Live Second Devotional Review #2

Words carry such incredible power.

They can lift up or tear down.  They can save or they can kill.  It is amazing that God would allow us to yield so much power.  Yet He is truly the One who holds the power.  He asks us to use our words to bring hope and healing to those around us who are still lost in their sin.

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."              —1 Corinthians 2:4–5

Does God have  power over your words and your speech?  Does He control your tongue?  I would have to admit this is an area I struggle with.  Not only do my words hurt others too many times but I also don't use my words to bring others closer to God.

Live Second: 365 ways to put Jesus First talks about "words" in week 13, day 2.  The devotional questions your words and puts them to the test.  Are you using them to share God's Good News? There are no acceptable excuses if we aren't.  God tells us He is made perfect in our weaknesses; so we can't say we are not good at it.  God tells us He will give us the words through His Holy Spirit; so we can't say we don't know what to say.  God tells us He uses weak and broken vessels, just everyday people; so we can't say that it is not our gifting.

There are no excuses.

Doug Bender says in his devotional, our part in God's plan of spreading the Gospel "is more about obedience, humbleness, and diligence than wisdom and persuasion."  So no more excuses for me!  Or you.  God says "go and make disciples...", so let's go and do that today.  Tell one person about Jesus today.  Tell them God loves them and He is waiting for them.  Speak the WORDS and let God do the rest.

Join the conversation at #IASwords and share your thoughts.

Get your devotional book this week (Dec 9-15) to help the efforts of I Am Second to make the NYT Bestsellers list and change your life while you do it.

In the meantime, check out this new song from Hawk Nelson and Bart Millard (from Mercy Me).  It is called Words.

Hawk Nelson - Words (Feat. Bart Millard of MercyMe) Official Lyric Video from hawk-nelson on GodTube.

Tell me:  who will you use your words on today?

Live Second Devotional Review #1

Have you ever considered that you can offend the Living God?

I was moved by a devotional in the Live Second: 365 ways to make Jesus First.  It's titled Divine Despair from Week 1, Day 5. The scripture verse was Genesis 6:5-22.  That is the account of God's plan to flood the earth.  A story I knew well, but still a few words tripped me up as I read it - which could be different depending on your bible version.  The words I read were:

"The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled." Verse 5,6

Have you ever considered God to have regretted something he'd done.  Regretted you?  This verse really rocked my perspective and forced me to pray and ask God for wisdom to understand it. My personal bible version says "grieved that he made man". Somehow that feels softer on my heart than "regretted".  I desperately needed to hear from God.

I am not a bible scholar nor do I know Greek so I had to rely on God's spirit to teach me what to think of this verse.

God did reveal something to my heart but it wasn't what I expected at all.  He brought to mind a woman I have started to work with on a project.  A woman I have known for five years but never gotten too close to.  Now that we are working together I am realizing we are very different.  So different in fact that I find myself wishing I never have to work with her again.

Each time I am with her I envision violent things while I bite my tongue and walk away.  I never thought I was that kind of person before - I thought even though I might not like everyone that I could at least be friendly and considerate.  I guess not.

A speaker at a conference I attended recently said if you are truly serious about living as Christ lived you need to become 'un-offendable'.  What he meant was that you could love ALL people - fully, like Christ.  He said if you pray that prayer God will bring into your life people that will offend you in more ways than you knew existed all until you've learned to love and not become offended.

I never prayed that prayer in my words, but something touched my heart with those words.  Being a pastor's wife, isn't that something I should be?  'Un-offendable'?

When I read that God regretted his creation I didn't think of all the things this woman does to turn me inside out or drive me crazy - I thought of all my unloving and unchristlike thoughts I had entertained about her. I realized that I grieved his heart so deeply when I disregarded the beauty and the awesomeness with which he made her.

Doug Bender's devotional says:

We create disunity and strife rather than love and goodness. We use our mouths to gossip rather than defend or encourage. We spend our thoughts on vengeance and greed instead of forgiveness and contentment. But how would our lives and even our world change if God were First, if we thought of his love before we swung our fists, waged our wars, or sought our glory, wealth, and comfort? How would our lives change if the concerns of others and the will of God came before our own?

God's Spirit convicted my heart to put Jesus first in my life by loving those He loves.  All of them - even this woman.  She is no exception of his love and affection - just as I am not an exception to the great and merciful love of Jesus Christ.

Is there someone in your life today that offends you?  Someone whom God created with the perfect intimacy with which He created you?  Put Jesus first today and CHOOSE to love.

If you would like to hear what others have to say about this very same devotional message (and you are a Tweeter) visit #IASdivinedespair

"...choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, ..."  Joshua 24:15

Live Second - start today!

I am a huge fan of the organization  I Am Second.  They have inspired me in more ways than I can count.  The website is filled with videos of famous and not-so-famous people who have come to a crossroads sometime in their life and chosen to become second.

That means Jesus is first!!

If you haven't checked their site out yet you need to!  Go now ... I will wait for you.  Well, actually I can't wait because once you open up the site you will be hooked and may not be back here for days. But go anyway!

They have a new look to the website allowing you to choose topics and not just names of people.  It makes it more time effective I think.  Click on films if you want to see who has videos on there. Click on struggles if you want to look up individual topics. (Topics of struggles are listed under each video as well if you choose to go to the film page.)  Enjoy :)

Today marks a new adventure in the I Am Second movement.  Doug Bender, co-author of the book I Am Second brings us a new challenge bringing us one step closer to truly living second - one day at a time. He has written a daily devotional - that's 365 ways - to put Jesus first in our lives.  I am so blessed to have been given this opportunity to review his new book.

Every day this week I am sharing with you something I have gleamed from this devotional.  But it doesn't stop there.  You need to visit the facebook page or the twitter feeds as they are rampant with people just like you - seeking to put God first.

Doug Bender is trying to draw enough of a stir over this new devotional that it will land on the NYT bestsellers list.  We need 10,000 sales to do that.  Join in.  Get one for yourself and one for someone you love on your christmas list.  What a better way to start the New Year, than with a committment to put Jesus first and live second.  Books available at most online retailers and local Christian bookstores or directly from the I Am Second site here.

December 9 - 15, which is the kick off week of the book (filled with specials and deals) opened up already with a complete sell out - Day 1!  That is so encouraging.  What a blessing.  But don't worry, if you want to get in on the action - any order placed this week (Dec 9-15) will still count for the special prices even though the publishers are frantically trying to produce some more. (And still count for the best sellers too!)

My challenge to you today:

• Visit the site iamsecond.com
• Come back tomorrow where I will sheare my thoughts on God's divine despair
• Check out the 22 day challenge - one video a day, one challenge a day to make Jesus first - follow this link
• Do something tangible today to live in second place and then tell me (or someone else about it)

Blessings,

If you want to check out Doug Bender's video on I Am Second, follow this link.