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    Get on the Journey: Devotions for Journeymen (That Can Also Be Read by Women on the Journey)
    Get on the Journey: Devotions for Journeymen (That Can Also Be Read by Women on the Journey)
    Get on the Journey: Devotions for Journeymen (That Can Also Be Read by Women on the Journey)
    Ebook242 pages3 hours

    Get on the Journey: Devotions for Journeymen (That Can Also Be Read by Women on the Journey)

    By David Smith

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    About this ebook

    What is Get On The Journey?

    Several years ago I felt led to start writing mens devotions. They were primarily written for JourneyMen, men on a journey and walking with Christ. I soon found out that my devotions were not only being read by JourneyMen but also by women on the journey. Daily and manly activities end up being themes for devotion. Gods Word can be applied to my life, and in turn to your life, through these devotions. Devotion life topics include fishing, washing the car, cleaning the pool, watching television, Peyton Manning being released, working, sleeping, winning, losing, granite shopping, etc. Each devotional also contains probing questions that can be used for self-examination or for small group study. Get On The Journey contains fifty-two devotions that recap a year of my life and writing but can be read and explored on your journey at your own pace.

    David Smith, Journeymen

    Why should you get on the journey?

    Through trials and temptations God will strengthen our faith as we journey in the race of life. It is here I find Davids devotionals an inspiration for each one of us who gather together in the name of Christ.

    David has a special talent for reflecting lifes circumstances as a tool to help us all join in the race together. Sometimes we laugh, and sometimes we cry. As you read Davids devotionals, meditate on your own life circumstances. Consider how God is shaping and molding you to be a JourneyMana man on a journey in life with Jesus as his Savior.

    Pastor Rod Lindemann, Journeymen

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateAug 4, 2015
    ISBN9781490898452
    Get on the Journey: Devotions for Journeymen (That Can Also Be Read by Women on the Journey)
    Author

    David Smith

    David Smith has over 48 years at CABI as Preservation Officer, Curator and latterly Director of Biological Resources and is now retired with the honour of being a CABI Emeritus Fellow. Having a long history of managing a living fungal collection; developing and managing projects on conservation and use of microorganisms; and microbiological regulatory environment particularly, the Nagoya protocol. In past roles as President of the World Federation for Culture Collections, President of the European Culture Collection's Organisation and the UK Federation of Culture Collections he has visited collections in 34 countries and helped set up and enhance collections in 19 countries. He has presented over 160 conference papers and has over 230 publications including 80 peer reviewed papers, 4 books and over 40 book chapters.

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      Book preview

      Get on the Journey - David Smith

      GET ON THE

      JOURNEY

      Devotions for JourneyMen

      (That Can Also Be Read By Women on the Journey)

      DAVID SMITH

      41230.png

      Copyright © 2015 David Smith.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      All scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1 (866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-9846-9 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-9847-6 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-9845-2 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2015911404

      WestBow Press rev. date: 08/04/2015

      Contents

      Dedications

      Foreword

      Preface

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction

      1) What Is JourneyMen

      2) It’s In the Ride

      3) The Man Test

      4) Walking With Christ

      5) The Race of Life

      6) The Me I Want To Be

      7) Resist Temptation

      8) Relationships

      9) David Smith’s Faith Story

      10) Positive and Encouraging

      11) Microwave Society

      12) It’s How You Play the Game

      13) Is Variety the Spice of Life

      14) What If

      15) Just Do It

      16) Knowledge and Application

      17) Working For The Lord

      18) Sleep Is Sweet

      19) Change the Channel

      20) Rejoice Always–Pray Continually

      21) How to Pray Eloquently

      22) Pool Boy

      23) Treasured Possession

      24) Are You Being Religious

      25) I Need a Car Wash

      26) Happy July 3rd

      27) Pool Boy 2

      28) Trophy Fishing

      29) Without Blemish or Defect

      30) Light and Momentary Troubles

      31) Are You Losing

      32) Friends of Sinners

      33) Gold VIFP Card

      34) Glass Half Full

      35) Beat the Heat

      36) 9:11 Fear Not

      37) The Good Life

      38) The Good Wife

      39) What Is Truth

      40) Delicious Chocolate Cupcakes

      41) Are You Happy

      42) Seasons of Life

      43) Full Armor of God

      44) I Need Help

      45) Do Not Covet

      46) Do Not Worry

      47) When Will Heaven Begin

      48) Legacy of Love

      49) Want To Be Rich

      50) Electronics Friend or Foe

      51) The Purpose of Christmas

      52) Fruit of the Spirit

      Epilogue

      Sources

      About The Author

      Dedications

      To my wonderful wife Deb:

      You are my soul mate and the love of my life on this journey through life together!

      To my loving daughter Sarah:

      You are a gift from God. I love you so very much!

      To my loving Mom:

      I miss you and look forward to seeing you again in heaven!

      To my loving Dad:

      Thank you for all of your hard work, provision and teaching me how to fish.

      Foreword

      In the eyes of the world we wake up each day with something to conquer. How we face the world makes all the difference in life. The world would have us believe we are like vultures out to snatch our own prey. We push away the innocent, the weak, and those who are not watching. The goal of the day is to win; to win the prize of success. Success is a difficult concept to handle and understand. Are we successful when we find the perfect job? Are we successful when we purchase our first car, home, or that spectacular man toy most men only dream about? Success in the eyes of the world is upon us. The moment we wake up in the morning the media fills our minds with what the world has to offer.

      We live in a time when success is based on happiness and possessions. Growing up as a child, my neighborhood was filled with homes that had a one car garage. As I aged new homes included two car garages and most were filled with two cars. Today many new neighborhoods have homes with three car garages, more room for more junk. The world is winning at getting us men to believe the more we have, the happier our lives will be.

      In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul states, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24). At first glance perhaps we envision a marathon with hundreds of runners, each with the same goal in mind, to win. The participants have been training for months and others have trained for many years to win. When this race ends there will be one runner who breaks through the ribbon before all others. This runner will win the prize.

      Paul talks about a different type of runner. He is speaking to us as we travel our journey in life. Paul is speaking to every man who breathes a breath of air. He is not talking about one winner, but many who will receive the prize. The prize for this race is the crown of life for all who believe in Jesus.

      As men, we attempt to run the race solo, we live our life journey in a race against the world we cannot win alone. It is best when we join together as a group of fellow Christians. We run the race together glorifying Jesus who won the race for us. It is a life journey we decide each day to run. It is a journey we struggle in maintaining that requires faith and hope in Jesus.

      Through trials and temptations God will strengthen our faith as we journey in the race of life. It is here I find David’s devotionals an inspiration for each one of us who gather together in the name of Christ. As Christians trusting and believing in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we live each day knowing we will receive the winning prize. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus the race has been won for us. Jesus calls each of us to run the race living our lives as a light to a world filled with darkness and sin. Through God’s Word and the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives we can run the race cut out for us.

      David has a special talent in reflecting life’s circumstances as a tool to help us all join in the race together. Sometimes we laugh and sometimes we cry. As you read David’s devotionals meditate on your own life circumstances. Consider how God is shaping and molding you to be a JourneyMen, a man on a journey in life with Jesus as their Savior. Reflect on how God is using you to help others join the race to receive the prize. Nothing in life happens by chance, God has a purpose and plan for you. He will use your daily circumstance to strengthen you and be a witness to others.

      May God’s richest blessings be upon you as you live your life’s journey for the One who claims your life in him – Jesus.

      Pastor Rod Lindemann

      JourneyMen

      Blue Springs, Missouri

      Preface

      I am hopeful that reading this book will help you Get on the Journey. Whether this is your first step, or just another step, they often are not easy to make. We let many things get in our way. Looking back about seventeen years ago, I had several key spiritual mentors who reached out to me and encouraged me to Get on the Journey. I had been baptized in my youth and was on the journey, but my journey was lukewarm at best. I want to thank Jim Bush, Larry Pennington, and my wife Deb for their discipleship role. They chose to constantly reach out and encourage me as the great Christ ambassadors that they are. It is amazing how God can and will use people and His Word to change our life’s journey (Proverbs 16:9).

      Through God’s gift of grace I was able to Get on the Journey. My life has changed significantly for the better. Shortly after getting on the journey I was blessed with the gift of my loving daughter, Sarah. Deb and I were also blessed with the privilege of developing and leading small group Bible studies. This has become one of our life’s greatest passions. Through this lay ministry opportunity we have been able to share God’s Word and fellowship with hundreds of brothers and sisters in Christ over the past fifteen years. Most of our best friends and extended family through Christ are an added gift from our small group Bible study journey.

      Being active in small group Bible study made me notice something. This was the fact that there was almost always more women than men in the studies. Do women need Bible study and devotions more than men? I don’t think so, but this seemed to be the case. I also noticed that women seemed to have more Christ-like activities available to them than the men did. Did men not want or need these also? Pastor Rod Lindemann noticed some of the same things. This is part of the reason why he started JourneyMen at Timothy Lutheran Church. His goal was that he wanted men to Get on the Journey. Being a JourneyMen has made a big difference in my life and the lives of many other men. Thank you Rod for your role in this!

      Several years ago Timothy Lutheran Church and our JourneyMen group was chosen to host a Man in the Mirror, No Man Left Behind, Fishers of Men event for our region. I served as the prayer coordinator for this event. While serving in this role I started writing weekly devotions for all who were involved in this event. The devotions were not required, but were God inspired, and the start of my devotion writing.

      When we were finished with the event, Rod asked me if I would continue writing my weekly devotions for JourneyMen, which I accepted. During the past several years, I have been blessed with the opportunity and privilege to do this. I have seen God’s power at work through the devotionals based on the feedback that I have received. Men have shared with me that they don’t always have time to read daily devotions, but that they were able to find time to read a weekly devotion, making it a part of their regular weekly worship. I say, praise the Lord!

      I was also surprised to find out that even though I was writing for men, I was also receiving a lot of encouragement and feedback from women who were also reading the JourneyMen weekly devotions. This made me realize that even though these devotions were written for men, they can also be read by women on the journey.

      My intent as I wrote these weekly devotions was never to publish them as a book, but I have felt God leading me to do this. So, I am going to follow His lead and Get on the Journey.

      In closing, I am asking you to Get on the Journey as I share God’s Word in conjunction with real life experiences in my life. My goal is that you will be able to see how the Word of God speaks to everyday situations, not only in my life, but also in yours. My hope and prayer is that God’s Word through these devotions will make a difference in you and your life. So what do you say? Are you going to Get on the Journey?

      David Smith

      Acknowledgements

      To my wife Deb:

      A special thanks for being my proof reader, voice of reason and a source of wisdom for my devotions and my life.

      To my earthly family:

      Thanks for your friendship, love, and influence in my life.

      To Timothy Lutheran Church and my brothers and sisters in Christ:

      Thanks for your friendship, love, and influence in my life.

      To Pastor Rod Lindemann:

      Thanks for your JourneyMen ministry vision and the impact this is making in many men’s lives, including mine.

      "In his heart a man plans his course,

      but the Lord determines his steps."

      Proverbs 16:9

      Introduction

      But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

      1 Peter 3:15

      My mom recently went to be with the Lord in heaven. Late in her life my mom surprised me when she shared that out of the blue she had received a letter from one of the neighbor children who I had grown up with. This person was no longer a child but was in their late fifties. My mom was in her eighties and had not seen or heard from this person in over twenty years, and only a few times in the past forty years. The fact that she had received the letter was a big surprise. What the letter said was an even bigger surprise.

      One of my fondest early memories of church is going to Vacation Bible School. When I was young my mom would load up a car full of neighborhood children and take us to Vacation Bible School. Many of these children did not go to church and did not know Jesus. One of these children was the writer of this heartfelt letter thanking my mom for introducing the hope of Jesus to her at Vacation Bible School. 1 Corinthians 3:7 states that faith is a gift of God and only God can make faith grow, yet somehow God miraculously uses us as he did my mom to share the good news of Jesus. In the letter this person described the amazing difference that God working through my mom fifty years ago had made in her life growing up, and now in her entire family’s lives.

      My wife Deb received a similar thank you e-mail from someone who she had been sharing her heart, hope, and Jesus with. This was not surprising since Deb is a very giving and caring person, and is constantly reaching out to others. Through lovingly sharing Christ and the reason for her hope, Deb had been able to help make a difference in the life of another person. As I reflect on the thank you that my mom and Deb had received, I think about just how much of a difference we can make in the lives of others by sharing our hearts and our hope that we have in and through Christ. The question becomes are we prepared to do this when the opportunity arises?

      Each month Timothy Lutheran Men’s Ministry (JourneyMen) hosts a pool night at Side Pockets. The monthly advertisement says, "Need a night out with the boys in a fun and relaxing atmosphere? You are invited to come and play pool or hangout with a group of Christian men at Side Pockets this Tuesday. This is a great opportunity to meet other Christian men and fellowship. Together we build relationships to help share the ultimate relationship – Jesus Christ."

      Pool night has been very beneficial for me. Based on the busyness of life it can be hard to find time to meet with fellow brothers in Christ in a fun environment. Most of the non-work time I spend with men is in small group which is great fellowship. I also like to spend time with men just having fun. Pool night is a great once a month men’s night out. Cyndi Lauper’s hit song told us that Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Based on the fun we have at pool night men also at times just want to have fun.

      Sometimes pool night is more than just fun. It becomes a chance for us to share our

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