help with that?” the answer of “I’m OK” or “I got it” rolls off my tongue without a second thought. I’m not good at asking for help (unless it’s from my husband, but you know that’s a different story!) And I’m not good at accepting help either. I’d like to think that’s a good quality, because I’m so “together,” but guess what, it isn't! It’s usually because I’m stubborn and proud!

The twelve apostles knew that for the church to grow and for the Gospel to continue to spread, everyone needed to help! They had their role to play, but so did everyone else (Ephesians 4:11). If the apostles had insisted on micromanaging the church, I wonder if it would ever have spread outside of Jerusalem?

-Kevi

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1 Samuel 1:25-28 NASB “Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli. She said, ‘Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD.  For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him.  So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.’ And he worshiped the LORD there.”

Today is my son’s first birthday, so I wanted to reflect on the story of Hannah and Samuel, as I have many times over the past few years. Like many women, I found hope in Hannah’s story during a time when I wondered if God would answer my prayers to have children. And when I was pregnant with my son, I read Hannah’s story again to remind myself that the story didn’t end when God answered Hannah’s prayer!

When God gave Hannah the son that she had prayed for, she didn’t forget the vow she made to give her son back to God (1 Samuel 1:11). I can only imagine how difficult it would have been to leave her son with the priests and only visit him once a year! But not only did she fulfill her vow, she praised God for it as evidenced by her prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.

I praise God for the blessing of my sweet baby boy (now toddler!) I know that he is an answer to my prayers. But looking back, I can see that waiting for an answer to my prayers will not be the hardest part. The hardest part is what comes next: giving him back to the Lord. It will not always be easy to seek God’s will for my son, over my own will. And when he is old enough to make his own decisions about God? I pray that, like Samuel, he will answer the Lord: “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” I Samuel 3:10

Lord, prepare me for what comes next!

-Kevi

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Jeremiah 5: 3; 30-31 NASB v. 3 O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have smitten them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.

v.30-31 An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?

Sometimes we hear the sensational headlines, and see the lives being destroyed by sin all around us, and we think: what is this world coming to? It seems things are getting worse and worse! But I just read this passage in Jeremiah, referring to the sin and godlessness of Jerusalem at that time, and those words could easily apply to America today. It reminded me what the Preacher said in Ecclesiastes 1:9 “there is nothing new under the sun.”

Sin has plagued our world since Eve first tasted the forbidden fruit. Sin hasn’t changed, the devil hasn’t changed. But the good news is that God hasn’t changed either! He is still carrying out His will, and He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He is still ready and willing to forgive our sins, and the sins of our lost and dying world. And that is nothing new.

-Kevi

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John 15:5 NASB “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Earlier today I turned on the TV in our guestroom while straightening up, but when I tried to turn it off, it wouldn’t turn off! I thought the batteries were dead in the remote, so I found new batteries and put them in, but it still wouldn’t turn off. I tried to use the buttons on the actual TV, but it would NOT turn off. I was seriously considering leaving the TV on and just shutting the bedroom door when I thought “Duh! Just unplug it! No electronic device can work without a power source!

If we want to “bear much fruit” for God’s kingdom: if we want to have an effective ministry, if we want to speak truth to our neighbors, if we want to live redeemed lives, we have to be plugged in to the power source! Without the Holy Spirit in us, we “can do nothing!”

-Kevi

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Matthew 13:15-16 NASB  "'FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’ But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear."

The last few times I have been to Sam’s Club there has been a big machine that gives out free samples of fruit snacks (I love fruit snacks). As I pushed my cart toward the kiosk today, there were two ladies that appeared frustrated that nothing was coming out of the machine and they walked off. The machine said to me (yes, this machine really talks) “Today’s free sample will be delivered by email.” Of course it wasn’t fruit snacks, it was a free code for the Photo Center, which is a nice freebie so I put in my email and walked away a happy customer. Apparently the ladies there before me were not listening to the nice machine, so they walked away disappointed!

In Matthew 13 the disciples were asking Jesus why he spoke in parables and He told them that not everyone would understand what He had to say, because not everyone was willing to listen! Everyone would hear the same parable, but only his followers would understand it.  

If we are truly listening to God’s Word, we will be blessed by it. If we aren’t listening to what God has to say, we may walk away disappointed!

-Kevi

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John 14:26 NASB   But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Last night was a particularly trying and sleepless night with my almost one year old son. So I started off the day grumpy and with little patience. Throughout the day the Holy Spirit used many different ways to remind me that my son is a blessing! That I prayed for the opportunity to be a mother, and that I am blessed to spend my days at home with him. As the day went on my mood went from disgruntled to joyful. There is no other explanation for this change than the Holy Spirit.

I am grateful for the Helper! I need Him each and every day.

-Kevi

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Deuteronomy 9:4-6 NLT   “After the LORD your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The LORD has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The LORD your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You must recognize that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.

Moses gave the Israelites a reality check right before they were going to cross the Jordan River and begin to conquer what would eventually become their land.

When I read this passage last night, the Holy Spirit gave me a reality check, too! After more than 20 years of being a Christian, it’s easy for me to start thinking I deserve some of the blessings God sends my way. In reality, I deserve death and destruction for my sins, but Christ has made the way for my salvation. May I never forget that God does not bless me because I am good, but because He is good.

-Kevi

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