Christian Devotionals for July

Do you recognized the song? It is identified at the end of the articles for the month.

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He loved the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap in the shade. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by...

The little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day. One day the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. "Come play with me," asked the tree.

"I am no longer a kid, I don't play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them."

"Sorry, but I don't have money... but you can pick my apples and sell them. Then you will have money." replied the tree.

The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples.

The tree was sad... One day the boy returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me" the tree said.

"I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?" asked the boy.

"Sorry but I don't have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house." So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy, but the boy didn't come back.

The tree was lonely and sad. One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was so delighted. "Come and play with me!" the tree said.

"I am so sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?"

"Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy."

So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a very long, long time.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. "Sorry, my boy, but I don't have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you..." the tree said".

"I don't have teeth to bite" the boy replied.

"No more trunk for you to climb on" said the tree.

"I am too old for that now" the boy said."

"I really can't give you anything... the only thing left is my dying roots" the tree said with tears.

"I don't need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years." The boy replied

"Good! Old Tree Roots is the best place to lean and rest on. Come, come sit down with me and rest"

The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears...

This is a story for everyone. The tree is our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad. When we grew up, we left them, only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they can to make you happy. You may think the boy is cruel to the tree but that is how all of us are treating our parents.

Today, no matter where they are, tell them how much you appreciate all they do for you.

The man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door.

"Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the man.

"Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?"

"That's none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.

"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy.

"If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."

"Oh," the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said,

"Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"

The father was furious. "If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you're being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don't have time for such childish games."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy's questioning.

How dare he ask such questions only to get some money.

After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son.

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

"Are you asleep son?" he asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man. "It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here's that $10.00 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy!" he yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills.

The man, since the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.

"Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied. "Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?"

Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through
the desert. During some point of the journey, they
had an argument, and one friend slapped the other
one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt,
but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand:

Today my best friend slapped me in the face.

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis,
where they decided to take a bath. The one who had
been slapped got stuck in the mire and started
drowning, but his friend saved him. After he
recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

Today my best friend saved my life.

The friend, who had slapped and saved his best
friend, asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in
the sand, and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us,
we should write it down in sand, where the winds of
forgiveness can erase it away, but when someone
does something good for us, we must engrave it in
stone where no wind can ever erase it.

Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve
your blessings in stone.

-- Unknown

Since the beginning, man has chased after God seeking spiritual enlightenment, connection and oneness with Him. For many of us, God may seem distant. The only way we know how to reach Him is by calling out our prayers and hoping to appease Him.

Surprisingly, God is very easy to find, but our distracted minds and hearts prevent us from experiencing His presence. Our spiritual connection with Him is limited because of our need to feed ourselves first. We seek God to supplement and improve our lives, not understanding that putting God FIRST is EVERYTHING. When we follow His steps, He brings us closer to Him. We are the ones who stop ourselves from fully experiencing God, because our main concern is for our own well being, which most of the time, takes us on paths leading away from Him.

We are unable to graduate from ourselves.

He is not necessarily found on a mountaintop, a temple, or a church. He cannot be found by just reciting prayers, keeping rules or going without, but very simply, God is revealed to the humble, believing heart who desires to know Him and is willing to go with Him wherever He goes.

Even the most faithful of Christians can lose sight of God when we are too busy with our earthly habits. When we focus on our own world, the Kingdom of God fades and we lose sight of Him. Like Peter who was overtaken by his fear of the wind and waves when he tried to walk on the water toward Jesus in Matthew 14:30, we too take our eyes off Jesus and cannot see beyond the waves of life which always overtake us.

As Christians, we accept Christ as our Savior and try to follow Him according to what has been taught to us by our churches. Most of us are faithful in our duties to God. Well at least we try. But that doesn't mean we are necessarily walking with God.

Like anything, WE determine how close we are to God. Most of us lag way behind following in His steps, yet He desires us to walk side by side with Him, pointing things out to us and showing us the way ahead.

Being Christian doesn't mean we are instantly spiritual. Deep spirituality requires fellowship and conversation with God and a desire to investigate further. Having faith in God is only the beginning. Deep spirituality and connection with God requires even more from us.

Many believe that being a good Christian is avoiding sin, asking God to solve our problems, reading the Bible, preaching the gospel, attending church and agreeing with what they tell you to agree with. We are taught to pray to God daily, but many of us can't get passed the "Fix this, give me this, help me with that, bless this" phase.

God wants more of you. He wants you living His commandments of love seeking heavenly things. Instead of one-sided prayers for stuff and fulfillment, He desires continuous two-way conversations with us. He wants us living the Gospel and understanding that His truths are higher than the church's rules and traditions.

Being spiritual is so much more than just going through the motions. Being spiritual is an adventure. Being spiritual requires a hunger for God's consciousness and spirit, seeking understanding of His thoughts, purposes and ways.

Spirituality is our journey in getting to know Him and doing as He does. So many believe that spirituality is only cerebral. It is not just in the head, but goes out into the hands. The Spirit of God manifests by allowing Him to live through us.

Deep spirituality requires a daily fellowship with God, but like any relationship, it is up to us, how close we want to be to Him.

Some of us are quite content being immature babies in Christ, crying to Him for our needs and complaining when things aren't exactly how we want them to be.

Few heed the calling of God to grow up and follow the Father in His steps to be men and women of God to do His work. Our main concerns are usually for our own earthly accomplishments, desires and security. God's concerns are for all His people and His Kingdom.

You say: "It's impossible"
God says: All things are possible
(Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired"
God says: I will give you rest
(Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "I can't go on"
God says: My grace is sufficient
(II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: "I can't do it"
God says: You can do all things
(Philippians 4:13)

You say: "It's not worth it"
God says: It will be worth it
(Roman 8:28)

You say: "I can't forgive myself"
God says: I FORGIVE YOU
(I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage"
God says: I will supply all your needs
(Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid"
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear
(II Timothy 11:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"
God says: Cast all your cares on ME
(I Peter 5:7)

You say: "I don't have enough faith"
God says: I've given everyone a measure of faith
(Romans 12:3)

You say: "I'm not smart enough"
God says: I give you wisdom
(I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: "I feel all alone"
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you
(Hebrews 13:5)

You say: "Nobody really loves me"
God says: I love you
(John 3:16 & John 13:34)