Morning by Morning devotions

"Appreciation alters how you perceive and interpret what happens to you."  Noelle C Nelson; Jeannine Lemare Calaba, The Power of Appreciation: The Key to a Vibrant Life  A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said :  ' I am blind, please help.'  There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write? "The man said, " I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote : ' Today is a...

Some decisions in life are irreversible. These decisions make a big statement unbeknownst to a majority of us. My attention in this Easter season is drawn to the events that took place prior to the crucifixion of Christ. There were two people who made very powerful and irreversible decisions that changed the course of history; Judas and the woman as seen in Matthew 26:1-15. We’ll look at the value they placed on Jesus and the powerful statements that accompanied their actions. Of particular interest to me is verse 14 and 15 which helps us understand the huge contrast between Judas and the woman with respect to the value they placed on Jesus. “ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests  15 and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver . ” Here’s a man who had just seen the kind of gift that had been lavished on his master (an alabaster jar of very expensive pe...

A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man has to seek Him just to find her~Max Lucado~ My wife perfectly embodies this definition. She has this robust, contagious devotional life that has so rubbed off on our young family and we can only but thank God for her. As I read through Luke 1:36-56 I can't help but notice the qualities of a spiritual woman as exemplified by Elizabeth. From her brief encounter with Mary we are able to learn a few vital qualities: A spiritual woman is Sold out. Elizabeth was totally committed to God and readily available to be used by Him explaining why she was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41 "And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ")   It's evident that she was a devout woman. Luke calls her a righteous woman in Luke 1:6 and as a result,she generously hosted Mary for a period of three months (v 56). What? How m...

A story is told  of a man who whispered, "God, speak to me" and a bird sang but the man did not hear. So the man yelled, "God speak to me!" and the thunder rolled across the sky but the man did not pay attention to it.The man looked around and said, "God let me see you" and a star shone brightly but the man did not notice. So the man shouted, "God show me a miracle!" and a life was born but the man did not know. Finally, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me God and let me know that you are here!" whereupon God reached down and touched the man but the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on. ~Author Unknown~ Moral of the story; don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way you expect.  This is what the psalmist taught in Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;  2 But his delight is i...

Carolyne Chebet's article with The Standard newspaper (2018) stated that cases of rangers being attacked and killed by wildlife have been acknowledged and feted for international awards. She said that the Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma, through Alibaba foundation rolled out awards for front line rangers in Africa based on their threats and challenges. Well, 16 Kenyan rangers were among those feted. We salute all our brave rangers and soldiers all over the world for they put their lives on the line just to keep us safe.  In my study this morning, I came across two people who also died in the line of duty. Unfortunately for them, their premature death was occasioned by their negligence and disobedience. In Leviticus 10:1-2 "Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.  2 And fire came out from the presence of the LOR...

Morning by Morning devotion is inspired by the scripture in Isaiah 50:4  "The Lord GOD has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned."   There are many treasures found in His word and I've decided to spend some time with Him so that He may teach me. In our devotion this morning, we're going to look at three different passages of scripture where God's presence produced two different realities as we seek to find out why?  1. In Exodus 14:19-20    " A nd the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.  20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that nig...

One of the most entertaining TV show in the late 80's and early 90's in Kenya was wrestling, owing to the fact that we only had one television network (KBC) at the time. My favorite sportsman was Tito Santana; he was very swift and so tactical. Hulk ranked second in my list simply because he hardly lost a fight and also because he was well built despite his age. In this sport, newton's third law of motion applies. O'Donnell (2006) says that Newton's third law of motion can be called the law of "action and reaction." It states: "For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction." In other words, you can't help but hit back with the exact same force.  In one of the most powerful sermons ever given in the history of the world, Jesus shares on lex talionis also known as "the Law of retaliation" in Matthew 5:38-41. This law found in Exodus 21:24,25; Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21 covered the type of punishment mete...

Every government on the face of the earth is responsible for setting the standard of the various goods and services used in its country. This is normally done through the establishment of different institutions tasked by the government to undertake this very important duty. For example, in Kenya  the institution tasked with the preparation of standards relating to products, measurements, materials, processes, e.t.c. and their promotion at national,regional and international levels among other responsibilities is KEBS (Kenya Bureau of Standards). With the same breadth, the heavenly government sets the standard for acceptable worship. Genesis 4:3-5 " ... Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.  4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,  5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.   reminds me of a lesson we learn...