NOV. 27, 2025

Be sure to praise the Lord.

"Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful." Ps 33:1 NKJV

Of 150 psalms recorded in the Bible, the dominant recurring theme is "praise the Lord!" The book is like a memo from psalmists that says, "Today be sure to praise the Lord."

In Psalm 34, David writes: "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Ps 34:1-3 NKJV).

In Psalm 113:1-3, the psalmist writes: "Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised."

In Psalm 118:24, the psalmist says, "This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

In Psalm 119:164, the psalmist says, "Seven times a day do l praise thee." We have coffee and tea breaks; they had praise breaks.

Finally we arrive at Psalm 150, the last psalm. In verse 6, the last verse of the last psalm, we are reminded again, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord." That means as long as you are alive and breathing, you're to praise the Lord. So whatever else you do, or fail to do today, be sure to praise the Lord.

Be sure to praise the Lord Praise breaks

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

NOV. 25, 2025

Start small, and keep a winning attitude. "Do not despise...small beginnings." Zec 4:10 NLT

Juan grew up in Puerto Rico, the son of a sugarcane plantation foreman. One of a family of eight, he lived in a three-room shack with a dirt floor and no toilet.

His first job, at age six, was driving oxen to plow the cane fields. He worked eight hours a day and earned one dollar. Juan said it was in the cane fields that he learned important lessons like being

• on time,
• work hard,
• and be loyal
• and respectful to your employers.

His job and small income were a great source of self-esteem.

At age seven he got a job at a golf course spotting balls for golfers, and he began to dream of playing golf and earning enough money to buy a bicycle. The more he dreamed, the more he thought, "Why not?"

He made a golf club out of a guava limb and a piece of pipe, then hammered an empty tin can into a ball.

Next, he dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth between them.

He practiced his "golf" with the same intensity he put into his job in the cane field, and he got good-very good.

In his thirty-one years as a pro golfer, Juan "Chi Chi" Rodríguez won eight PGA tour events and twenty-four major tournaments, and he was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

What can we learn from him? Two things: (1) Be willing to start small. The Bible says, "Do not despise...small beginnings."

(2) Be willing to think big because you serve a big God (See Eph 3:20).

Start small, and keep a winning attitude Be willing to think big.

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

NOV. 5, 2025

The traits of a champion.

"For I know the plans I have for you... plans for good...to give you a future and a hope." Jer 29:11 TLB

Sports psychologists have identified six recurring traits that are common to Olympic gold medalist athletes. These traits of a champion apply to both men and women, but they are also dominant factors in the lives of those who succeed in non-athletic vocations as well. Let's look carefully at each trait and see what we can learn.

(1) Self-analysis. The successful athlete knows their strengths and weaknesses, and engages in a critical appraisal that is honest but never negative.

(2) Self-competition. A winner knows that he or she can only control their own performance, so they compete against their own best effort and not that of others.

(3) Focus. The champion is always "in the present," concentrating on the task at hand.

(4) Confidence. Successful athletes control anxiety by setting tough but reasonable goals. As these goals are reached, their confidence increases.

(5) Toughness. This is a mental trait that involves accepting risk and trying to win, rather than trying not to lose. Awinner sees change as opportunity, and accepts responsibility for their own destiny.

(6) Having a game plan. Even the best athletes know that talent is not enough; they must have a game plan. And here is the good news: You can develop these six traits. You say, "Where can I get a game plan for my life?" From the God who loves you and says in His Word, "For I know the plans I have for you...plans for good...to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen" (vv. 11-12 TLB).

The traits of a champion A game plan for your life

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

NOV. 4, 2025

Always do your best.

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." Ecc 9:10 NIV

A series of illustrations in a popular magazine once depicted the life story of a "one-note musician." From frame to frame, the tale revealed how the woman followed her daily routine of eating and sleeping until the time came for the evening concert. She carefully inspected her violin, took her seat, arranged her music, and tuned her instrument.

First the conductor skillfully cued one group of musicians, then another, until finally her moment arrived. It was time for her one note to be played! The conductor turned to the violinist and signaled her to sound her note.

She did, and then the moment was over. The orchestra played on, and the "one-note" woman sat quietly through the rest of the concert-not with a sense of disappointment that she had played only one note, but with a sense of contentment that she had played her one note in tune, on time, and with all her ability. Jesus told the story of a business owner who gave three of his employees some talents of silver to be invested on his behalf. One was given five talents, another two talents, and another one talent, "to each according to his own ability" (Mt 25:15 NKJV).

The Bible says we will be rewarded in heaven for our service to Christ here on earth. How will God decide what your reward should be? Jesus said it's "to each according to his own ability." Or as Solomon put it, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." In other words, do the best you can with what God gave you.

Always do your best One note in tune and on time

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

NOV. 3, 2025

Trust in Christ alone!

"Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." Jas 2:10 NKJV

Paul writes, "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8 NKJV). Why did Paul say we are saved through grace alone? Because trying to obtain salvation by keeping the law sets you up for failure. "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." You say, "That's an impossible standard!"

You're right! The law is like an X-ray machine; it can reveal what's under the surface and identify the problem, but it can't fix it. The law is also like a mirror. It can tell you that you need to apply makeup, or shave, or comb your hair, but it can't do these things for you. In other words, the law can show you your problem but can't solve it. But what the law could not do, Christ did on the cross (See Ro 8:3).

When Jesus said, "It is finished" (Jn 19:30), all your sins from the cradle to the grave were atoned for. And when you put your trust in Him, you are saved for time and eternity. Some people acknowledge that you are made right with God by grace, through putting your trust in Christ. But, they believe you maintain your salvation by keeping the works of the law.

The problem is, even on your best day, you cannot live up to all the demands of a perfect God.

The hymnist wrote, "Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by; trusting Him whate'er befall, trusting Jesus, that is all!"

Trust in Christ alone! You are made right with God by grace.

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

OCT. 21, 2025

God can accelerate His plan for your life.

"You have kept the good wine until now!" Jn 2:10 NKJV

Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding reception. There were six waterpots, each capable of holding thirty gallons.

First, He said, "Fill those pots with water." Next, He said, "Take some out and bring it to the host of the party."

When the host tasted it, he told the groom, "This is amazing. Everyone serves the best wine first, and after people have had a lot to drink, they bring out the less expensive wine.

But you have saved the best wine for last" (See vv. 7-10 NLT). Do you know how long it takes to make wine? It begins with planting seeds, then takes several years for the vines to grow mature grapes. Then they have to be picked and processed to produce the wine. It often takes three to five years before the first wine is ready to be bottled.

The better-quality wine takes five to seven years to make. And people consider the best wine to be twenty to thirty years old. Jesus produced in a moment in time what normally takes decades to produce. So if you're concerned that you don't have enough time to achieve your goals, remember that Jesus can do in a moment what might usually take years. Maybe it would typically take you twenty years to pay off your mortgage, or ten years to build your business.

But God's favor can thrust you years down the road. He still turns water into wine. Be encouraged, the God we serve knows how to accelerate natural laws. He can take you further, quicker than you can ever imagine.

God can accelerate His plan for your life Jesus can do in a moment what usually takes years.

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

OCT. 24, 2025

How to pray for your children.

"Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord...Jesus Christ." 2Pe 3:18 NKJV

The Bible says, "In the last days will come... times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear]" (2Ti 3:1 AMPC).

We don't have to look far to see that Scripture fulfilled.

It's why we need to pray for the physical and spiritual safety of our children; that they may "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord...Jesus Christ."

Heather Riggleman writes: "As you and I watch the news, we weep, we cry out in anger, and then we wonder, 'How can we protect our kids...?' We wonder if it's safe to send [them] out the front door. We question whether the world is falling apart.

And nothing is more terrifying than the realization that we cannot protect them from life. While we cannot hide our children away from the world, we can...shield them in far greater ways than wrapping them in a plastic bubble or locking them in their rooms for the rest of their lives...We can intercede for [them], praying for wisdom, protection, peace, and strength." Remember, wherever we are gathered and praying, Jesus is in our midst (See Mt 18:19-20).

Paul said, "Put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil...Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers" (Eph 6:13, 18 NLT).

When you pray like that, God is bound to honor His Word. Keep covering your kids in prayer—and don't give up no matter how bad things in the world get.

How to pray for your children Keep covering your kids in prayer.

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

OCT. 23, 2025

Sittin' pretty in Jesus!

"God, who is rich in mercy... raised us up...and made us sit together in... heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph 2:4, 6 NKJV

For many years Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse pastored Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church. One Sunday morning a twelve-year-old boy in the balcony was transfixed after hearing him speak about the length and breadth and depth of God's amazing grace.

Barnhouse closed his sermon by summarizing many of the great promises from Scripture in one impressive sentence: "Our sins are forgiven, forgotten, cleansed, pardoned, covered...blotted out as a thick cloud, removed as far as the east is from the west, cast behind God's back." At the end of the service when Barnhouse went to the back to greet people, the boy approached him, tugged at his sleeve, and said, "Good sermon, Doc! We're sure sittin' pretty, aren't we?" That glorious phrase "in Christ" speaks to the redemptive miracle God performed for us through his Son (See Ro 8:1; 1Co 1:2; 15:22; Co 5:17; Eph 2:6-13).

The word "in" assures us that just as our natural birth positioned us in Adam, our forefather, at the new birth God deliberately and precisely positions us in Jesus, our Redeemer.

Think about it: "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses...raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:4-6 NKJV).

Note that we're seated together in heavenly places in Christ, not beside Him. And it gets even better! We're seated there so closely identified with Jesus that we're inseparably and eternally one with Him! Now if that's not sitting pretty, tell us what is!

Sittin' pretty in Jesus!

Forgiven, forgotten, cleansed, pardoned

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!