Practically, a bridge carries you over something that needs to be passed over…to the continuance of your journey.

Musically, a bridge is typically the highest point in a song …reached after the opening and afterwards takes the song to its’ close.

So…bridges move us along.

One of my favorite songs is by Hillsong and Brooke Fraser.

HOSANNA.

The bridge in HOSANNA contains words which could have many lessons, sermons and devotions within them.

I ask you and encourage you to pray these words.

They will be a bridge to a deeper prayer life and walk with God.

They will draw you to Him.

“Heal my heart and make it clean.
Open up my eyes to the things unseen.
Show me how to love like You have loved me.
Break my heart to what breaks Yours.
All I have and am for Your Kingdoms Cause
As I walk from life into eternity”.

Let these words and the meditation on them be a bridge for you.

Terry
April 21, 2015

Read a Devotion this morning. It quoted David in Psalms 101. He wrote, “I will walk within the walls of my house with a perfect heart, I will set nothing wicked before my eyes”.

It spoke of “walking in my house”. It spoke of being familiar with what those in your house set before their eyes.

This can be an indictment of the stewardship of our
houses. Do you know what you are allowing your children to “set” before their eyes?

The devotion challenged Men to know what is being “set” before the eyes of their families.
What do you allow to be seen when the remote is in your hand?
What are you allowing your wife or children to have enter the portal of their eyes and make an imprint on their minds?

You know “darkness” when you see it.
Do you allow “darkness” to be implanted in the minds of those in your house?
How long do you remain on a show you know immediately is unsuitable? If you linger there a moment…you may be teaching a lesson to your wife or children.

Omission and commission are distinctly different. Determine to set nothing unsuitable in your line of sight. It’s not just suggestive or risqué visuals… it’s anything not moving you toward a Godly life.

One cannot help what passes by the window of your eyes…. however, you can help what you linger on, take a second look at or concentrate on. Know that what your son sees you lingering on or watching…he will inspect also.

“Sheep need a Shepherd” as the devotion said. Not a Shepherd to lead them astray…. but one
who “walks in his house with a perfect heart.”

Determine to walk toward and possess that “Perfect heart” David wrote of.

Be alert. Be aware.
Other eyes are constantly watching you. And learning.

Terry
April 20, 2015

Today’s devotion made KD Lang’s old song come to mind.

There must be a desire, a craving on our behalf, to add the attributes mentioned to our Faith.

Peter instructs us to add to our faith, virtue.
Then, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and charity/love.

It’s not osmosis.

It’s the result of effort. The instruction is to add these things.

It’s up to us to pursue these attributes. They come to us with and after spiritual growth.

You cannot buy them with money. They are bought only with time, effort, pursuit and a craving which does not get satisfied with the status quo.

Do you desire them?

Are you seeking them?

Put feet to any desire you possess and you have pursuit. Pursuit is what you do when you really want something.

We have possibly never really been hungry.
With the abundance of food at our fingertips, it’s difficult to be hungry.

If your desire is such, It’s not difficult to be spiritually hungry.

Pursue it.
Constantly.

Terry
April 13, 2015

It’s essential to life.
It clarifies and brings distinction.
Warmth can come from light.

When you feel the light and warmth of the sun, it’s a blessing.

When the sun sets at the end of the day, you turn on other light.

We need light.

The first thing God created was Light.

He knows all about it and our need for it. Light from Him gives fullness to our inner man.

Pray that Light for other people. Gods Light. You can pray no greater blessing into someone.

It’s the Light that blinded the guards at the tomb as He rose. It’s the Light that He created.

It’s The Light that can lift a life. It’s The Light that will warm a heart and put the gleam in an eye.
It’s The Hope of Heaven, The Light of Life, given to and for us by The Father of Lights.

Terry
April 7, 2015

If you fly almost anywhere out West you see the great amount of wide open spaces.

Between the cities in Arizona, Utah and Nevada there are vast open spaces of empty
desert, mountains.

There is great beauty there, great unending valleys and stark high-rising cliffs.

In our own lives there are places of unexplored territory, great areas of beauty and expanse, yet untapped in available resources and usage.

At this moment, you know of un-surrendered acreage in your heart and mind that has great opportunity for beauty and usage.

God has great intended use for the unexplored territory.

Those Canyons and Peaks out West are there to be looked at, explored and climbed upon.

That open and available space in your life is for God’s Hand to fashion and develop. As His Hand has made great beauty out West, God desires your available spaces to be filled with His Plan, His Word, His Spirit to fully involve you in particular practices of His Life.
For it is His Life and Light we are living in and His Hand which is carving out our Peaks and Points to fully reveal Him.

Open and available space is meant to be put to use. Out West its for appreciation and Beauty.
Within our hearts it is meant for Acts of Love, Acts of Spiritual Courage and The Revelation of Our Lord.
As the “Heavens declare The Glory of God and the Firmament showeth His Handiwork” out West….
Our available spaces are meant to reveal The Kingdom, which is present wherever Jesus is which is wherever we are if He abides in our hearts and lives.

You have open and available space.

As the Parks are set aside to be preserved, do not allow your open spaces to be “set aside”.

Call in The Creator.
Call for His Hand to maximize the use of your available space.

Terry
March 30, 2015

.

Yesterday we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection. He appeared to His followers. He had fulfilled prophecy and defeated death.

But there was more.

He stayed for forty days.

From yesterday that would be through May 15th. He was here for a good while.

Think about that,

He remained to allow the disciples to have verification.
He remained to validate the rumor of His Resurrection by appearing to hundreds of people, and to Paul.

As I think about this, I wonder where were the Pharisees and what were they thinking? What did Pilate do after hearing about His appearing?

By appearing to about 500 people, His appearing was not kept a secret. There was too much excitement among His followers for it to be a secret.

He was here to validate His earlier Words. He stayed to encourage His Disciples. He remained to finish off His Teachings.

He stayed and brought Peter back into the fold. Peter would not have become the Leader he did, if it were not for Christ forgiving his betrayal, if it were not for Christ instructing him to “Feed my Sheep”.

He stayed 40 days and allowed what He had said earlier to settle in the minds of His followers.

He remained and instructed His Disciples to be filled with The Holy Spirit…as described in John 20.

He told them He would never leave them. He stayed to assure the disciples of His Trustworthiness.

He told them He would not forsake them. He didn’t.

He stayed, ate with them, probably laughed and shared His Joy with them, showing them He
was true and honest in His Word.

He brought them salvation, they had not received it before His death, It had not been achieved yet.

He finalized His teaching and instructions.

He gave reality to the Hope He had preached to them earlier.

Over the next 39 days, be conscious of this. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in these days, as He revealed Himself to so many in the Epilogue of His First time here.

Terry
April 6, 2015

Psalm 112, a devotion from yesterday.
The words of David review what a Man is like, who delights in doing things Gods Way.

I have said this before…Be careful not to chafe at authority for It will always be present in your life. Delight in it.
Proper authority gives you an understanding of the landscape. It gives you boundaries.

Who among us would not think the Authority present in Gods Way …
Is correct, Holy and worth following.
If a man cannot agree with that…will construct his own god.

Settle your heart in the ways of God.

Establish your heart in the life described in Psalm 112.

Read it.

What in this psalm is not to be desired ?

Terry
March 19, 2015

Someone once asked the question,”What in your life would be evidence of your Christianity?”

Think about that.

In your life currently….what would be the evidence of your Christianity?

Church attendance? Giving money to charities? Being in a “small” group?

All of these could be attributes of a Christ-follower. They could also be evidence of a person who does not have a large number of friends, needs tax deductions or likes Choir music.

You know those are not elements of salvation.

They indicate preference and can be acts which believers carry out.

If you stood before a judge tomorrow…
What have you done lately that would give him the evidence to convict you of being a Christian?

Merely looking different than the world does not qualify.
Hitler had a mustache different than most and it has become a “Logo” item.
Ghandi gave up a law practice, fasted profusely…wore clothes like Christ….but said he did not believe in Him.
Billy Graham is not the best preacher who ever lived. There have been better orators.

Yet, its the subject he talks about. The consistency of his messages which give rise to his belief.

What does the world expect from you?
What are the words coming from your mouth?
What are the meditations of your heart…which eventually become your words and actions?

It’s living out Matthew 5.
It’s living out Romans 8.
The fulfillment of it would be having Galatians 5 become reality in your daily walk.

Walk, talk, think and live as JESUS did.

The Word tells us how.
His Spirit within us will leads us into the “how”.

That’s evidence to get that judge to convict you.

Terry
March 17, 2015

I have had the privilege and extreme blessing of being able to stay at some of the best resorts in our country.

The past few days I have been honored to be at what many rankings call “the best resort in the
US”….Pelican Hill.

It is my favorite resort. It’s beyond great.

Sitting in the massive jacuzzi in the Men’s Spa, I looked at detailed Italian architecture, marble and stone. Outside the patio of my room one can see the Pacific Ocean.

The entire facility is extravagant, beautifully detailed.

As I looked around and walked in all this beauty, the thought arose in my mind that this was all developed by someone to whom God had given great gifts, wisdom and ability.

But God did not make and build this place.

Michael Jordan has sons in whom he gifted his DNA and probably instilled in them great insights about how to play basketball.

None of them are Michael Jordan.

Michael gave them gifts….but they are not him.

What God has intended for us is far beyond the beauty of the best resorts.

Heaven is not and will not be build by men to whom God gifted great talent and ability.

Heaven is and will be build by GOD HIMSELF.

Isaiah 64:4 and I Corinthians 2:9 state what my takeaway says.

The beauty you see in the best place you have ever seen or visited is trash compared to what God has prepared and has in store for those who believe in Him, accept His Son, and give their lives to Him.

The best and eternal resort Destination.

Terry
March 10, 2015

Today’s devotional was about gossip and the promotion of it.

There are two takeaways in my mind.

Knowing something negative about someone can happen because of friendship, communication or personal experience.
Knowing something about someone, however does not privilege you to make it part of your conversation with others.

Some people desire to seem “in the know” by spreading gossip, and you know in your mind and heart what gossip is.

STOP IT

Stop that acidity at the point of knowledge in your mind. Stop it before it spreads past you. You do not have to “get it out”.

One more thing…when you hear it…

STOP IT.

I once heard one of my closest friends speak something negative they heard from another source about someone we both knew and liked. My friend spoke it without malice….just repeated what had been said.

I knew it to be false.

Without attacking my close friend, I spoke up and with emphasis told my friend that what he had heard and just spoke was incorrect.

Even if it’s spoken without malice or negative intent…do not let it go beyond that point.

Stand up, speak up and defend.

STOP IT

Terry
March 3, 2015