By GARY ANDREWS
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As a small child and on into my teenage years I had no other option of doing anything on Sunday mornings except going to church. For me it was not a problem because I loved going to church and enjoyed Sunday school. My teachers made it fun and entertaining and I learned as the scriptures were being taught.
There were many others just like me that was pushed or coerced into going to church until they were given the opportunity of making their own decision. Many gained an attitude of apathy toward the church and even toward God because of these mandatory rules. They have shied away from the Biblical teachings of the church and have become indignant toward others that try to get them to attend again.
In the last book of the Old Testament a Jewish Prophet named Malachi addressed the same issues that many of us are facing today. The Jewish people were in hard times, just as many of us are, and believed that God had let them down. They were a complaining people and developed a sense of apathy to the one and only true God. They were listening to false teachers and corrupt leaders. Many of them were unfaithful in their marriages, neglecting their families, taking advantage of the weaker people, neglecting true worship to God, and holding back their tithes to the church.
These people were doing all of this even though they were living under God’s blessing. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Aren’t we doing the same today as the Jews were centuries ago?
All one has to do is listen to the very biased news media about the unscrupulous politicians and the false teachers of today and see that we are a people being led away from the one and only true God. We are fast becoming a nation of unfaithful and unappreciative people and this really hinders the work of the church and hinders the blessings we all want and desire.
We have become a people that want to give a token to the Lord instead of our best. We have become a people that holds on to what the Lord has provided to us and refuse to give back that portion which He has asked for. We have become a people that has forgotten who is ultimately in charge and provides for us everything that we have and need.
Even though as children and young teenagers we were prompted and made to go to church because it seems our parents had a better understanding that the Lord provides. Many of us have fallen away from our roots and forgotten that God is watching us. We have forgotten that God challenges us to challenge Him. Malachi challenged God’s people to take God seriously, not just in giving but in every aspect of life.
All of us need to renew our love for God Almighty and take Him seriously at His Word. We need to rid ourselves of the apathetic attitudes we have and go forth and tell everyone about how good God is to us and why the fellowship of church strengthens our relationship to Him and others.
Prayer: Father, thank you for your mercy and graciousness. You have blessed me beyond measure and I have taken it for granted. Let me be a leader among the people of your church and get my apathetic ways behind me. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Malachi 1:1-5; Monday – Luke 18:1-8; Tuesday – Zephaniah 2:13-15; Wednesday – Matthew 22:1-14; Thursday – Lamentations 1:8-12; Friday – 2 Peter 2:4-22; Saturday – Proverbs 14:11-15.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals. com.

By GARY ANDREWS
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Watching a version of “Cinderella” the other day I was reminded of a great quote; “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” What a tremendous saying. I often wonder how many of us in the world today let so many opportunities pass by us and we are so busy searching for the perfect fit that we miss what God intended us to do.
As in this story life sometimes treats us as if we are step children, by default on terms that weren’t accepted by love, and we allow others to treat us like they want to. We allow our self-confidence to be shaken and we tend to move away from our family, friends, and more importantly, our dreams.
We tend to look at what the world is telling us to do and let go of our passions. Many times we sink back into our inner shell and forget that this is a great big beautiful world that the Lord has given us. Some of the time this is caused by tragic events in our family or friends and we forget who is really in charge. Losing a loved one, being mistreated by people you trust, or making a change in your vocation can lead to doubts and inner fears that will cripple our attitudes and take us backwards.
The fear of embarrassing ourselves often keeps us from pursuing opportunities. Losing our self-confidence is one of the worse things that could ever happen to us. Losing sight of Who is really in control, and this is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, hurts us more than any human action possibly could.
The Bible speaks to us about confidence all through its pages but in Psalm 37:7 we are told, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;…”
How many of us really do this. How many times have you gone to the closet to pray and ask the Lord to help you alleviate your problems and then actually listen to Him. How many times have you intended to follow your heart’s desire, knowing the Lord is with you, and let the world change your mind and take away what you really needed to do.
As it was with Cinderella we have to regain our confidence in people around us, especially our family, friends, and dreams.  Even though this movie doesn’t mention God, all of us that are Christians realize that we have a hope for the future with Him. He doesn’t promise us a perfect world or a perfect life but He does promise us eternal life with Him when we leave this world behind. No other one or anything this world can come up with can give you that assurance.
Prayer: Thank you Lord Jesus for the assurance that you give me. Thank you for the confidence I can have through you. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible reading: Sunday – 2 Corinthians 3:1-6; Monday – Psalm 138:1-3; Tuesday – Matthew 6:16-21; Wednesday – Job 42:1-6; Thursday – Ephesians 3:14-21; Friday – Lamentations 3:19-27; Saturday – James 1:2-8.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals. com.

By GARY ANDREWS
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I read this phrase the other day and it really struck home with me; “Sometimes God doesn’t change your situation because He’s trying to change your heart.”
It really made me think of times when I thought God neglected my prayers because what I wanted wasn’t in His plans. I have heard many people say that praying does them no good because God won’t answer their prayers.
All of us have to realize it’s not about us. God has His own plans and works on His own time table. I firmly believe that He hears every one of our prayers and depending on where our heart is, His answer will come. We need to remember what is written in Proverbs 4:23; “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
God knows our heart and everything about us. Many times we pray with selfish motives wanting answers that please us in our time table and not God’s. This is when we are going to feel that our prayers are falling on deaf ears however God will answer our prayers but on His time table. Many of our prayers are going to be frivolous because of our desires.
Sometimes we pray with unclean hearts and hold on to the sin in our life. When we became a child of God by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He sent us the Holy Spirit to help us develop Christian personalities. All of us struggle with this because we are imperfect people and we are always going to have a tendency to sin. The Holy Spirit stays with us to help maintain a clean and pure heart when we are in the midst of struggling with sin.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 5:16, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fill the lust of the flesh…” As long as we are walking in the Spirit Paul also tells in 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
God does answer prayer however it is the condition of our heart that determines His answer. When we pray we should ask for what we need and not what we want or desire. I have heard this many times and it holds true for some people when they pray “God give me patience and give it to me now.” How many of our prayers are like this and we wonder why He seems to not answer. He does answer but it may not be what we want to see or hear.
We need to approach the throne of God with a pure, clean, and loving heart. We do this when we have confessed all of our sins and asked the Holy Spirit to be with us in all that we do.
Prayer: Father help me to always have a clean and pure heart. I know that I am a sinner and I ask that you cleanse my heart of these sins so that I can be more like you. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Proverbs 13:20-21; Monday – Romans 7:21-25; Tuesday – Zechariah 7:8-14; Wednesday – Matthew 12:31-32; Thursday – 1 Chronicles 28:9-10; Friday – Galatians 5:16-26; Saturday – Psalm 51:10-11.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals. com.

By GARY ANDREWS
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Being an emotional person and unable to hold back tears when something happens, whether good or bad, is a trait that many people have. I am one of those people and my sister is the same.
Tears of joy always fill my eyes when I am watching television and it is relating a story of a veteran coming home and seeing his family for the first time in many months. To see the tears of joy from his family, wife, and children brings out my tears because of the feelings that are going on at that time.  I guess I relish in the fact that tears of joy were shed when I had the opportunity of coming home from Vietnam and seeing my family and girlfriend, who is now my wife of 42 plus years. These are tears of happiness and no one should ever be ashamed of shedding them.
Then there are tears of sadness when someone is hurt or we lose a loved one. There have been  /times when I have had to be strong for my wife and my children in the loss of a parent and grandparent. Many times after this I have been by myself and shed many tears over these losses because I also lost loved ones. Crying is not anything new for me because I have done this all of my life. Through my years in the newspaper industry I have seen and witnessed stories of children being burned in house fires that I had never met and probably would have never met had their tragic stories not had happened. There have been stories of teenagers killed in automobile accidents and I grieved hard for the parents because I wonder how I could have lived had I lost one of my children. Even for these I have shed tears and prayed many times for the parents and grandparents. Most of the time I would shut the door to my office and take 15 or 20 minutes to sit behind my desk and regain my composure before I would speak to anyone. Having time alone with God is the best medicine for understanding that anyone could ask for.
In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 we read that God has given us a time for every purpose under heaven.  We may not understand these times and our emotions are God given and we should show them without fear or reservation. Even the day I retired and left the newspaper industry for good I was happy and sad all over. I had tears of happiness and sadness at the same time but I understood this was one of the seasons that God had given me and I was to make the change.
One of the biggest moments of my entire life was when each of my children and two of my grandchildren walked the aisles of the church and publicly professed their acceptance of Jesus as their Lord and Savior. My eyes were full of tears, as was my wife’s, because we know that without any hesitation that when we leave this world we will rejoice in heaven because our children will be joining us at their appointed time. These were tears of great happiness.
When someone sees you shedding tears do not be upset or try to hide them. Tears are natural and God’s way of us showing emotion. There is an old saying, “Tears are words the heart can’t express.” How true this is. Remember tears are a language that God understands.
Prayer:  Lord thank you for another day of life and the opportunity to witness happiness and sadness. Guide me in the direction you would have me go and let me be the one that will lead someone to you. Thank you for the emotions that you have allowed me to have. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Ecclesiastes 3:1-22; Monday – Judges 10:11-14; Tuesday – Psalm 126:1-6; Wednesday – 2 Timothy 1:3-7; Thursday – Jeremiah 31:7-9; Friday – Revelation 21:1-4; Saturday – John 15:9-17.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals.com.