This Week’s Devotional

Posted on October 24, 2009 by Mark Shields
 

As I continued my journey through the book of 1 Kings this past week, I read about Solomon’s spiritual decline. He had built the temple and his palace and came to a point in his life where he didn’t have a goal to focus on. He developed bad habits and the last years of his life were not successful. His son took over as King and he neglected to follow good advice. As terrible leaders took over, Israel began a period of decline. The people were manipulated by leaders with ulterior motives, hidden meanings, and who liked to play political games. Many of the leaders promoted the worship of idols and the people neglected to take advantage of the opportunities God had given them.

 

Sometimes people don’t realize how good they have it until they go through difficulty. That’s why it’s important to live each day like the song by Tim Mcgraw called "Live Like You Were Dying". Click the following link to see the video: Live Like You Were Dying – Tim McGraw. This song puts things in perspective. Tim McGraw’s father was former major league relief pitcher Tug McGraw who died of brain cancer in 2004. He pitched the final strike for the 1980 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

 

Difficult experiences we go through put things in perspective. A few years ago, my family went through the death of my Mom to cancer. A few months after that, a childhood friend lost his battle to cancer.  These experiences put things into perspective. In recent years, my wife Donna, daughter Ashlee and I have participated in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Take a look at some photos from the event last Saturday – Relay for Life photos.

 

One inspiring story of an athlete that has gone through difficulty with cancer and survived is Lance Armstrong. He said through his illness he learned rejection. He was written off. He said that was the moment he thought, Okay, game on. No prisoners. Everybody’s going down. After his battle with cancer, he went on to win the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years. That’s what we have to do sometimes. We have to be determined to take on the battles we face the best we can; asking for God’s help and being moved to act in a renewed way.

 

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Thanks for letting me share some thoughts about my journey this past week.

 

Mark

 

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This Week’s Devotional

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Mark Shields

After Solomon built the temple and his palace, it is written in 1 Kings 10 that people all around wanted to visit to learn from him and discover his secret. He welcomed others to his palace in the same way we should enthusiastically welcome people to God’s palace called the church each Sunday.

 

Once an individual, organization, or team sets out to fulfill a dream and it becomes reality, others take interest and enthusiastically join in. Remember a few years ago, the autistic team manager name Jason McElwain – the high school basketball team manager who got a chance to play and scored 20 points in 4 minutes. After each 3-pointer he made, the crowd’s excitement multiplied. At the end of the game, the crowd rushed to the center of the court and lifted him up on their shoulders. Take a look at the video by clicking the following link: J-Mack.

 

Jason McElwain showed the gift of enthusiasm and this enthusiasm helped make his dream come true – to play in a high school basketball game. Solomon had the gift of wisdom and used it to make his dream come true – to become a great king. Make a mental list of your God given gifts. Be excited about your gift and think of ways you can use this gift to make your dreams come true.

 

 

 

 
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This Week’s Devotional

Posted on October 10, 2009 by Mark Shields
 

A dream of David’s was to build the temple of God. He was not able to build it himself but his son Solomon did and in 1 Kings 8, it is written that Solomon began to furnish the temple. He transported the ark from Zion to the temple and put it in the inner sanctuary. King Solomon built the temple of God with a plan, patience, and persistence. We can use these same qualities and because of Jesus, who sent the Holy Spirit as helper, we can take to heart the following scripture:

 

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s

Spirit lives in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16

 

In a recent Sunday school class I attend, we had a discussion about judging others and the teacher asked if we knew someone that was totally different from how they looked. Some friends mentioned David Crowder.  Take a look at this video link: Here IS Our King. David Crowder is one playing the guitar and singing in the video. As you can see in the video, he has a scraggly goatee and weird hair. The point of the Sunday school discussion was that it’s how the person is on the inside that counts and to hold judgment on others until you really get to know them.

 

Back in 1995, David Crowder went off to college and noticed that most students were not attending church. While still a student, he had a dream to start a contemporary worship service in a building near the college; the main objective being to motivate more students to attend Sunday morning worship. He organized a praise band to play at the service and they eventually became a church. The bands popularity has grown to the point that it fills baseball stadiums with people that want to see them perform. They tour the country continuously, but find time to come back to that same church they started back in 1995, University Baptist Church near the Baylor campus.

 

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Devotional

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Mark Shields
 

Last week, I wrote about David’s concern for future generations as he prayed God would give them wisdom. If you read the first few chapters of 1 Kings, these prayers were answered. Solomon asked for wisdom and he received it as demonstrated in his ability to make the right choices and manage his duties as king.

 

Today we all have choices to make; the food we eat and the things we buy. Companies spend lots of time and money developing commercials for their products. But you know… God has a great product too. Take a look at this video link: Tim Hawkins Free Credit Report Dot Com Spoof. 

 

Like Solomon, we can go to God and ask for wisdom in the choices we make. The product God has given through Christ is useful in life now and forever. Because of Jesus, we receive not only a free credit report but have our debt wiped away at the same time. 

 

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  • To receive a weekly email with thoughts from a sermon or if you have thoughts from a sermon or Sunday school lesson, send an email to the same address                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

 

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Devotional

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Mark Shields
 
Psalm 72 was the last psalm written by David. It was written near the end of his life. He wrote this partly for his son Solomon who would be the next king of Israel but mostly to the future kingdom of Christ. As David wrote this psalm, you can tell he’s concerned about future generations and is asking God to give them wisdom to make the right choices.

 

There is an old computer saying that goes “garbage in – garbage out”. As I’ve read in Psalms recently, I’ve realized more and more how important it is to pay attention to what we take in. Whether it’s what we eat, listen to, or watch on TV, it’s best to take in the good things. Here’s a funny video link: Tim Hawkins on Food Choices. God can do amazing things but He wants us to be a part of it too.     

 

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