Mr. C's Blog - Metrolina Christian Academy

Family Devotion 2.1.2023

Good morning,

“Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.”

Romans 4:20-21

This summer my wife and I moved our youngest child into college. My daughter was understandably excited but also very nervous. She has always been a great student and hard worker, but I could tell she was having some doubts and anxiety about doing college work. As I expected, she did great this past fall in school.

The truth is we all are confronted with doubts at times in our lives. The fear of the unknown can overwhelm us if we are not careful. In these times, I believe that we need to remind ourselves of what we can truly be convinced of in this life. God’s Word gives us promises that we can not only hold onto but be convinced of their certainty. I want to share just a few promises today that you can be certain of.

God is with us as believers always

We will never face a trial or difficulty alone. God has promised to be with us at all times to walk with us through the difficulties of life.

Hebrews 13:5 “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

God will finish in you what He started when He saved us

God has a plan and purpose for our lives and we can trust Him to do in us what only He can do. Philippians 1:6 “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

God’s love for us is everlasting

We need to remember that there is nothing else we can do to make God love us anymore. Jeremiah 31:3 “Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”

God is faithful and His mercies are new everyday

God is so faithful and each day He provides us with a new set of mercies to help us to face whatever may lie ahead. Lamentations 3:23 “Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.”

We are more than conquerors

Romans 8:37 “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”

I pray that each of us will be convinced as Paul says in Romans 4:20-21 “that God is able to do whatever He promises.” That is the kind of unwavering faith that I want for my life.

Have a great day!

Rick Calloway

Family Devotion 1.25.2023

Good morning,

Have you ever thought of how often we allow other people’s opinions of us to weigh so heavy on our hearts? The worst part is that most of those who we give such weight to are people we do not know us well or those we do not consider to be a true friend.

I am guilty of that in times past to let someone’s thoughts or actions who I am not close to affect my behavior and joy. I believe that we all find those times when we need someone to speak wisdom in our lives. Wisdom is precious to us when it comes from the right source.

I love Proverbs 24:14 which says:

“In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short.”

As this verse says, wisdom is sweet to the soul. I received a call last night from my brother who is having a hard time with his health and his job. He called because he needed to hear from someone who cared about him and hopefully hear some good advice. As we were sharing, I prayed that the Lord would give me His wisdom to pass to my brother. I wanted to help because I do love him and want God’s best for his life. I want him to have a bright future and not have his hopes cut short.

We need to be careful about listening and giving weight to just anybody’s thoughts and opinions. I believe that God’s wisdom is found in His Word and is revealed during time spent with Him but also it is found in trusted relationships. I pray that we would find God’s sweet wisdom for our lives in Him and trusted others!

Have a great day!

Rick Calloway

Family Devotion 1.18.2023

Good morning,

He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Mark 14:32-34

Most of us have heard the old saying “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” What does it mean? The phrase gives the image of a camel so laden down with stuff on its back that one littler straw will break its back.

We use that phrase to demonstrate how overwhelmed and pressured that we can feel sometimes from the demands of life. Sometimes we feel this pressure because of things we cannot control that creep into our lives and sometimes we feel the pressure because of bad choices we make.

Regardless of the reason, we still feel the pressure and as a result life can get really hard. When that pressure comes, it is our natural tendency to try and fix the issues on our own. I believe that God is directing us to a different approach in how we address these times. I am convinced that God wants to break us of that dependence on ourselves and bring us to the point where we totally depend on Him. This is called the principle of brokenness.

I have seen brokenness best defined as “the process whereby God crushes all our self dependence and in its place substitutes a complete dependence on God and God alone in every area of our lives.” In order to have an undivided heart, we must be broken by God to the point that we know without a doubt that we cannot live without God. I am grateful that we serve a God who understands brokenness and endured it as well.

In Mark 14:32-34, the Bible tells us that Jesus on the night before He was to go the cross went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray because of the pressure and difficulties He would face in the coming

day. That passage tells us that He “was deeply troubled and distressed” knowing all that He would endure in the coming hours.

What’s interesting is that the Garden of Gethsemane sits next to an olive grove called the Mount of Olives. What is even better is that the word Gethsemane literally means “olive press.” The olive press was used to pulverize olives to make olive oil. Jesus found himself in the “olive

press” being broken so that He would find the peace and direction He needed to do the will of His Father. Our Lord understands the difficult times we endure because He endured them and conquered them.

There in the garden that night, He came to the point where He said to God the Father “not my will but yours be done.” That is precisely the point that God wants to bring us to in this life. God

wants us to come to the point where this life is no longer about following our way but following His way for our lives. Can you point to the times that you have been in the “olive press?” Are you there now?

Jesus was demonstrating for us how to totally rely on God and God alone for even the darkest hours that life may bring us. I pray that God will use these verses to bring you peace and comfort today as you face the difficulties of life. I also pray that each of us will seek daily to place our total dependence on God and God alone for every area of our lives.

Have a great day!

Rick Calloway

Family Devotion 01.11.2023

“A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.”

-Charles Swindoll

We live in a culture today where belief in absolute truth is not very common. One of the most difficult things that I have faced in my years as a parent is to understand and know the best way to teach the absolute truth of the Bible to my kids.

In John 10:10, Jesus said: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. “

Most people remember the part about Jesus coming so that we might have life but miss the first part where the adversary makes his intentions known. The devil is intentional and committed in his attempt to destroy Christians and Christian homes. As a result, we must be daily intentional in our efforts to teach God’s truth to our kids. How do we do that?

One of the best ways to do so that I have found is to talk intentionally about the things of God in everyday life. I did through such things as current events, school day issues, family life issues, and family devotions. For instance, we would take current events of the day and clearly expose what was not true and what is true according to God’s word.

I keep using the word “demolish” to talk of how to handle ideas that are not Godly or Biblical. I get that word from 2 Corinthians 10:5 where Paul admonishes us to: “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

I believe it is so important for us to completely demolish the false ideas that come our kids way and teach them as Paul says to “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.” If we do not teach them truth and how to recognize what things that is not true, then I know these false ideas could easily take our kids captive.

Scripture confirms that raising our kids with the Bible as our source of truth will make a difference in your child’s life.

One such promise is found in Isaiah 55:11. “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Family Devotion 1.4.2023

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29

I walked through our school office last year and observed two prospective students texting while sitting in our lobby and when I stopped to introduce myself, I also humorously asked one who they were texting. To my surprise, he pointed to the student on the other side of the lobby. With all the technology that we have today, I am not sure that communication has really improved.

George Bernard Shaw once quipped: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” I think that statement still holds true today in many cases. However, miscommunication may be an even bigger problem than the lack of communication that exists. I see this so often when I observe all that goes on in social media posts.

It grieves my heart to see so many of the unhealthy posts that appear on social media. It is bothersome to see people post negative comments or thoughts about someone else or to agree with someone who is doing that. I heard someone say once that “you are what you post.” I am afraid that could become what our testimony looks like to those around us if we do not take a different approach.

As Christians, I am convinced that God does hold us to a higher standard. Ephesians 4:29 is clear in telling us what kind of communication should come out from us. If we follow the truth of this verse, we can begin to communicate in a way that we can be assured that we will be heard.

First, we need to make sure that we do not allow anything unwholesome or harmful to come out of our mouth or in anything we post. I understand that we all get upset about certain situations and we want to be heard. However, this verse does not give us that option. It says, “no corrupt communication” and does not give an exception when we feel we have been wronged in some way. If we will speak the truth in love, we can begin to be heard.

Next, we are to use words that will edify others. What does it mean to edify? In the Christian context, it means to strengthen someone or be strengthened in relationship to God, the Christian walk, and holiness. We cannot say or post negative things about someone else and expect to edify at the same time. If we want to be heard, we must look to edify others.

Finally, we want to minister grace to the people who will hear what we have to say. How is grace defined? "Grace may be defined as the unmerited or undeserving favor of God”. Ephesians 4:29 is calling us to minister that same kind of unmerited favor to others when they speak. How do we do that? We do that by showing respect and honor to others in how we speak or post. We also do that by going directly to that person and not to others to talk about whatever the issue is. If we want to be heard, we must minister grace to others.

I want to be the kind of Christian who follows the truth of Ephesians 4:29. I pray that I will always communicate this way with others. As well, I pray that you will always do the same for us. In doing so, I believe that God will be glorified, and our relationships will grow stronger.