Show Compassion

Show Compassion “We are to continually walk in love being guided by love and following love.” 2 John 1:6 I have a good friend whom I have known for almost 24 years now who attends church with us each Sunday. I had noticed for about two weeks that something seemed to be bothering him, and asked him if everything was all right. After hesitating for a few minutes, which is not like him, he said that he was worried about some recent lab tests, and was afraid that it was cancer. He described his symptoms, and I spent several minutes talking with him. While I am not a Physician I have spent 45 plus years in health care, and attended most of the medical staff meetings where various diseases and symptoms are discussed, and the symptoms he was describing were very similar to the symptoms I have heard many physicians describe and talk about, and they were usually not associated with cancer. I related all of this information on to my friend and it seemed to make him feel much better about the problem. I called him later on during the week several times to find out if he had gotten the results which he said he had not gotten them yet. A couple of days later he called to tell me that his test results had come back negative. He was very happy and said I had been the only one that seemed to be concerned about him. This may seem like a very small thing, but I believe this is just one of the ways we can find to reach out to others and show them that we care about them. We all need someone from time to time to talk to about our little problems, and things that are bothering us. A little compassion shown to a friend, is something that we can provide. God wants us to be there for people who are hurting, and need some compassion or help during their times of trouble. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six November 30

Strive For Excellence

Strive For Excellence “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. Colossians 3:23-25 God wants us to be people of integrity and excellence. We need to be honorable and trustworthy in all our dealings. A person of integrity is honest and open to all the people he meets. He does not have any ulterior motives or hidden agendas and treats everyone with respect. He keeps his word in all things he does, and is the same in public as he is in private. Each one of us is constantly put in situations where our integrity is tested. How do we react when a clerk mistakenly gives us too much change for something we purchased? Do we keep the money or immediately tell the clerk that she made a mistake, and give it back? No matter what we do we must always be fair. The way we conduct ourselves with friends, neighbors, coworkers, and others we come into contact with reflects upon our character and our integrity. Most people are content to being average, but we need to be better than average and go the extra mile to help someone. I believe that God does not want us to just be average, and settle for mediocrity. He wants us to strive for excellence in all that we do. He does not want us to do just enough to barely get by, or to do what everybody else is doing. I believe God wants each of us to be the example and the frontrunner in whatever we do. He wants us to stand out in the crowd by showing people that we are a cut above, in our integrity, character, attitude, and the way we conduct our lives. God blesses excellence, character and integrity in your life, but he doesn’t bless mediocrity, He wants you to be special. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six November 29

Thank You God

Thank You God ”Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 Today is my birthday and is a day I want to give thanks to God. God has blessed me with a long life and so far pretty good health. From the time I can remember, I was raised in a wonderful Christian family by a mother, and grandparents who loved me very much. They were the kind of parents that watched over me with great care, protected me, provided for me, and most of all gave me love. I could not have asked for a more wonderful family than I was raised up in. Then one day I met the most wonderful person in the world, my wife. She is the most beautiful and precious person that God could ever have sent to me. I have had over forty eight years to spend with her, and these have been the happiest days of my life. We have three wonderful children and six precious grandchildren. God has blessed me tremendously during our life together. He has allowed me to earn a good living in health care administration, which I have enjoyed, and has allowed me to be able to serve others while raising my own family. But most of all I want to thank God for saving my soul, and giving me peace, joy and contentment in my life. He has been patient with me at times, and has been there in my times of trouble. He has been there to pick me up when I was down, and was there also during my times of joy. He has been with my family and protected them over the years, and now they are all born again Christians. I now thank God for blessing me and my family throughout the years, and give him praise for his kindness, patience, love and goodness that he has shown me over these seventy one years. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six November 28

Disappointments

Disappointments “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34 Disappointment is something that each of us will be faced with at some time in our lives. We will find disappointment in our family life, business life and in our everyday associations with our friends, neighbors, and with most of the people we come into contact with. Living with disappointment is something that each of us must be equipped to do. No matter how much faith we have in people, each of us is going to encounter somebody or something that will question our faith. Our ability to deal with these disappointments is one of the cornerstones of our well being, and building of our self esteem and attitudes. Our friends, neighbors, family, business associates and all the people we come into contact with, will be watching us to see how we handle and conduct ourselves in dealing with these disappointments. Many of our disappointments have the potential to derail us and wreck our faith. It is vital that you recognize in advance that disappointments will come, and that you must learn how to stay on track and deal with them when they do. One of the key things we must realize is that God has a reason for many of the disappointments and things that happen in our lives. God has a plan for us, and all the things, which we call disappointments, is only one piece to a giant puzzle which we may or may not ever realize and see the end result. Our disappointments, pains, and hurts are only a tiny piece of this large puzzle. When our disappointments come this is the time that we must learn to trust him even more, and to rely on the knowledge that the tragedy or hurt was part of his great plan for us. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six November 27

You Must Forgive

You Must Forgive “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Matthew 6:15 The word forgiveness is one of the most used words in the Bible, and has several different connotations depending upon how it is used. These meanings are used by Jesus to describe the forgiveness of our sins, if we turn our lives over to him, and trust him for our salvation. Another meaning of forgiveness is where we are asked to forgive others who may have done wrong to us, or injured us in some way, and the process whereby we need to put this in our past and let go of the hurt and forgive them This is one of the more difficult things to overcome, but if we are not able to overcome this obstacle, it will be difficult for us to have the real peace and joy in our lives that we are looking for. It is so easy for all of us to make excuses and use the phrase “it’s not my fault” to describe our current situation. Forgiveness will relieve our hurts and pains of the past. It will bring back the happiness and joy in our lives. If we have bitterness in our hearts we cannot have the happiness and joy in our lives that we desire. Once we decide to release the bitterness we have stored and let it go, we will then be able to reap God’s blessings. Bitterness and pent up anger for something that has happened in our past will keep God from operating in our lives, and will keep our prayers from being answered. We must learn to forgive to be free. Forgiveness is a choice, but it is not an option if we want to live a happy life. In the above scripture Jesus promises us that if forgive others that sin against us, he will also forgive us. What better reason do we have to forgive others so that our sins will also be forgiven? If you have someone you need to forgive, do it today. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six November 26

Show Respect To All

Show Respect To All “Show proper respect to everyone.” 1st Peter 2:17 Respect is one of the most important things that any of us can do to show people that we care about them. It does not take any effort or training to demonstrate respect for our fellow man. Just being courteous and polite to everyone is a simple form of being respectful to others, and is a rule we should all follow with people we meet. Jesus emphasizes that we must show respect in so many ways throughout the Bible that I feel it is one of the most important things we can do to make others feel that we care about them. As a parent this is one of the traits I have emphasized with our children, as much as any we have ever taught them, is that they need to be respectful of all people they come into contact with. Our goal in life needs to make sure we treat our fellow man with respect regardless of what we perceive their status in life is. We should not treat the rich man any better than we do the less fortunate man, as in God’s eyes the poor man would probably be the most worthy. How we treat other people can have a great impact on the degree of blessings, and the favor of God we are experiencing in our own lives. We need to ask ourselves several questions. Are we good to people? Are we kind and considerate? Do we listen to them when they ask for help or advice, or do we act uninterested and turn them off? Do we go out of our way to do a good deed for someone we see that needs a helping hand? We should never judge any person we meet as only God can judge them. What kind of Christian can we be, if we pick and choose who we want to make feel good about themselves, and leave others with the feeling that we do not care about them. Show proper respect to all you meet today. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six November 25

Reach Out To Others

Reach Out To Others “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today.” Hebrews 3:13 I believe one of the best things each of us can do when we are having problems of our own, is to help solve somebody else’s problem. No matter how bad we feel, or how bad we think our problems are, somebody else is in a much worse position, and has bigger problems than we have. Finding these people and helping them is going to make us feel much better, and will also give us joy that we have been able to help our fellow man. God wants us to be an encourager, to be a giver, to use our talent that he gave us. We can only do this is we get our eyes off ourselves, and focus on what we can do for others. We must become givers instead of takers. If we get our minds off our own problems, and begin to help others, we won’t have to worry about our own needs. God will take care of them for us. If we help and care for the needs of others God promises to watch over us and care for us also. What better way to get our own needs met? There is so much need in all our communities that most people just pass by on a daily basis. No one seems to care about their fellow man, as they are too busy with their careers, their sporting events and all the other things that occupy their time. With all the need that is around us, people do not have the time or desire to spend just a few hours a week looking for ways to help others less fortunate. We need to be aware of the needs in our communities, and should be the first ones to be there to assist others. There is nothing that will provide you with the kind of satisfaction that you will have after helping someone in this fashion, and providing their needs. Reach out today to others, and God will bless you. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six November 24