Morningside Devotionals

Five minutes, it isn't a long time, it's an elevator ride in an enormous building downtown, it's a brief parking garage ride, it's a transit of the park - five minutes isn't very long at all.  Five minutes can be, however, the longest and most important minutes of your day, if, you spend those five minutes in meditation.  Five minutes can change your life, make your life better, happier, more fulfilled, five minutes.  Five minutes isn't a long time. If you look at your watch or a clock on the wall, choose a time to start, and literally time out five minutes; you'll discover it's longer than you might believe.  Separated time is different, dedicated time is different; the time in length is the same, always will be, set by the atomic clock, a second is a second and minutes have 60 of them, and that's just the way it is.  When you stop your life, for five of them, though, something changes. Meditation sits in the family of concentrat...

About The Ball Site of Photo Click Here For some reason this year, it seems we're not hearing as much about the New Year's wish or plans for the New Year , or, what are you going to look back on as being really cool and what not to try again. Remember how big that used to be, and here we are about one day away from the big ball in New York , and the Eiffel Tower getting laser nuts in Paris and all over the planet everybody going "whoo hoo," we made it! Right about now you may be wondering that this really doesn't sound like what a devotional is supposed to sound like? Gee whiz, is it possible that, we're going to climb outside the typical- and here we really don't want to use the word boring , because, devotionals, from the past, are hardly that, are they ? But in writing a devotional for the time we're in, do we need to change gears a bit? It's a question that I want to put out there, because some of my online buds, some of whom are ...

As a person who has started, ran, watched fail, and Image Source Web Site participated in, small businesses, and large corporate types of successes; it's my pleasure to tell you, they don't change.  It's nice that they don't because you need some solids in your diet, because we all know what happens if all you get is liquid, right? Now those of you who are religious types, your mind automatically goes to that place called "milk," am I right?  For those of you who aren't particularly religious but read this blog for entertainment or to get P.O.'d- well; suffice it to say, you are what you eat, so it's good that some types of business paradigms don't change, because you need solids in your diet! It is easy to say; that for every ENRON where the corrupt got busted; there are plenty, that didn't, and won't. As my heart raced and my mind struggled to get her message, fully, it occurred to me how amazing it is that Que...

Know why you've become so defensive as a Christian? Ha ha, you might say, "I'm not," uh huh, I hear you, but, let's get a little bit past that business, into the real, because when Christian's who function in the world of faith, get real about that; they have to deal with everything that everyone gets to deal with, AND, they get to deal with faith. Faith; it is as Tony Robbins so clearly and passionately says, "passion!" Now I don't love or endorse all that Tony does, but trust me, tonight, his sleep won't be disturbed by that fact at all, nor should it be; Tony Robbins has helped millions of people have better lives, he is the master, so should he be listened to; you betcha, but what if you don't buy into what he's saying, so what? It's your mind, but I can guaranty you this; I'm not a salesperson for Tony, don't make affiliate marketing money for him, I mention him because I see the malaise, the tired...

As the time approached for the enormous error which would bring so much death, two of the scientists on that project said the following about us, "Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants," know who they were?  But as the mushroom clouds spread over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they knew they had not been listened to; just as often when you speak to someone about what is coming, they don't listen to you, but you have to say it anyway, don't you, with all that is within you- that being the Holy Spirit, you have to share with people that what they think they understand, they don't really understand at all, that an end is coming- that the promise of our Lord who defeated death, was that He would return and just as His tomb was empty; so shall it be.  All that is within you testifies of such to you, so that you may testify of such to others. 

What we seem to be moving toward in the world today, not just in the U.S., but in the world, is a state of verifiability- which isn't a state of faith, at all.  Last year a missionary from America to Czechoslovakia told me that here in the U.S. you have people who claim that the soil is hard to plant seed in (speaking of witnessing) but he said in Czechoslovakia the ground isn't hard, it's cement!  He said people will literally cuss you out in the grossest of terms if you mention God- they are outright in their atheism and want nothing to do with God whatsoever- he said they are a people who have been taught to fear the state, under Communism, and that there is no God, under that same state system, whereas now, there is no Communism, they are a people totally void of caring. He said they need our prayers as the situation there is mirrored all across the continent where Communism once was.  Ever feel empty after a bout with sin- where the force of Satan moves into your lif...

"Don't make a major production out of it,"  ever hear that one, or, "it's not that big of a deal," you may have heard it put that way?  Those are both ways of trying to get a person to see that something that they believe is important, may be to them, but it's not to, you, or perhaps, generally to others and you're aware of that.  We also call this a "common sense," approach to things; which I like Zig Ziglar's statement, "there is nothing common about common sense."  And like so many things Ziglar says, that one is based in the Bible, and yes you are right, Proverbs, see, and you thought you weren't catching on- give yourself a little credit; maybe it's a bigger deal than you realize?  What's that you ask, that's a bigger deal than you realized?  Why your life, the time that God's given you to achieve, to grow, to manifest, to accomplish, maybe that's a bigger deal than you realized it was?  If you hav...

Ever take a test where you got an A, but you knew good and well that one of your answers was incomplete? It may seem hard to believe, have you ever been asked a question that you thought you knew the answer to, so you gave it, and it was right, but later, you realized, the answer was not totally right, even though it satisfied the question? This is the harder aspect of what we are walking in today, as Christian's, we're being fooled into believing we are doing what is right, that we are following Christ, but what's happening is we are being led along a path that is not the path Christ wants us, Christian's to take, and the way that we know this is two fold - 1) Does the path you are taking agree with Jesus teaching in the New Testament- and - 2) When you listen very carefully in your prayer time, does the still small voice confirm it? The test you see, of Christianity is conflict, any time that anything conflicts with Christianity, that conflict is a measure of the...

You can't believe for somebody else, right? Well partially right, because if they don't believe, still you must, for otherwise, how will they see what belief is about? A very close associate of mine is a control freak; and walks fairly close to fear; he doesn't realize how damaging both of those characteristics are as he determines how we are to conduct the business of God. Now he believes in God, and yet, he also believes that he has to direct how things are going to go; and, no matter how you slice it up, those two won't fit into the same pie. So my friend is often feeling as if though he doesn't do enough; doesn't accomplish enough, and isn't satisfying enough to God; and he shows it and says it and lives it in his every moment with others. Only problem is, Jesus said, "don't be filled with fear, be filled with joy, you believe in me, and I've overcome the world." (several statements put together there...) My associate the control ...

The October challenge, find amazing parts of theology and then each day bring one paragraph to you the reader about that. Does a person under God own anything? Can we, God's creation, own any part of the created? Now while your shaking your head at the idea of that even being a theological concept, stop, for just a second and realize, it most assuredly is. You see, you aren't just a created being, inbreathed, with the very life breath of God, you are, according to what is contained in God's word, the Bible, inheritors, which changes everything. When the Bible states that all creation moans waiting for the coming of the Lord, the strain should be felt in our lives, and within that strain is the momentous truth of family ties. Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together. drd's Blog Ooh Visit Our Twitter Group 1000 plus strong and growing! Visit our Facebook effo...

The October challenge, find amazing parts of theology and then each day bring one paragraph to you the reader about that. What is it about God that leaves you either spellbound, or not? Because one of the things that Jesus made plain in his ministry was that you couldn't sit on the fence with God; you either believed in God and that He sent Jesus, or, you didn't. There is no halfway measure that will accomplish that belief point- it's either or. What makes that further interesting is that so many want to hedge on it, they want to suggest shades of knowing, partial knowledge, ask questions about what knowing Him means, and therein is the rub, you either know Him, Jesus, or you don't, it actually is, just that simple. So Paul got that into the hearts of his listeners by suggesting that they not let the simple nature of that saving knowing trip them up. 1Pe 2:7 Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the buil...

"Not by might, not by power," you are for certain going to want to take this in today , because we are going to tie together great distance in Bible prophecy, and great presence of Judgment, as we are exploring this week about the proper nature, use and place of judging in a Christian's life. So we begin with pain, which must be a part of all lives, it doesn't matter how good that life is, or how bad that life is, in every life, there is pain; of some form or fashion. It might not be physical pain, although those come and go, it might be emotional pain, which can last a while and then sometimes, can go away; hopefully, it goes away. It can be spiritual pain, which is a strange and deep longing in the soul...my belief, is that John the disciple of Jesus knew that kind of pain; as he reflected back on the wonder of Jesus whom he loved- who he watched die, who he watched rise again, who ate with him after the resurrection, Jesus who in chastizing Peter, from a perspec...

Most of the time we are happy to have life go along on a pretty straight line, certain things happen, we are used to those, and certain things don't happen, and we claim that they don't matter, which isn't true they do matter, we just don't want to admit it. The question is, do you really believe that God, who made you, wants you to lose? Wants you to hurt? Wants you to give in? Wants you to flaunt endless justifications about your inability to achieve at the end of which is, another loss? Is your life to be all about that? God would not want that, surely not? So we run smack into your right to mess up what otherwise would be perfect, and WHY- God wants you to be obedient BEFORE BEING SACRIFICIAL - get it? Being sacrificial doesn't help you achieve the God's perfect will for your life; because in being obedient you will find His will for the life he has imparted to you. Now this is pretty deep stuff but it is supported it would seem by this and other Bible b...

One of my favorite stories is about Joe Vitale how he has come from obscurity to wealth, success and popularity in a short span of years. Dr. Joe has written over 40 best selling self help books, and really, if you stop and think about it, that's a great testimony to thinking and realistic approaches to life that work. One of his expressions is to dare something worthy- and we as those who follow Jesus have the greatest chance to do that, ever, in history. In fact this is the moment, really, today, this is it- you have it- it is yours, and so the question becomes, will you seize this moment, or let it go? Jesus would tell you in your heart of hearts, seize it. Jhn 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Ooh Visit Our Twitter Group 1000 plus strong and growing! Visit our Facebook effort, it will make ya smile! Visit our MySpace effort, it will make ...

Can we think together for a moment about what we're doing? Oh I don't mean that there is anything at all wrong with what we are doing, not at all; just that, if you would, join me in a brief perspective trip about faith. Let's start with that field over there, you know the one, it's been empty, basically, unworked, lush green grasses and other plants grow there; but it is, for all intents and purposes, an empty field. See it clearly, it glistens in the summer sun, it radiates heat back in the winter, know the place? It is a quiet, a lonely, some would say, field. There are unknown millions of fields, like it, all over the world. Do you wonder that even perhaps Christ might've known such a field- where the comparison is Luk 10:2 "Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly [is] great, but the labourers [are] few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. " Next to this field, and we're almost don...

So yesterday we dealt with para (2)- today- sort of obviously, we've moved to number (3) as promised...please take the next two minutes to take that in...and read the scripture reference regarding the same at the end of the points: (1)You have the feeling that someone perhaps that person in line there, over there, is looking at you? You turn, but don't see anyone staring at you, that you can notice it's an odd feeling isn't it? (2)You get to the party early and as you are being introduced around you have the oddest sense that you have been here, doing this very thing; even though you know, that's silly because this is the only time you have ever been here? (3)You have heard about a hundred sermons this year, in fact, by now you pretty much know what the preacher is going to say, and you begin to tune 'em out; only just then suddenly with crystal quickness, you feel, rather than hear, what they are saying, and you start to cry? Mat 9:20 And, behold, a woman, whic...

(1)You have the feeling that someone perhaps that person in line there, over there, is looking at you? You turn, but don't see anyone staring at you, that you can notice it's an odd feeling isn't it? (2)You get to the party early and as you are being introduced around you have the oddest sense that you have been here, doing this very thing; even though you know, that's silly because this is the only time you have ever been here? (3)You have heard about a hundred sermons this year, in fact, by now you pretty much know what the preacher is going to say, and you begin to tune 'em out; only just then suddenly with crystal quickness, you feel, rather than hear, what they are saying, and you start to cry? (4)You see the trees everyday, but on this morning, the greens seem somehow more brilliant? The blue of the sky seems more intense, the clouds are wispy and brilliant white, and you smile, for no particular reason, you smile. (5)The food has never tasted better, and as ...

There aren't many times that scripture seems crystal clear, usually we deem it possible to get more than one meaning out of it. Certainly that would seem to be the case here? Mat 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed [it], and brake [it], and gave [it] to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.>br> Mar 14:22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake [it], and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. Luk 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 1Cr 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. It is an almost perfectly quiet event, it would seem to me, what we commonly refer to as, the last supper. That isn't actually what was taking place at all, Jesus was proving Himself the Passover Lamb, ...

Suppose you're there- you're watching him... it's early dawn...you're up, the others aren't; it's quiet- the hills that are dry and hot and sweltering in a few hours, they're dew misted right now, but it's already warming up. The sun has just cleared the rise and you see him. A lone figure, kneeling on the ground, he looks tired, even from this distance, you can tell his shoulders are shaking, and you know, you just know he's weeping, and you know that like on so many other days; you'd love to ask him"why", but you probably won't. Then he looks your way, and the look in his eyes nails your soul, and you know, the man who is the only man besides your father that you have ever loved, loves you. It shakes you down, and your heart which had jumped a bit at his gaze, now settles back, and your mind knows, you can't do a thing about how you feel- you know that what he has been praying is what he told you he would; he said it goes ...

This is a transpost, which may not mean a whole lot to you, but it is being written from my browser, not a special program. The browser for the internet, called iGoogle, is a trademarked device that interacts with all my messenger services for social media, all at one time. This makes it possible for me to post this blog wherever I can access a computer and an internet connection. This is one of the advances that are now part of what is called Web 2.0, which is changing the world. The world as you knew it is changed forever, you can believe that, just as you can believe that there are now several forms of cancer which are cured, there is sight being restored to those who are blind via mechanisms of technology, and hearing is being restored. Limbs which are prosthetic are intelligent and capable of interacting with the user. It is an age unlike anything that has existed ever, and you are here to see it. Now tell me once again that you don't think there is anything to creator ...