Category: Daily Devotion

By Pastor Andrew Farland

When life gets tough, and I find myself navigating multiple stressors all at once, I tend to isolate myself from everyone. What about you? How do you respond to stress? Do you reach out to the people around you or do you typically find the distance between yourself and the outside world?

There was a man named Job, a man you can read about in the Old Testament, who found himself in the most difficult of difficult situations. His money, livestock, and family were all taken from him in a matter of minutes and he was left wondering, “Why is this happening to me?!”

As soon as it happened, his friend Elihu reminded Job that “other people praised God for what He had done, so join with them.” The important thing to recognize is that Elihu encouraged Job to join other people in worship. He told him not to seclude himself, but to reach out to the God-followers in his life who could walk alongside him.

If you’re the kind of person who isolates yourself from others when life gets tough, you need to know that you can’t do it in your own power. You need not only the power of God, but you also need other people, Christian men or women who can help you carry your burden.

Take a minute and think of two people who you trust who could be the people to walk with you through your valley. Later today, or later this week, call those people and tell them you want to be stronger together. If you’re in the middle of a season of life in which you’re isolating yourself, ask them to meet with you this week. If you aren’t going through anything tough right now, ask them if they can be the people who help you carry your burdens when life weighs heavy on your shoulders.

Ultimately, I want you to know that life was not intended to be lived alone. I pray that God gives you the strength you need to lean into other people when life gets hard.

Galatians 6:2
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

In some high schools around the United States, teachers invite students to try and walk a straight line while wearing special goggles, the kind that makes your vision blurry and your brain dizzy.

The whole point is to show teenagers that alcohol affects them in a similar way to try to walk straight with blurry goggles on. It’s comical to watch a student attempt to walk a straight line because of how much they sway back and forth, some even falling over.

Our walk with Jesus can begin to look a lot like a student wearing goggles. We want to walk a certain way, but as life throws us different obstacles, we stumble and fall. Or if we’re honest, we say that we have a new life in Jesus but we look back at our old life way too much. And, when we do, we start to trip over our own feet.

The Bible says, in Philippians chapter 3, that we should forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead. God wants us to focus on Jesus, not the mistakes we’ve made before. He doesn’t want us to focus on the old life we tried to leave behind when we started following Him.

It’s hard to run a straight line if you’re looking backward!

I think you need to hear this truth today. God wants you to let go of your past and let God be in control of your future. Here are two simple steps to keep in mind as you go about your day:

Run the race to win the prize. Remind yourself of the promise of heaven that God gives to everyone who follows Jesus.
Take big steps forward. Be confident in your forward movement, knowing that God is in control.

If you’re a Christian, you have been adopted by God, into His family, and He sees you as His son or daughter. He does not see your past and He doesn’t want you to be held back by it anymore.

Philippians 3:14
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Intuition can be an effective tool for navigating the ins and outs of life. Sometimes, I think God gives us the ability to feel which direction we should take or when we should stay away from particular people.

As great as our God-given feelings can be, though, they should not be the main filter through which we make daily decisions. Think about it. There are non-negotiables in all of our lives – reading the Bible, praying, eating a healthy diet, drinking enough water, that gives us the ability to live the kind of life God wants us to live.

If you and I wait until we woke up and feel like doing any of them, they would rarely happen.

If I only get up early when I felt like it, I would never do it. If I spend 15 minutes a day in silence with God when I feel like it, it would probably never happen. What examples can you think of in your own life? What are some non-negotiables that you put off because you don’t feel like doing them? Make a mental note of them or stop and jot them down.

The Bible tells us that God gives us immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. At the same time, the Bible also tells us that faith without works is dead. That means that faith in God is not passive. It requires you and me to create habits and rhythms in our lives that are rooted in faith and not just our feelings.

The truth is that if we ask our own opinions on the non-negotiables, I would always say “no.” I suspect you’re the same way. So, today, be honest with yourself about the non-negotiables you keep putting off because you don’t feel like doing them. What step can you take today to make daily decisions that are based first on faith? Spend time asking God for the ability to make it happen.

Colossians 3:23
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Would you say there’s more positivity or negativity in our world today?

It’s easy to understand that when you’re going through a hard time, negativity can surface much more quickly than positivity. In fact, when negativity rears its ugly head, we lose sight of God’s goodness and God’s promises altogether. But remember even when darkness falls, we aren’t helpless. One of the most powerful weapons we have to fend off negative thinking is speaking truth into our situation; leaving no negativity unchallenged! Today, we’re calling out and DEALING with negativity.

Negativity must be challenged or it’ll drive you crazy! But don’t worry, This is NOT the best that God has planned for you- He wants peace to ALWAYS be behind the wheel of your life, just like it says in Colossians 3:15:

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”

Today, I’m going to share 5 crucial reminders from the book of Job that you need to continually have on repeat when you’re going through times of trial, temptation, and setbacks.

The first one comes from Job 10:12. It says, “God will never stop loving me.” I’ve seen this in my own life. A couple of years ago out of nowhere, I started to think of all the amazing things God had done in my life since I was a child. It was a deep revelation where I just knew that I knew that I knew that God loved me, and God would never stop loving me. I remember telling myself, “I can never again question that God loves me!” and I settled it once and for all. And the same is true for you. Settle it in your heart today that God will never ever stop loving you!

The second one is from Job 23:14. It says, “God has a plan for my life.” Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for a hope and a future.’”

I know it might not feel like it, but your feelings lie to you all the time! Your future IS painted with beautiful brushstrokes of HOPE. God has a breathtaking plan for your life, give it time and watch His plans unfold!

The third one is from Job 23:10 and Job 31:4. It says, “God cares about every detail of my life.” Like we talked about in a previous message, God wants you to be honest with him. It might come as a surprise but He ACTUALLY wants to know how you’re feeling. Heck, He even wants to know what’s bothering you! What’s stressing you out? Tell Him about it!

In His wisdom, He knows that the more you’re able to come to Him and surrender those things to Him, the more you’ll be able to throw your weight on Him and finally receive the rest you’ve been waiting for!

God doesn’t just care about your “spiritual” report card. He cares about your day-to-day life. The grind. The struggle. The pain. And yes, what kind of cereal you have for breakfast! God cares about EVERY detail of your life.

The fourth point is from Job 34:13: “God is in control of things that I don’t understand.” There’s a bible verse that I ABSOLUTELY love in Proverbs 20:24. It says, “Since the Lord is directing our steps, why to try to understand everything that happens along the way?” You need to triple highlight this one and put it on your mirror! This is such a foundational truth to build your life on. Complete trust. Did you know that when you start to try to analyze the situation, you are only using the capacity of your limited human understanding? When you do this…when I do this…We’re not going into God’s throne room like Asaph did in Psalm 73, where his eyes were opened to the wisdom of God!

Here’s the bottom line, It’s only when we come to God that we begin to understand what’s going on in our lives, and we start to tap into His wisdom and His peace. Friend, God is in control even when you don’t understand. But understanding will only come if you’ll go to Him.

There will be times when you don’t understand. Surprising right? That’s completely normal! Did you think you were the only special person that had a question for God?

Job had times when he didn’t understand why things were happening to him, too. Why terrorists killed his whole family. Why he lose all of his livestock. Why he became deathly ill. He didn’t even do anything wrong. Oh, but what joy is ours. We get to see behind the curtain of Job’s life and see the utter faithfulness of God. The same God restored his fortune and gave him double for his trouble.

DO you know what the definition of a problem is? It’s when you don’t know the “why?” of what’s happening. But remember God knows and He has the solution. In God’s presence, all questions are laid bare and lose their power!

The fifth one is Job chapter 5:11: “God will protect me.” There are many times in the bible where people were in life or death situations, like Moses when he came to the Red Sea. All he could see were enemies behind him and the water that was going to drown him, and everybody else in front of him. In fact, people in the ancient near east thought that water was evil because they didn’t know what was lurking beneath the depths of the ocean. It’s like they believed that there were sea monsters around every corner and that every storm was from God created to destroy them. It wasn’t until Jesus calmed the storms that their mindsets were changed.

Can you imagine being Moses, leading millions of whiny people through a desert for 40 years and all of a sudden you come face to face with an ocean you can’t swim across? They had two options, confront the murky water and drown, or have the most powerful army in the world overtake them! Picking between these two choices is like picking to either keep your neck or your teeth haha. There’s no way to win.

God will protect you today just like He did Moses thousands of years ago when He PARTED that murky Red Sea! Listen to what I’m about to tell you. I don’t care how scary your trial is, nothing is bigger than our God. He will protect you. He’ll deliver you. And in your moment of trouble, if you call out to him, he will answer you!

Keep repeating these 5 reminders from God like a new favorite song:

“God will never stop loving me.

God has a plan for my life.

God cares about every detail of my life.

God is in control of the things that I don’t understand.

God will protect me.”

Your fears might tell you that all of these things are lies, but if you’ll have faith today and continue to trust Him, you can lean on these promises with all your weight, and you’ll see God come through for you again, just as He has time and time again! Build your life on the promises of God and you’ll overcome negativity.

Proverbs 20:24
“Since the Lord is directing our steps, why try to understand everything that happens along the way?”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.