"I've Been Watching You"

“From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; From His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth- -Psalm 33:13-14 (NIV)

The other day I heard a country western song being sung on the radio. The name of the song (the same as this devotion) was “I’ve Been Watching You”. * The song was about a father and his six year-old son, a boy who watched and then did everything his father did. The father and son were in a car on their way home on a busy highway. The father had to stop very abruptly when another car in front of them
suddenly hit the brakes. The son was holding fries and a drink and both of them went flying forward…the fries and the drink that is, not the boy and the food. The boy shouted out a curse word. Upon hearing that, the dad whipped his head around, looked at his son and demanded to know where he had learned to talk like that. The son replied: “I learned it from you. I want to be just like you. I've been watching
you.”

The dad was very embarrassed and ashamed. When they got home, the boy went out to play and the dad went up to pray. He knelt down beside the bed, clasped his hands and bowed his head. He prayed, asking God to forgive him, and to help him to be a better father and a better husband. As he was praying, his son came in to the room. The dad hadn’t noticed however. The dad finished praying, looked up and saw his son. The boy was beside the bed, his hands were clasped, his head was bowed, and he was praying. He was asking God to forgive him, and to help him be a better boy and a better son. When the boy finished, the dad asked him where he had learned to pray like that. The boy smiled and replied, “I learned it from you. I want to be just like you. I’ve been watching you.”

You know what? A lot of people have “been watching you”. Your kids…are watching you. People on the street (and in the stores and in church)…are watching you.
But most importantly, God is watching you. He’s been watching you. I don’t know about you, but I think that if I could somehow get that truth, the truth that God is watching me down in to my heart and soul, that it would change me from the inside out. My prayer is that, this truth would change the way we all think, speak, and act towards each other.

* “I’ve Been Watching You” (Jason Aldene)

Beware Of The Triple D's: Distract, Divide, and Destroy

" 'I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.'Therefore, Jesus said again, 'I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.' "
- John 10: 1, 7, 9-10 (NIV)


Thieves and Satan (the Devil), they have three things in common: Both of them seek to steal and kill and destroy. While their methods may be different, their goals are the same: steal what doesn't belong to them, kill our sense of peace, and destroy our homes and maybe us in general. The difference lies in how they go about it, and how long their actions will affect us.

The mortal thief steals our things by breaking in (literally). He kills our sense of peace by violating the very place we feel most safe: our home. He can also destroy our lives by stealing our Social Security numbers, our credit card numbers, etc. and then using them to get what he wants.

The immortal thief on the other hand (Satan), seeks to steal things from us as well. But they're more emotional and psychological than they are physical. He seeks to steal our peace, our sleep and our sense of well being in general. He seeks to kill us, if not physically then in other areas of our life. While he may not be able to personally kill us, he can do it by convincing another person (one who doesn't know him) to. He may do it by leading that person to do things that lead to a deadly chain of events: drinking and driving, domestic violence with you being in the wrong place at the wrong time, etc. Lastly, Satan seeks to destroy. He seeks to destroy our marriages, our families, our friendships and ultimately our souls.

This devotion is not meant to be depressing. It's meant to expose Satan for who he is and how he operates. That way we'll be in a better position spiritually to stand against him. In the title of this devotion I listed three things to beware of. It's three things that Satan is very good at. He can distract us from doing what we were put on this earth to do: serve and glorify God. He can divide us. He can divide marriages, families, friendships, etc. Lastly, his ultimate goal and something he can do (if we let him) is to destroy. He wants to destroy the relationship we have with our Heavenly Father. If he can do that, he can destroy our soul.

Satan knows where his final destination is (Revelation 20:10) and he wants plenty of company (Revelation 20:12-15). Let's not give him that satisfaction! Let's stand firm. Read our Bibles. Stay close to Jesus. And surround ourselves with others who are doing the same.

Without God... Timing Is Nothing

"Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter" Ecclesiastes 8:5-6a (NIV)

"Time"...a word we tend to hear many times in the course of a twenty-four hour day.
Just for fun, count and keep a record of just how many times you hear that particular word mentioned in your day (from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed). You have probably heard the phrase: "Timing is everything". Well I propose to you that without God...timing is nothing. I read a quote recently (author unknown) I really like: "Time was created by God so that everything wouldn't happen all at once." That's true... Time is in God's hands.

Several years ago, I wrote a devotion telling a story of how my then six year-old son Matthew, was standing on a counter top, lost his balance, and was falling backwards head first on to the floor below. Just as his head was about to hit the floor, I caught him. My timing...was perfect!

While my timing is perfect some of the time...as in once every few years...God's timing is perfect all of the time. It's been like that since the beginning of...well...time. God knew when to create a woman for Adam. He knew when to have Noah and his family board the ark. He knew when to part the Red Sea. He knew when to send His Son Jesus to earth. He knew when to call His Son home. And He knows when it will be time to call you home.

Time...it is in His hands. Leave it there! It's also in your hands. Use it for God's glory until time...is no more!