Many may be familiar with this quote from Theodore Roosevelt, known as “The Man in The Arena,”

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

I think this quote has some parallels to Peter’s words in 1 Peter 3:8-12,

“Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. For the Scriptures say,“If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”

Roosevelt encourages us to strive, try things, get out of our comfort zone, and not be the critic of others. Peter tells us the arena in which we are to strive is our relationships with each other, following Christ’s example, of love, humility, shunning evil, and searching for peace.

Dear Lord, in this arena on earth, you set the standard for us to follow. Help us take on the challenge, not being the one criticizing others, but the one who strives to take the high road of love, humility, and peace. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Starting our day with the right mindset and perspective is incredibly important to how the day and thereby the week, month and years go. One of the reasons I started writing these daily devotions and sending them out early each morning is to help myself and others start our days well.

There is no perfect routine for the morning, but we cannot go wrong having some routine to start our day that includes prayer and scripture.

David wrote in Psalms 143:8, “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”

Some people think their lives are too busy to block five or ten minutes for a daily startup routine. The question is; If you don’t have ten minutes to start your day right, do you really have a life?

Dear Lord, help us start our days with the “word of your unfailing love,” and entrust our lives to you. When we do we can know the peace that only you can provide. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

One of the keys to the success of the Industrial Revolution a little over 100 years ago, was the idea of “division of labor,” where by people specialized in separate parts of creating a product or service, rather that the craftsman or artisan method where one person handled all the activities in creating and delivering the product or service.

I think one of the first places this idea may have been introduced was in the early church. As the early church grew, the apostles found they could not do everything the church needed, so the divided up the responsibilities. Acts 6:2-4, says, “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.”

Many skills are needed in running our churches, and our pastors cannot do them all. There is a calling for each of us to support our Christian brothers and sisters, and support the operation of our congregations. All are important and bring glory to our Lord.

Dear Lord, help us all find the role by which we can serve your church and glorify you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Paul writes, a familiar text, in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” The NLT version puts it, “For we live by believing and not by seeing.”

In the context of his letter, Paul is discussing the promise of a new life in heaven after death; That we live with the faith in this promise.

However, I think he may also be stating a fact of life. We live by faith in our daily lives. When we wake, we turn on the water with faith that it will run. We turn the key on our car with faith it will start. We send an email, text, or make a phone call, with faith that it will connect with someone. We get on airplanes and boats, believing in the physics that they employ. We count on “seeing” these things happen because we first believed they would. We all live by faith, whether Christian or not.

As Christians we have additional beliefs that we count on “seeing” just the same. We pray with faith, counting on God’s answer. We attend worship with faith that it will renew our spirit. We make commitments to serve, witness, and contribute with faith that God will provide and protect. Most importantly, we have faith and believe first, that we will have eternal life, and we are counting on “seeing” this when our life on earth is over.

Dear Lord how common it is for people to think “I’ll believe it when I see it,” but they have things backward. Life now and eternal life is actually, “you’ll see it when you believe it.” Give us the strength to believe first so we will see your promises fulfilled. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

It is amazing how much has changed in the broadcasting and internet content businesses in the last several years. There are hundreds of television channels available, hundreds of satellite radio channels, you can find a video on Youtube of almost anything, and there seems to be a podcast for just about any area of interest you might have.

For Christians, the great thing about this proliferation of information is the amazing opportunity we have to learn more about God’s word. Some of the best and most insightful preachers and Bible teachers are available to you on these media, if you look. Ultimately it is through more exposure that we learn and grow our faith.

Paul writes in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

These technology alternatives are fantastic, but they cannot take the place of finding a “home church” where you feel comfortable and connected to other believers, and can worship, pray, confess, and commune with them.

Dear Lord, thank you for the incredible blessings of technology that allow your word to be spread and heard by more and more people. Help us take advantage of these technologies to strengthen our knowledge and faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.