Stay In Control

Stay In Control “I urge you brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.” Romans 16:17 How do you react when someone around you, a fellow employee, a school mate or a neighbor, causes division and is constantly creating strife and being disrespectful to others. Having been in business for my entire career, rebellion is contagious in any organization, and also in your own personal life. One rebel can destroy any organization and lead people astray. Jesus did not tolerate disrespect and divisions with the people who followed Him. He confronted those who caused divisions, and rebuked them, as evidenced by the words He said to Peter: Matthew 16:23 “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” When we permit disrespect, and condone any kind of behavior that causes problems, and divides people, we are promoting a behavior that God does not approve of. I remember the staff manager for President Ronald Reagan, once saying that he managed by the acorn management philosophy. “I look for problems when they are the size of an acorn. I refuse to watch them grow into oak trees.” You must constantly be aware of signs of discontent with the people around you, and deal with any issues, before they spread like a virus in your life. We must have the discernment and courage, to keep those around us from becoming disrespectful and causing divisions. We must respond to them in a manner that will defuse the wrong attitudes, and guide them towards the higher standards of God. There will be many that will look at your walk with God as an example of how God controls your life. Be the example for others that God desires. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Seven 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 Having spent my 45 year career in Health Care Administration, I was always careful to make sure that I gave all I had to my job, and strive for excellence. 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 Seven 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 Margaret. She is the most beautiful and precious person that God could ever have sent to me. I have had over forty nine 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, providing all that we needed. I thank God for my children who have all accepted Jesus as their savior. and now they are all born again Christians. I 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 two years. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Seven November 28

Forgiving Others

Forgiving Others “Make sure that no root of bitterness shoots forth and causes trouble and many become contaminated by it.” Hebrews 12:15 Forgiveness is a choice, but it is not an option if we want to live a happy life. We need to be careful that our bitterness and lack of forgiveness does not contaminate others around us, as they are influenced by the way we handle a bad situation in our lives. Our children can be influenced so easily by the parent’s lack of forgiveness and this can affect our children in a way that will not be pleasing to God. Forgiveness is in many cases a necessary ingredient in letting go of the past, and in so many families it is one of the most difficulties obstacles for people to overcome, but it is necessary to forgive if you are to have a happy and joy filled life that is blessed by God. If we are a Christian many of our friends and neighbors look to us to be an example for them in times of trial and trouble, and our children surely look to see how we are reacting. Our actions during these times can be an influence as to how they may handle a similar situation. If we have bitterness inside it is going to contaminate everything that comes out of us. It will affect our personalities and our attitudes, as well as how we even treat our children and other people. We must strive to be a positive influence to our children and others, as they will watch to see how we react to times of stress in our lives, and will have less respect for us if we react badly during these times. We need to examine our hearts to make sure we haven’t buried anger and unforgiveness on the inside. Matthew 6:15 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” I know it may be hard to forgive someone who has done an injustice to you in the past, however when we don’t forgive, we’re not hurting the other person, and we’re not hurting God. We’re only hurting ourselves. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Seven November 27

Communicate In Love

Communicate In Love “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:1-2 I believe our family has had very good communications over the years, and our disagreements have been few and far between. Our relationship has always been good and everyone has had an open door to communicate with each other and with us. Conflict is a normal part of any home. What will set your family apart is how you respond to each other when circumstances collide. It is important to make our homes a haven of peace for our families and our children. We must speak the truth at all times in our dealings with our families and with our friends and neighbors. To speak the truth means to be honest, even when that involves taking a risk. To speak in love is to communicate the truth in kind and gentle terms. Often it has less to do with what you say, than with how you say it. I have seen many good communicators over the years and have also seen some very bad ones. Even though they might be saying the same thing, the way they expressed themselves can many times mean the difference between the person listening and becoming defensive and irritated, or whether they buy into what the person is saying. Consider your communication style and change it if you feel you are not lovingly expressing yourself to others. We need to communicate intentionally, what we want to say, and not communicate in anger. Anger is a God given emotion, but things said in anger will usually result in an outcome that will not benefit anyone. Our words should always be uplifting to others, and not to make anyone feel bad or hurt them in any way. We should be building others up instead of tearing them down. Always speak in love. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Seven November 26

Softly And Tenderly

Softly And Tenderly " For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." Luke 15:24 As I was growing up one of my favorite old hymns was "Softly and Tenderly", which was usually sung at the end of the church service, when the altar call was given. The words now mean much more to me than they did then, as they applied to me personally all throughout my life. Even though I always went to church when I was young, and after Margaret and I were married, she always insisted that we attend church. I went through the motions of being a Christian during these years, but my heart was never in it. The words of the song are "softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, he's calling for you and for me". These words were so true as Jesus was softly and tenderly calling for me to come home. It took over 40 years of my life before I accepted this call and gave my life to Christ and came home, but I am so glad that I did, as my life has never been the same since. Look at the words of this beautiful song below, and let its words minister to your heart, as these precious words will tell you that Jesus is also waiting for you to come home. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me; see, on the portals he's waiting and watching, watching for you and for me. Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home! I pray that God will speak to your heart today just as he did to me about coming home, as He is also waiting to rejoice in your homecoming and is speaking "Softly And Tenderly" to you. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Seven November 25

Let Us Give Thanks

Let Us Give Thanks “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” Psalm 95:2 The last Thursday of November, Thanksgiving Day, along with many of our holidays, is observed by most Americans as a day of feasting. It is sandwiched between Halloween, a day that has become a day relegated to ghosts, witches, demons and other wicked creatures, and Christmas, which signifies the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. Today, millions of Americans regard Thanksgiving Day only as the day before they head off to the malls to begin their shopping for Christmas. Somehow our perception of Thanksgiving Day has gone askew, as we’ve forgotten the reason for celebration of that first Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day historically was a time of feasting for the pilgrims and Indians. In the early 1600’s the pilgrims had only been in the United States several years, when they hosted the first feast to celebrate life with their Indian friends, and give thanks to God for His provision in their difficult circumstances. Thanksgiving Day should be a time that each of us should give thanks to God for what He has given and blessed us with. We as Americans are extremely blessed, and Thanksgiving should be a time when we show our gratitude to others by sharing some of our blessings with them. It should be a time when we share our love with a special friend, and show the people around us that we care about them. We should make it a time when we focus on God, and thank Him for our material wealth, our health, our country, our church and our families. God loves when we give thanks to Him, when we read our Bibles and pray to Him. Each day should be our Thanksgiving day as we should make it a habit to pray and make it a time of thanking God for everything He has provided to us, especially thanking Him for our salvation. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Seven November 24