Studies have shown that people adapt and become accustomed to their situations pretty quickly. This ability has helped people survive and adapt to difficult situations, like famine, POW camps, or living through wars.

The phenomenon works the opposite way too. People who live in good times and good conditions like most of us do in the developed world today, can become too accustomed to how great life is, and not appreciate the tremendous blessings we have.

Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Stop and think about your day sometime, and all the amazing things that are just routine in our lives, from the time we wake up in the morning and through the day. Heat and air conditioning, a bed, electricity, hot shower, sharp razors, clean water, clean laundry, a closet full of clothes, cupboards and refrigerators full of food, cars, trains, buses with heat and air conditioning, paved streets, police departments, computer and internet technology, radio, tv, telephones, stores with anything we need, modern medicine, schools and universities. On top of all those things, the amazing beauty, complexity and balance of nature, the stars in the sky, sunrises, sunsets, birds, flowers, and the list goes on and on.

How could we not be amazed and joyful at all God has given us each day?

We praise and thank you Lord for your wonderful and amazing creation. Help us remember to appreciate all you have provided for us, every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do you work out with weights in the gym, and struggle through the last repetition? Ever played organized sports, and had to do drills? Extra running? Sprints? Or in school did you do the same type of math problem over and over?

Why do we do these things that we don’t necessarily enjoy? We do them to improve ourselves so we perform better in the future.

Have you ever thought that God allows us to struggle and suffer some things in life to make us stronger Christians?

The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:3 “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces character”

We need to look at our struggles and suffering, not as the permanent result God has intended for us, but as an exercise that can make us stronger and more reliant on God in the future.

Dear Lord, we know You love us and know the struggles and suffering we face. Help us endure our sufferings with the knowledge that if we handle them with faith in You, they will help us become stronger and more capable Christians. In Jesus name we pray. Amen

In may seem sometimes that events in our lives are rather random, we think “I was at the right place at the right time,” or possibly “the wrong place at the wrong time.” But for Christians, it is clear that this is not the case. God is continuously working either in us, on us, or through us to accomplish his will.

Philippians 2:13 tells us, “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

And Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

And ultimately we know as Paul tells us in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So when those seemingly random things occur, take a minute to ask yourself, if God is working in you, on you, or through you.

Dear Lord, help us live our lives with our hearts and minds open to what you are doing, so that we will more readily see your will in our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

There never seems to be an end to the number of books and stories written on Leadership. There are books that advocate any leadership style imaginable, from the Autocratic brutal leadership of ancient warriors, to the softer consensus building leadership styles more common in some modern firms.

Jesus gives his disciples a lesson in leadership in Matthew 10:25-28 saying, “.. whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Leadership is difficult. It is taking on the responsibility for something you cannot do on your own, requiring others’ efforts to complete the objective. Some leaders become demanding and controlling, treating people as just tools to accomplish the leader’s objectives. The servant leader, that Jesus describes, serves people and helps carry their burdens, while they all contribute to success.

Few take on the responsibility to lead; It opens us up to criticism and risk, but it also offers the joy of accomplishing more than we can on our own, and the opportunity to share, with others, the love God shares with us.

Dear Lord, there is no better leadership example that Jesus Christ, and no more important mission than the one you gave us in Matthew 28:19, to “go and make disciples.” Help us be leaders for you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

I think we have all seen the basketball game with the half court shot at the buzzer that wins the game, or the “walk-off” home run in the crucial baseball game, or the seemingly impossible kick to win the soccer match, and the thousands of spectators in the stadium jump to their feet and cheer.

This is the image I envision when reading Luke 15:7, “..there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”

I can see the saints and angels jumping to their feet and cheering when someone who has rejected Jesus for years, drops his or her resistance and accepts Salvation.

Dear Lord, it is amazing to know that those in heaven cheer for the salvation of those on earth. Help us remember to do our part in helping those who are lost become saved. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.