Video Devotionals

Thursday, May 3, 2018

U – is for Unity

1:32 min read |

Focus is an important key to life. Many people fail in life, or certainly, miss their highest and best potential, all because of a lack of focus.

This week we’re focusing on “focus!” Each day this week I’m providing you a key description of one aspect of focus and the benefits it brings to us. We’ll be using an acronym for the 5 points.

What is focus all about? First is about force. Focus is what gives force or power to your life. Second, focus is about ownership. Ownership is owning the responsibility for your life, your decisions, your growth and your future.

Thirdly, focus is about clarity. When something is brought into focus it becomes sharper, clearer, more well-defined.

Fourthly, focus is about UNITY. Focus requires alignment of all of our being toward something—spirit, soul, heart, mind and body. It’s about being “all in” to whatever is a priority in life. Being “partly in” never produces full results. “Partly in” produces partial results. If you’re “partly” committed to an exercise plan, it also means that you’re partly “not committed!” Don’t expect great results. This is true in any area of life.

Focus means “I’m all in with something. My entire being is in unity with the goal, the objective, the pursuit.”

Jesus spoke of this in Mark 12:30 (NIV) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Bring everything to the table. Leave nothing on the field. Be all in—unified in your pursuit of God and His will. This is focus!

Pastor Dale

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

C – is for Clarity

1:32 min read |

Focus is an important key to life. Many people fail in life, or certainly, miss their highest and best potential, all because of a lack of focus.

This week we’re focusing on “focus!” Each day this week I’m providing you a key description of one aspect of focus and the benefits it brings to us. We’ll be using an acronym for the 5 points.

What is focus all about? First is about force. Focus is what gives force or power to your life. Second, focus is about ownership. Ownership is owning the responsibility for your life, your decisions, your growth and your future.

Thirdly, focus is about CLARITY. When something is brought into focus it becomes sharper, clearer, more well-defined.

When it comes to life, you can’t effectively focus on lots of different things simultaneously. When you try to focus on too many things, you lose focus on everything. Real life focus happens when we zero in, tune up, target the main things.

I call this the “kingpin principle.” In bowling, the object is to powerfully direct the bowling ball to one pin—the kingpin. If the kingpin falls, it will take lots of other pins, and perhaps all the other 9 pins with it!

Find the “kingpins” in your life, and focus on them. Get clarity on what’s really important, and go after it! Paul wrote about this in Philippians 3:13, 14 (NIV) “…one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Pastor Dale

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

O – is for Ownership

1:29 min read |

Focus is an important key to life. Many people fail in life, or certainly miss their highest and best potential, all because of a lack of focus.

This week we’re focusing on “focus!” Each day this week I’m providing you a key description of one aspect of focus and the benefits it brings to us. We’ll be using an acronym for the 5 points.

What is focus all about? First is about force. Focus is what gives force or power to your life. Second, focus is about OWNERSHIP. Ownership is owning the responsibility for your life, your decisions, your growth and your future. It involves letting go of the victim mindset, the entitlement mindset, the “poor me” mindset and the helplessness mindset and setting a course for life that’s responsible. Owning life is being responsible for your life. It is not letting the past hang over your present and future. It is a “no excuses” approach to living.

You cannot focus on improving your life, your relationship with God or others without ownership. Focus says, “I’m owning my responsibilities to grow, learn, change, develop, mature, and move forward. I know God is going to help me, as I choose to do my part.”

Peter the apostle called us to focus on spiritual ownership in 2 Peter 3:18 (NIV) “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” Note the emphasis is on the implied pronoun; “You take the responsibility—the ownership—to grow!”

Focus won’t work without ownership!

Pastor Dale

Monday, April 30, 2018

F – is for Force

1:17 min read |

Focus is an important key to life. Many people fail in life, or certainly, miss their highest and best potential, because of a lack of focus.

This week we’re focusing on “focus!” Each day this week I’m providing you a key description of one aspect of focus and the benefits it brings to us. We’ll be using an acronym for the 5 points.

What is focus all about? First, it’s about FORCE. Focus is what gives force or power to your life. Any time you want to increase the power of something, all you need to do is to increase its focus. Whatever thoughts you focus on, you give the most power to. Whatever activities you focus on, you give power to. Whatever habits you focus on, will determine the person you become and the life you’ll experience.

Focus is the discipline that brings force, power, and impact to your life. When you focus on the right priorities, your life will have more impact, now and for eternity. Paul said it this way in Colossians 3:1, 2 (GW) “Since you were brought back to life with Christ, focus on things that are above [things that have eternal worth and value], where Christ holds the honored position… Keep your minds on things above, not on worldly things.”

To add greater force to your life, add greater focus to your life!

Pastor Dale

Friday, April 27, 2018

Peacemaker or Troublemaker

Are you a peacemaker or a troublemaker?

At some level, we’re always creating peace or causing trouble for the people around us. Without realizing it, we set an atmosphere by what’s going on inside of us. When we’re troubled, upset, agitated, we pass that on to others.

The opposite is also true. When we’re at peace, quiet and restful in our souls, we pass this on too.

That’s part of what Jesus was talking about when He spoke these words in Matthew 11:28, 29 (NLT) “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

To be around Jesus is to be around a rested, peaceful soul. When we hang around with Him, His spirit positively infects us. We find rest every time we’re in His presence.

In a similar way, when we’re at rest and peace, others will be positively infected with the peace radiating from our lives. We can become true peacemakers, instead of troublemakers to others.

Pastor Dale

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Trust God

How peaceful are you?

Peace is an inner quality that affects outward behavior. People who are at peace have a calm about them. They are not shaken, not stirred, not distressed by stressful situations. They may be in a storm, but the storm isn’t in them.

This quality of peacefulness is something we would all do well to develop. It comes from deep personal trust in God. It comes from believing that God is with us, He is going to help us, He is for us, He cares about us, and He will see us through whatever we’re facing in life.

Recently I was talking with a person in our church who has been going through a challenging battle with cancer. I was amazed and so blessed by the peace I felt from them, in my conversation with them. They were completely at rest with their journey. Their trust in God was inspirational and contagious!

The prophet Isaiah spoke these words to us in Isaiah 26:3 “You [God] will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Trust God today! Let His peace keep you from falling to pieces!

Pastor Dale

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Salt Water

How well do you handle stress?

It’s not the stress that goes on around you that will destroy you, it’s the stress that gets in you that will destroy you! Think about fish living in the ocean. They swim in salt water their entire lives, but the salt never gets into them. When a piece of fish goes on your dinner plate, you add salt! Why? Because the environment they lived in never found its way inside of them.

When facing stressful situations, ask God to help you avoid allowing the stress around you to get inside of you. Keep a peaceful heart, by trusting God, knowing that God is in control. Remember Jesus’ words in John 14:27 (NIV) “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.”

Pastor Dale

Monday, April 23, 2018

Overcome

What does it take to stress you out?

One of the most important qualities we can develop in life is tolerance for challenges, problems, and difficulties. Some folks become super stressed by the smallest things in life. A few little inconveniences or disruptions turn into hyper-drama and emotional upset, all because they have a very low tolerance for stress. They are experts at allowing molehills to become mountains.

How can we increase our stress tolerance? First, we must admit that it’s an issue for us. If you have a low tolerance for stress, admit it. The acknowledgment allows you to begin addressing it.

Second, readjust your life expectations. All too often we set ourselves up for stress because of an unrealistic view of the world, and what we think it should be, rather than understanding what it actually is. The world is an imperfect place, filled with imperfect people, which inevitably leads to daily problems for us! Accept that reality. Adjust your expectations that everything must be perfect for you to be happy. Remember the words of Jesus in John 16:33 (NIV) “ … In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Pastor Dale

Friday, April 20, 2018

Plans

Most people have some life goals and dreams. The problem is, all too often these goals and dreams never become reality. They sit in some part of our heart and mind, hoping for fulfillment, but missing a very important ingredient—a plan—and the discipline to stick to a plan.

No goal will ever become reality without a plan, and the discipline to work the plan. No dream is ever realized with work.

Many people don’t understand the value of a plan. They don’t understand that God actually encourages and endorses personal plans. Take a look at these words found in Proverbs 16:3 (GNT) “Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out.”

You can’t ask God to bless a plan without first having a plan! God wants to bless you life, but He blesses us by working with us. While we should never create plans without consulting God and submitting our lives to Him, as we submit our lives to Him, He expects us to then make plans to become the best we can be with the responsibilities He’s given us. We then add discipline to the plan, and prayer to the plan, trusting God with good results.

Do you have a good, godly life plan? Get one, work it, and pray for God’s blessing on it!

Pastor Dale

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Addiction to Entertainment

Have you ever been the victim of a robbery? When someone steals something from you, you feel violated and vulnerable. And you become much more vigilant!

Without realizing it, we all allow a certain kind of thief into our lives every day. We allow time thieves to rob us of the precious hours, minutes and seconds of life. These thieves are subtle, but they are extremely dangerous. When they rob you of your time, they’re actually robbing a slice of your life!

What are some of these time thieves?

Another time thief is our addiction to entertainment.

While we all need a certain amount of healthy entertainment to stay sane, our culture has gone to the extreme. Untold hours are frittered away by web-surfing, Facebooking, Instagramming, video-gaming, You-Tubing, and Twittering! Recently I read about someone who was addicted to watching “cat videos” online. Yes, hours spent watching cats do entertaining things (who knew?)!

What about you? How much time is unnecessary stolen from you because of an addiction to entertainment? What healthy choices will you make about the use of your time?

Pastor Dale

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Procrastination

Have you ever been the victim of a robbery? When someone steals something from you, you feel violated and vulnerable. And you become much more vigilant!

Without realizing it, we all allow a certain kind of thief into our lives every day. We allow time thieves to rob us of the precious hours, minutes and seconds of life. These thieves are subtle, but they are extremely dangerous. When they rob you of your time, they’re actually robbing a slice of your life!

What are some of these time thieves?

One of them is procrastination.

Procrastination means “to put off intentionally and habitually; to put off intentionally something that should be done.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Why do we procrastinate? There are lots of reasons why we put important things off until later. Sometimes we avoid doing what we should be doing because of fear. Our insecurities intimidate us and drive us to avoid doing what we don’t feel capable of doing.

Other times our procrastination comes from laziness. Because we want an easy life, we put off the hard things, with the strange fantasy that they’ll mysteriously disappear.

What’s the best way to face down and arrest this thief of our time? By making ourselves do what we don’t want to do. When you do the hard things first, life gets easier. When you only do the easy things, life gets harder.

Do you need more time? Arrest the time thief called procrastination!

Pastor Dale

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Immaturity

Have you ever been the victim of a robbery? When someone steals something from you, you feel violated and vulnerable. And you become much more vigilant!

Without realizing it, we all allow a certain kind of thief into our lives every day. We allow time thieves to rob us of the precious hours, minutes and seconds of life. These thieves are subtle, but they are extremely dangerous. When they rob you of your time, they’re actually robbing a slice of your life!

What are some of these time thieves?

One thing that devours our time is our own spiritual and emotional immaturities. Any time we let our emotions get out of hand, time is lost? Think about it. How much time over the years have you wasted in anger? How about worry? How many potential wonderful life moments have been stolen from you while you wallowed around in your personal pity parties.

One of the best things we can do in life is to grow up — spiritually, emotionally and relationally. Paul the apostle said it this way in 1 Corinthians 13:11 (TLB) “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.”

When you grow up and put away childish things, not only will your life be happier, you’ll have more time to enjoy life and others, and to work productively for God’s Kingdom!

Pastor Dale

Monday, April 16, 2018

Principle

Life is either lived by principles or by emotions.

Some people base their actions, attitudes, and decisions on feelings. They put their trust in their instincts, intuitions, and moods. While these things can occasionally serve us adequately, they’re not highly reliable. They’re fickle, unstable, and unpredictable. They ever-changing. They are subject to distortion, misunderstanding, and self-deception. Our feelings can quickly and easily lead us astray.

A better way to live is by principles. A principle is a rule for living—better yet, it’s God’s rules for living. When we learn and live according to the right spiritual, moral, and relational life principles, we’re following a reliable set of directions. Right directions help us make right decisions.

When we accept God’s principles as our rules for living, life choices get much simpler, and life priorities become much clearer. That’s why King David recorded these words in Psalm 119:16 (NLT) “I will delight in your decrees [principles], and not forget your Word.” Your life will get better as you do the same!

Pastor Dale

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Time

You are gifted! Every day God gifts you with a generous supply of something called time. Every day you receive 24 hours, 1,440 minutes and 86,400 seconds. Each week this multiplies into 168 hours, 10,080 minutes and a whopping 604,800 seconds!

What if these numbers represented dollars? You’d be extremely appreciative.

Wise people value time more than money. They realize that what they do with their time determines what happens with their life. They view time as a gift from God to be invested, rather than a useless item to be frivolously wasted. Wise people think about time differently.

Moses prayed a prayer we should regularly pray also. He was concerned about his use of time and asked for God’s help and wisdom investing it properly. Look at his prayer in Psalm 90:12 (TLB) “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.”

Make this your prayer too!

Pastor Dale

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Stubborn

How stubborn are you? Before you answer, think about the word for a moment. A stubborn person has a strong resistance to change. They’re set in their ways, fixed in their opinions, and unmoving in their judgments. They refuse to change their thoughts, habits, and behavior, even when they are restricting their process or damaging others. Stubborn people are stuck people. But unfortunately, they don’t usually even know it. Stubborn people are also sick people. They can’t function to their fullest capacity because of their refusal to change.

Where there are certain biblical, moral, ethical and relational convictions that should be solidly fixed and uncompromised in us, there are also things about us that need to change. The pages of the Bible are filled with calls to change, calls to let go of stubbornness and resistance and cooperate with God and others. There are sinful, destructive and dysfunctional things in all of us that need to change. Don’t let stubbornness rob you of the changes that will improve the content of your character and the quality of your life!

Pastor Dale

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Difficult People

Are there any difficult people in your life? The word “difficult” means “hard to deal with or manage; hard to understand.” (Merriam-Webster) This word describes people we sometimes have to deal with. Some folks are difficult. They are hard to understand; hard to handle, challenging to be around. They may be moody, manipulative, aggressive, blamers, shamers, haters or naysayers. Being around people like this potentially takes a toll on us. We need wisdom in our interactions with them.

A key to dealing with difficult people is to avoid the trap of reaction. Jesus taught us this principle. Look at what He said in Matthew 5:39 (GW) “But I tell you not to oppose an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn your other cheek to him as well.”

What did Jesus mean by this? He certainly wasn’t suggesting that we tolerate destructive behavior by others. He was giving us a lesson in self-control. He was reminding us of the power and importance of restraint. He was teaching us to respond well to others, especially when we’re tempted to react poorly to them.

When you’re around a difficult person, don’t let their attitudes and actions determine yours! Respond well, don’t react poorly.

Pastor Dale