Mondays — 9:00-11:00 a.m.
Monday Devotions
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Developing the Gift Within
Gregg Heid
A. On this 3 X 5 card write three activities (sports, hobbies, talents, etc.) you are good at and love to do. Things where you spend most of your time.
B. Share one or two of your activities with the group.
C. Now write on the back how you can use these three activities for God’s glory. Or stated another way, how God uses you for His glory through these activities. If you struggle with this, ask your neighbor or the group for ideas.
D. When we hear these deepest desires calling us forth we hear the voice of God. God empowered each of us with certain talents and abilities. He wants us to use them for His purposes and His glory.
E. God has a plan for you; to be the best version of yourself. The good dreams and desires that fill our hearts are placed there by God and stirred by the Holy Spirit to call us along the path of holiness.
F. God is saying to each one of us, “Be all I created you to be.” Become the best version of yourself. That is holiness. That is allowing God to come into the world through you. Catherine of Sienna wrote, “If you are what you should be you will set the world on fire.”
G. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and only when necessary use words.”
H. Our world is hungry for authentic lives. Let your life speak as you fulfill the desires of your heart with passion.
I. What’s your cause that drives you? What are you doing for the Kingdom here and now?
Gregg
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The Challenge of the Compass
Richard Gammill
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the light.” John 14:6 (NIV)
This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17 (NIV)
When we set out to follow Jesus, we might prefer that he put a map in our hands. Looking at a map enables us to see where we are going, what we will be passing through, the obstacles we have to get around, and what awaits us at the end of our journey.
Instead, he is more likely to give us a compass. This gives us our direction and keeps us on course, but does not reveal what lies ahead. What are we preparing for? What hazards await us? Where is he taking us?
All we know is, Jesus is leading us, he is preparing us for what is ahead, and he is preparing the way for us. There is much ahead that is unknown to us. Yet, as we follow him, we get to know him better and better. As we follow him through the wilderness, we discover he does know the way.
Pioneers often don’t have maps. When Lewis and Clark set out to discover a Northwest Passage, they had no idea they would first have to find a way through the great Rocky Mountains. All they knew was to keep going west.
As writers, all we know at the outset is that God is calling us to write. Where will that take us? No idea. Will we gain fame and fortune? Maybe not. What we do know to do is write. That means mastering the tools of the trade. If we don’t know what makes for good writing, we will learn.
If we lack the discipline to write faithfully and regularly, we will gain that discipline. When we discover that excellent writing is several times harder than good writing, we will devote ourselves to writing with excellence.
Psalm 127:1 gives us a promise, “If God is our helper when we write, the stories we build cannot be in vain.” (paraphrased by author, Frank Ball)
At this stage in our journey, we are likely to write many essays, many short stories—both fiction and non-fiction—with little idea of what will come of them. However, we will write. And, we will keep writing. It would be nice to have a map showing us where this is all going, but we will keep following the compass, and right now, it just tells us to keep writing.
Here is another promise, from Ecclesiastes 11:6: “Sow your seeds in the morning and keep writing until dark, for then you may reap a great harvest.” (Ball)
With compass in hand, rather than a map, we will remain faithful to God’s guidance and keep on writing. Following a map leads us into the predictable. Following a compass instead, is an adventure. A map keeps us safely in our comfort zone. Following a compass requires us to take some risks. We choose to follow a compass and see where it takes us.
Will anything come of the Monday mornings we spend together? Will the choices we are making now be worth the risks? Will the hours we spend writing, writing, and writing prove productive? Yes, yes, and yes!
“When the Lord’s message flows through my pen, it cannot be void of meaning but will always produce results, fulfilling his purpose. It cannot fail.” Isaiah 55:11 (Ball)
Richard
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It is Finished
Jan Davis
“When Jesus had tasted it, he said, "It is finished!"
Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.”
John 19:30 (NLT)
I thought about Christ’s final words as He hung on the cross. “It is finished.” Throughout His ministry he went from town to town healing the sick, raising the dead and setting the captive free.
He said:
“Pick up your bed and walk.”
“Thy faith has made thee whole.”
“Your sins are forgiven you.”
“Lazarus, come forth.”
His words possessed power. He spoke words of forgiveness and healing. He spoke parables to the multitudes, the Law and history to the Pharisees. He knew his audience.
He didn’t stop. He pressed on until his work was finished.
His words changed lives. Before He returned to His father, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to empower us.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” John 14:12 (KJV)
As writers we pour our hearts into our writings. It doesn’t matter if we are writing a novel, a memoire, poem or devotion. We spend hours in prayer and composing. The words spill out onto paper or computer. Time is spent in critiquing and honing our words. At last we say, “it is finished”. It goes to print and we breathe a sigh of relief. No time to celebrate we move to our next project.
Christ hung on the cross and declared, “it is finished.” His ministry ended, ours was only beginning. The Holy Spirit flows from us into the written word. They are empowered. They encourage, confirm and reveal Christ to those who read it.
When we lay an article to rest and say, “it is finished” we realize it is only the beginning. It will reach lives. It will change circumstances. It will bring hope.
Because of Jesus, we have the power to change lives through the written word.
I love you, but Jesus loves you more!
Jan
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Author and Finisher
Jan Davis
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand
of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
Christ is the author of all creativity. By him, all things were made and without him nothing was made. Every good and perfect thing comes from him.
Christ crafted inside each of us a perfect gift. What we choose to do with the gift is up to us. We can ignore, discard or we can embrace and use the gift.
Betty taught even before we were born God breathed into us his plan and purpose for our lives. To many he has given the gift of paints and you express his creation through the manipulation of colors and shapes.
Others have the gift of photography. Where his marvelous beauty is captured through pictures. To all of us He has given the gift of writing. Whether it is through novels, manuscripts, short stories, devotions or poetry we have the unique opportunity to express God’s love to others.
Through the written word we share his forgiveness and love. We write with humor and demonstrate his joy. We write with purpose and show his power. We write from our heart and share his compassion.
Christ is the author of of every idea. We read the Bible and know it is the inspired written Word of God. God anointed men to tell the history of the nation of Israel. Others he empowered to share the good news of Jesus Christ. To John and Daniel, he revealed the future through prophecy.
We share the same anointing as these men. The same Holy Spirit resides in us. He has anointed our writings to share Christ to our world. We may not collaborate to write a manuscript that will last throughout the ages, but together we can write effective words for today.
Our words have the potential to heal the broken hearted, set the captive free and tell a lost world about Jesus. We can show people a brighter future filled with hope. His word is the same yesterday, today and forever.
When we open our hearts to God, he gives us words to write. He takes a simple thought and allows it to grow on paper. The creative ideas flow from him to us. We are the messenger he uses. He is the author of every book, every short story, every article and every devotion. We are only the writers, the critique group that brings the words to paper.
He is the author and finisher. He who has begun a good work in you will see it to completion. He will say “good job.”
I love you, but Jesus loves you more!
Jan
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Past, Present, and Future
Jan Davis
A few weeks ago, Betty gave a devotion on the use of a verb in Greek. Past tense, present tense, and future tense. Writers sometimes struggle with the proper usage of a verb. Because it sounds right, doesn’t make it right. Our speech and verbal skills are reflected in our writings. It’s the way we’ve always said it. Old habits are hard to break.
Our lives are made up of tenses. We did this. We are doing this and we plan to do this. I thought about the various tenses from a different perspective. What separates the then from the now? Our past from the present and future? Jesus.
As long as we live and breathe we will have a past, present and future in our lives. Our choice is how we live it. While Betty shared the Greek definition of tense, I wrote down, “Our imperfect past pushes us into the present and propels us into our future.”
The past is a place where a particular action or situation took place. Some things happen in our past and they stay there. It happened. It’s over. Life goes on. My mother died when I was a child. It happened once and is a part of my past.
Other things happen in our past and we carry them into our present. They have a cause and effect on our decisions today. This is an imperfect tense. The action is in the past, but the results are felt in the present. This can be good as we learn from our mistakes and move forward. It can also be bad if we take past hurts and choices and allow them to influence in a negative way our decisions today. When we choose the later, the past remains a part of our present.
A single parent, I carried hurts from divorce into my marriage with Mike. These hurts impacted our relationship and made it difficult for us to move forward. My imperfect past affected my present.
If not dealt with and left behind, our imperfect past pushes into our present and propels us into our future. It becomes a future tense and impacts future decisions and relationships. We live in our past. Nothing has changed. Nothing is new. We make the same mistakes and get the same results.
As Christians how do we overcome the temptation to do the same old things, over and over again? Christ takes our imperfect past and gives us purpose today and hope for tomorrow. His word says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
Christ has removed our past as far as east is from west. “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:11-12 (NKJV) Our past is forgiven.
When our past comes back to haunt us we recognize the source and push Satan back where he belongs—in our past. When Christ addressed Satan he said, “Get behind me.” Satan had no place in his present or future. He has no place in ours.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)
We have the unique opportunity to change the end of our story. Today will become our past and tomorrow will be our present. What will we leave behind as a “once in a lifetime experience” and what will we carry forward into our future? We get to decide.
Because of Jesus, there is no time like the present to confront our past and move forward into the future God has planned for us.
I love you, but Jesus loves you more!
Jan
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God's Point of View & Your Voice
Patti Hanses
We are born with a voice. We are wonderfully made by God for a purpose. We choose the impact of our purpose with the use of our voice. The characters we write about all have voices and tell their story.
Value is important to God. God is love. God’s original purpose in creation shows how He values us. In creation, there was only the voice of God, and he spoke everything into being. Everything was good.
The Garden of Eden was a place of perfection. God formed man and gave him the breath of life. Adam was given dominion over the garden. Naming the animals became one of Man’s (voice) jobs. God took great pleasure in all of His creation. The sense of joy and awe we feel when viewing creation is creation’s voice of praise to God. God felt the same joy with Adam and Eve. No matter how good or how bad we are we have value to God.
Our characters differ in values, both to others and to themselves. Some are stayers and remain true to their convictions. Others are changers and may change due to the influence of others, good or bad. We want our readers to recognize and connect with their voice.
Creation in Hebrew is Bara (Baw-raw). It’s a primitive root that means to absolutely create, select, choose, and to make fat, i.e., be weighty.
Glory also means weighty. God creates us with His weight, HIs Glory. When we use our gifts for His glory we are weighty for God. This is the character of the author (the writer) who is writing for God’s purpose. The Bible is the inspired written word of God. It is weighty in its truths.
Your voice increases in glory and value as you learn God’s point of view. God’s point of view is often not equal in measure to human points of view. We learn early in life to please for praise. Do we please our Father by our voice? Make sure you write from God’s point of view.
We select our characters to serve the purpose of our story. Some characters bring light to God’s point of view and others bring light to the dark side of Satan’s point of view.
We have three enemies in this fallen world; Satan, the world and the flesh. In addition to writing from God’s point of view we can also write from the enemy’s point of view. All these characteristics make for an adventure in writing. Adventures can lead us to God’s point of view.
God’s voice in the world today is the Bible. The word of God is alive and active. It moves forward into people’s experiences. It is subtle but at the same time potent.
The process of accountability and critique bring other voices into our thought structure. They reveal a balance in communicating the mark of God. Discipleship accountability helps us be responsible with God’s words. Our writing might be the only words a reader may ever be exposed to. Another opinion can help the writer and reader to connect.
We bear the mark of God on our person and in our spirit when we are saved.
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30 (KJV)
We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. The Messianic church believes we have a literal mark seen in the spiritual realm. The Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. It means God. The Tav is the last letter in the Hebrew Alphabet. It means mark. In the spiritual realm, we bear the mark of the Aleph and Tav. In Greek, it is the Alpha and Omega.
Hebrew reads from the right to the left. The opposite of English.
א ת
Aleph—א Tav—ת
It is on your forehead!
God’s point of view becomes integrated with our point of view. We become His disciples. We enter into covenant with Him. To be in covenant is to be united or in league with.
Our mission in this life is to share this life-changing point of view with others. Our writing now becomes a vehicle for contemplative thought. Some will be influenced and some not. Our point of view is to remain on the job for God.
Patti